Ten years in, and the Windup Watch Fair still feels like a completely new way to interact with the watch industry. For three days in midtown Manhattan, Center415 transformed from a sleek Fifth Avenue venue into the living, breathing heart of watch enthusiast culture. No velvet ropes, no VIP lists—just open doors, multiple halls full of watches, and a community that’s grown from a scrappy gathering of enthusiasts into one of the most important fixtures on the watch industry’s calendar, with over 11,000 attendees.
This year marked the fair’s tenth anniversary, and we didn’t celebrate quietly. We expanded the layout to four full halls, bringing together more than 140 brands from 17 countries. We’d like to sincerely thank our Lead Sponsors: Bremont, Bulova, Christopher Ward, Oris, and Shinola. Without these strong anchors this experience wouldn’t be free and open to everyone. We’d also like to express our gratitude to each and every brand who participated, bringing some of the most interesting watches and products to the event and continuing to nudge the industry forward!
When guests arrived, they entered through the EDC Expo, presented by Topo Designs—an energetic reception area filled with the gear, tools, and accessories that round out modern enthusiast life: knives, pens, packs, and all the small essentials that speak the same design language as the watches themselves. Beyond that, three additional halls awaited, each blending independent and enthusiast brands with more established, heritage watch companies. The mix was deliberate—a seamless experience where visitors could move from a young maker showing their first prototype to a century-old manufacturer debuting a new release, all in the same breath.
Among the most talked-about launches of the weekend were two unmistakable crowd-pleasers. Christopher Ward and Worn & Wound together unveiled The Brooklynite, a watch designed in tribute to Brooklyn’s creative energy and its role in shaping modern watch enthusiasm. Its sharp geometry, warm metallic tones, and urban inspiration made it one of the fair’s most photographed pieces—and one that felt perfectly suited for Windup’s 10th anniversary setting. Just a few booths away, Bulova drew its own crowd with the Snorkel Windup NYC Limited Edition, a bold and playful twist on one of its most iconic dive designs. The custom colorway, Windup branding, and nods to the city that never sleeps made it both a collectible and a fitting homage to the event itself. Together, the two releases captured the spirit of the fair—accessible, creative, and rooted in community.
By the time doors opened, lines stretched down and around the block. Some attendees camped out before dawn, one even claiming the first spot at 1:30 a.m. just to snag a limited-edition drop. Inside, the crowd energy hit that rare balance between excitement and genuine connection—people clustered around booths, swapping stories, snapping wrist shots, and finding those special pieces to add to their collections. Miyota, the Official Movement Sponsor of Windup, enabled folks to go hands on with different pieces of precision movements.
