It is since 2018 that Swatch Group brands have not taken part in collective watch events. Now, after five years, three brands of the group are joining the Geneva Watch Days, from 29 August to 2 September 2024.
Without major announcements, and after the blatant no to Watches and Wonders, Three Swatch Group brands appear among the exhibitors at the upcoming Geneva Watch Days: Blancpain, Glashütte Original and Breguet. It was a move that nobody expected, especially after Nick Hayek Jr., the head of the Swatch Group, had snubbed a personal invitation from Jean-Frédéric Dufour, CEO of Rolex and president of the organising foundation, to join the Watches and Wonders exhibition. According to Dufour in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Hayek Jr. replied that the Swatch Group is very industrial and they have no time to waste on exhibitions.
It was probably the informal and relaxed atmosphere of the Geneva Watch Days that convinced the Swatch Group patron. GWD is a far cry from Watches and Wonders, which is held behind closed doors (apart from weekends) in the halls of Geneva's Palexpo, transformed for the occasion into an ultra-luxurious setting. The end of August event takes place instead in Geneva's cosy lakeside hotels, in more intimate exhibition spaces and boutiques, from 29 August to 2 September, with the summer sun as a backdrop.
Geneva Watch Days 2024: 29 August to 2 September
As many as 51 brands will participate this year.
It is a more accessible event even for mere enthusiasts, as one appointment is enough to view the brands' creations. Or take a stroll through town and slip into the various locations. A marquee on the lake completes the event: it is the only space shared between the exhibitors, where events and exhibitions are organised.
It is not certain that this move by the Swatch Group represents a change of course for Hayek with regard to industry exhibitions, but certainly bodes well for an opening towards broader and less exclusive events. Without forgetting that the Geneva Watch Days, due also to the perfect date for Switzerland, where holidays are in July, but unfortunate for other European countries (Italy first and foremost), are still a more regional than international event. Albeit a large and rapidly growing one.
As many as 51 brands are participating this year, up from 39 last year, including co-founders Breitling and Bulgari, who came up with this lean and flexible formula in 2020 as a response to the pandemic.
