Watches and Wonders will expand to 49 brands in 2023, up from 38 in its first year back after the pandemic.
The week long event has also been tweaked so that the trade and press are given exclusive access for the first five days, from March 27 to 31, and then the public will be let loose in the hallowed halls of Palexpo for the weekend of April 1 to 2.
The public will be charged CHF 70 for a day pass, with tickets going on sale in February next year.
Participating brands in 2023 are A. Lange & Söhne, Alpina, Angelus, Arnold & Son, Baume & Mercier, Beauregard, Bell & Ross, Cartier, Chanel, Charles Zuber, Charriol, Chopard, Chronoswiss, Cyrus Genève, Czapek & Cie, Ferdinand Berthoud, Frederique Constant, Grand Seiko, Grönefeld, Hautlence, Hermès, Hublot, Hysek, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-Lecoultre, Kerbedanz, Laurent Ferrier, Louis Moinet, Montblanc, Oris, Panerai, Parmigiani Fleurier, Patek Philippe, Pequignet, Piaget, Rebellion Timepieces, Ressence, Roger Dubuis, Rolex, Rudis Sylva, Speake-Marin, TAG Heuer, Trilobe, Tudor, U-Boat, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels and Zenith
Most of the new exhibitors are artisan independents from Switzerland, but Japan’s Citizen Watch Company gets a presence in the show with Alpina and Frederique Constant — Swiss brands that it has owned since 2016 — given space.
Accompanying the announcement about Watches and Wonders in Geneva next year, the show’s organiser, the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie — a non-profit organisation that was seen as an extension of Richemont and particularly Cartier — has been renamed Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation.
It will be managed by a foundation board, with Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour serving as chairman and Emmanuel Perrin, head of Specialist Watchmakers at Richemont, as vice-chairman.
Matthieu Humair, current CEO of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, will become the CEO of the Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation.
Other than Rolex taking a seat at the very top table of the organisation, the mission remains the same: “to promote watchmaking excellence throughout the world by organising in-person or digital watch and jewellery exhibitions, in Geneva and beyond”.
