BY VICTORIA GOMELSKY
Calling all watch lovers—you may want to clear your calendars for the next five weeks. Between Aspen’s third annual watch week, a brand new collector gathering at the Wynn in Las Vegas, and the sixth annual Geneva Watch Days, the next month or so is basically one long horological schmooze-fest.
Below, we have all the details on the key goings-on.
Watch Week Aspen: Aug. 13-16
If spending a few days in Aspen, Colo., at the peak of its summer season, admiring high-end timepieces and taking in the fresh air sounds like a dream, that’s the point, says Elizabeth Smith, founder of Watch Week Aspen. “Part of the experience is to be able to walk around and enjoy being in a mountain town,” she tells Gem + Jewel.
Now in its third year, the event—which opens Thursday, Aug. 13, but kicks off in earnest on Friday night with a welcome party hosted by Blancpain and the retailer Betteridge—will feature 19 participating brands, including A. Lange & Söhne, Arnold & Son, Cyrus Watches, Gerald Charles, Glashütte Original, Hermès, IWC, L. Leroy, Moritz Grossmann, Norqain, and Omega, as well as retailers Avi & Co, Betteridge, Meridian Jewelers, M.S. Rau, and Oliver Smith Jeweler.
The schedule is jam-packed with collection presentations, watch unveilings, happy hours, panel discussions, cocktail gatherings, and collector dinners. But Smith—who also serves as managing director of Oliver Smith Jeweler, a multi-brand retailer founded in Scottsdale, Ariz., by her father, Oliver—assures us that in addition to meeting CEOs and watchmakers (not to mention fellow collectors), attendees are in for an experience that feels more like an outdoor vacation than a watchmaking deep-dive (though there will be that, too).
“August,” she says, “is stunning in Aspen.”
Time at Wynn: Aug. 21-23
The Wynn Las Vegas has hosted a number of curated events in recent years, focused on everything from cars to food, but as of this month, the property is holding its first-ever timepiece-themed weekend.
Intended to be an intimate gathering of collectors, executives and watchmakers, Time at Wynn will span three days of immersive, conversation-driven programming. Participating brands include F.P. Journe, H.Moser & Cie., Girard-Perregaux, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Tiffany & Co.
Rather than sending sales representatives, many brands will have their head honchos in attendance. They include Pierre Halimi, president of the Americas at F.P. Journe; Claudio Terjanian, president of the Americas at H. Moser & Cie.; Jean-Marc Bories, head of the Americas at MB&F; and Martin Frei co-founder and artistic director of Urwerk.
The panels begin on Friday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. with a real banger: Yoni Ben-Yehuda, head of watches at the NYC-based retailer Material Good, moderates a discussion with F.P. Journe’s Halimi, independent watchmaker Michael Friedman, and an executive form the brand Urban Jürgensen about craftsmanship, market dynamics, and the future of independent watchmaking. Attendees will also get a chance to meet Alexandre Hazemann and Victor Monnin, recent winners of the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives.
On Saturday afternoon, the Swiss brand Girard-Perregaux will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its defining sports model, the Laureato, with an exclusive first look at the newest iteration of the iconic timepiece.
Time at Wynn will also feature several events geared to women, including a Saturday session called “Her Time: A Journey of Craftsmanship through Wynn” with Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels, as well as a dedicated jewelry talk featuring the French jewelry designer Emmanuel Tarpin in conversation with representatives from Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels.
Wynnlasvegas.com/experiences/time-at-wynn
Geneva Watch Days: Sept. 2-6
Talk to watch insiders and many will say the same thing: Geneva Watch Days (GWD), a decentralized gathering of independent makers as well as big brands founded in Geneva in 2020, is the high-end watch industry’s best event, bar none. That’s because unlike the corporate-heavy Watches and Wonders fair that takes place at Geneva’s Palexpo convention center every spring, GWD is more like a citywide celebration of contemporary watchmaking than a buying fair. (It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the weather is warm and inviting this time of year, and bars around the lake host throngs of watch lovers well into the night.)
Bigger than ever, the event returns next month when 71 watch brands will gather for five days across Geneva. The agenda includes tours of iconic brands’ showrooms, heady panel discussions (such as one focused on our representations of time, featuring a theoretical physicist), a charity auction, and a CEO power breakfast.
And we haven’t even started with the scores of new pieces that will be unveiled during GWD. “I think there’s going to be incredible stuff coming from partners like Ming, Holthinrichs and Czapek,” Asher Rapkin, founder of Collective Horology, a Ventura, Calif.-based retailer specializing in independent watchmakers, tells Gem + Jewel. “And definitely make time for Ming. Next year is their 10th anniversary and there’s some unexpected stuff coming from them.”
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