The inaugural WatchPro Awards in New York City established itself as a must-attend event for the American watch industry last week with 200 leaders from the country’s leading retailers and watchmakers gathering for the celebration.
It was a night when deeply-rooted American retailers beat off competition from the European giants to pick up prestigious awards on the night.
WatchPro Awards are voted on by the industry, with retailers voting for the watch brands they have admired most over the past year and executives from the watch brands voting for the retailers they have most admired.
Retailers were asked to consider watch brands’ product quality, availability and innovation, marketing support, clear and consistent communication, value for money, profitability and impact on their business.
Watch brand executives were asked to vote based on their experience working with retailers’ owners and executive team, showroom design and locations, ecommerce and online presence, marketing and client events and after sales service and support.
In essence, the methodology aims to uncover the teams that have made an incredible impact to their businesses in the United States, and have less emphasis on the contribution of head offices overseas.
Here we present the winners of the 2023 WatchPro Awards in the order they were presented on the night.
WatchPro USA Awards Winners
Volume Watch Brand of the Year
This award is for affordable volume watch brands predominately selling at retail prices under $1,500.
The finalists were:
- Seiko
- G-Shock
- Mondaine
- Philipp Plein
- Bulova
- Citizen
And the winner is: Citizen.
Prestige Watch Brand of the Year
This award is for Luxury watch brands predominately selling at retail prices between $5,000 and $10,000.
The finalists were:
- Rolex
- Grand Seiko
- Cartier
- Omega
- Tudor
And the winner is: Grand Seiko
Multi-Generational Watch Retailer of the Year
The first retailer award of the night recognized the Multi-Generational Watch Retailer of the Year — family-owned businesses with the deepest roots in the American watch industry.
The award was sponsored by Luminox and presented by the company’s marketing manager Francina Hahn.
The finalists for Multi-Generational Watch Retailer of the Year were:
- London Jewelers
- Hamilton Jewelers
- Razny Jewelers
- Oliver Smith Jewelers
- Govberg Jewelers
And the winner is: London Jewelers
Jewelry Watch Brand of the Year
The next award of the night was for Jewelry Watch Brand of the Year, a category for watch manufacturers with a specialism in highly decorated gem-encrusted timepieces.
The finalists were:
- Cartier
- Bulgari
- Chanel
- Chopard
- Piaget
And the winner is: Chopard
Best New or Refurbished Branded Store of the Year
This award is for stores that are run directly by brands and aim to give customers a full immersive experience.
The finalists were:
- Panerai in New York City
- Chopard in New York City
- Omega in Nashville, Tennessee
- TAG Heuer in New York City
- IWC in Beverley Hills, California
And the winner is: Panerai in New York City
Marketing Activation of the Year
Marketing Activation of the Year, or to give the award its full title: Marketing, events, collaboration or partnership activation of the year, recognizes outstanding work in the ever-changing field of marketing across physical and digital media.
Those finalists were:
- Windup Watch Fair, New York City
- Watchtime, New York City
- Rihanna wearing Jacob & Co for her half time Super Bowl performance
- IWC’s Miami Design District basketball challenge with Lewis Hamilton during the Formula 1 weekend
- TAG Heuer’s 60th Anniversary Carrera promotion, “The Chase For Carrera” Movie with Ryan Gosling
And the winner is: TAG Heuer for its Carrera campaign
Best New Store of the Year
Panerai had already picked up the gong for Best New Store by a watch brand, but this award is for retailers that have built either a multi-brand store under their own name or a branded boutique.
The finalists for Best New Store of the Year were:
- Ben Bridge, Seattle
- Watches of Switzerland, American Dream, New Jersey
- Patek Philippe by Nineteen Sixteen Company, Miami Design District
- London Jewelers, Short Hills, New Jersey
- Fink’s Jewelers, Franklin, Tennessee
And the winner is: Patek Philippe by Nineteen Sixteen Company in Miami.
Affordable Luxury Watch Brand of the Year
The next award of the night was for Affordable Luxury Watch Brand of the Year, a fiercely competitive part of the market that is often a gateway into the horological world for new customers.
It was open to brands operating predominately in the $1,500 to $5,000 price segment.
The finalists were:
- Longines
- Oris
- Hamilton
- Luminox
- Frederique Constant
And the winner is: Frederique Constant
Best Refurbished Store of the Year
The next award of the night was for Best Refurbished Store of the Year, a category open only to specialist retailers that have invested in some remarkable upgrades to their showrooms this year.
The finalists were:
- Bucherer for TimeDome in Las Vegas
- Polacheck’s Jewelers in Calabasas, California
- Hamilton Jewelers in Princeton, New Jersey
- Mayors in Dadeland, Florida
And the winner is: Polacheck’s in California
Pre-Owned Watch Retailer of the Year
WatchPro has always considered the secondary and primary parts of the watch industry to be complementary and symbiotic to each other, so we were delighted to welcome so many of America’s biggest players to the Awards.
The finalists for Pre-Owned Retailer of the Year were:
- eBay
- Wind Vintage
- WatchBox
- Crown & Caliber
- Boneta Inc
And the winner is: Wind Vintage
Luxury Watch Brand of the Year
Next we turned to the Luxury Watch Brand of the Year, which is for manufacturers producing watches predominantly priced at over $10,000.
There were some heavyweight contenders among our finalists which were:
- Audemars Piguet
- Patek Philippe
- Vacheron Constantin
- A. Lange & Söhne
- Jaeger-LeCoultre
And the winner is: A. Lange & Söhne
Independent Watch Retailer of the Year
One of the most fiercely contested awards of the night was for Independent Watch Retailer of the Year.
This award is sponsored by Citizen Watch America, and presented by Joy Tarbox, managing director luxury brands for Accutron, Frederique Constant and Alpina.
All of the finalists for this award attended the gala dinner at Cipriani in New York City. Those finalists were:
- Zadok Jewelers
- Material Good
- Manfredi Jewels
- Hing Wa Lee
- Razny Jewelers
- Louis Anthony Jewelers
Remarkably, there was a dead heat in the vote for this award, which meant we had two winners.
Those joint winners are: Razny Jewelers and Zadok Jewelers
American Watch Brand of the Year
We turned to the domestic watchmaking industry for our next award, which is for American Watch Brand of the Year.
The category is open to brands that are headquartered in the United States, but do not necessarily have to manufacture here.
The finalists were:
- N. Shapiro
- Zodiac
- Wilbur Watch Co.
- Bulova
- Brew Watch Co.
And the winner is: Brew Watch Co.
Multiple Watch Retailer of the Year
That brought us to the final award of the night, for Multiple Watch Retailer the Year, a category that is open to businesses with more than 10 stores in the United States.
This award was sponsored by WOLF and presented by Alberto Petochi, the watch winder specialist’s sales director.
Again, we were delighted that so many of the finalists attended on the night.
The finalists for Multiple Watch Retailer of the Year were:
- London Jewelers
- REEDS Jewelers
- Ben Bridge
- Bucherer | Tourneau
- Mayors
And the winner is: REEDS Jewelers
That concluded the presentation of this year’s 15 WatchPro Awards, but guests at the dinner continued to celebrated late into the night at the spectacular Cipriani’s in New York City’s Financial District.
