How WatchTime New York Became the Must-See Marketplace for Collectors

This story is from an installment of In the Loupe, our weekly insider newsletter about the best of the watch world. Sign up here.

In 2015, the team behind WatchTime Magazine founded a buying show, WatchTime New York, based on a simple conviction: Collectors love to mingle.

“Over the years, we had learned that collectors want to engage with their fellow watch collector friends, and love meeting new friends in the community,” Minda Larsen, WatchTime’s event director, writes in a piece marking the show’s upcoming 10th anniversary. “Collectors love to see and try on something new or different. And perhaps most importantly, collectors want to have fun.”

At the time, the predominant event on the watch industry’s calendar was the Baselworld fair in Switzerland (R.I.P.). Aside from a handful of smaller regional shows, such as the Salon Internacional Alta Relojería (SIAR) watch fair in Mexico City, most watch events were brand centric.

“The brands often wanted a monobrand event but we knew that the collectors wanted a show where they could come and see 40 brands,” Sara Orlando, WatchTime’s publisher, tells Robb Report.

When the 10th edition of WatchTime New York opens Oct. 17-19 at Gotham Hall in New York City, the proof that they were right—that multi-brand events will almost always beat out brand-focused gatherings, if collectors have anything to say about it—resides in the record number of exhibitors who’ve signed on for the 2025 show. 

“This year, we’ll have the most brands that we’ve ever had, with 44 brands sponsoring the show,” Orlando says. “In 2015, we had 18 brands and that was us hitting the pavement, selling our hearts out. Breguet, Blancpain, and Bell & Ross are the three that have done every show.” 

Orlando attributes some of the show’s success to its mix of aspirational and attainable exhibitors. Between high-end brands such as MB&F, H. Moser & Cie., Chopard, and Piaget, and more affordably priced options such as Frederique Constant, Norqain, and G-Shock, the selection allows collectors to satisfy a wide range of interests.

Newcomers this year include Ming, Ressence, Leica, Studio Sarpaneva, Konstantin Chaykin, Fortis, Fears, Bianchet, Artya, and Artisans de Genève, along with two brands returning after long hiatuses, HYT and Zenith. The show’s strength with independent makers is one of its strong suits. “Akrivia came to the show in 2019, and basically launched the brand at WatchTime New York,” Orlando says, referring to superstar watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi’s brand. Although he isn’t exhibiting this year, other celebrated makers—such as WatchTime New York veteran Kari Voutilainen and the Geneva-brand Czapek—will be there.

For attendees, one of the benefits of attending the show, which opens Friday, Oct. 17 with a VIP cocktail party and sold-out private “watchmakers and founders” dinner, is that you can walk away with a new timepiece in hand. “They can and do purchase,” Orlando says. “Some brands work with a local retailer like a Wempe or Cellini and will drive sales to the store, but we’ve also seen guys walk out with a box and the watch. In most cases, it’s an order. Much depends on what the brand’s retail network is. It is a buying show, but we don’t put too much emphasis on that. It’s more about promoting watchmaking and collecting in the United States.”

Despite the 39% tariff on Swiss goods, Orlando expects people to be in the mood to buy. “From what we’re hearing, a lot of brands shipped pre-tariff so they didn’t have to raise prices,” she says. “We’ve not seen the effects. Friday night sold out and the rest of weekend is on par with where we were last year.”

Unlike past years, this year’s show will not feature an education component (“We didn’t have the space,” Orlando says). It will, however, feature beer and whisky tastings not to mention product launches. “In the beginning, here and there a brand would launch a watch at WatchTime but it wasn’t so much of a launchpad,” Orlando says. “But now it’s part of their calendar when they’re doing launches.

“Despite tariffs, despite economic ups and downs, we were able to create a very European style show in New York City,” she adds. “It’s unofficially official that we call it ‘New York Watch Week.’ The Windup show is that same weekend. We purposefully coordinated the dates with them because if there are collectors flying in for one show, they might as well experience hundreds of brands. RedBar has their annual meetup in the days leading up to that event. FHH is also doing something, like a watchmaking day.”

In other words, if it’s mingling that collectors want, it’s mingling they’ll get!