As we approach the 2024 edition of Watches and Wonders, WatchPro speaks to Matthieu Humair, the CEO of Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation (WWGF), the organisation behind the world’s most important watch fair.
WATCHPRO: It is a little over a year since the founding of WWGF. How does the Foundation stand today?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: Yes, the Foundation was created in 2022 to promote watchmaking worldwide through the organisation of events around the world – the master one being Watches and Wonders Geneva. We are a team of 28 people working full-time, all year long, and this number is almost doubled just before and during the event.
We work hand-in-hand with all of the 54 exhibiting Maisons in order to offer the best platform for participating brands, in terms of communication and operations. It really is a case of teamwork in order to be able to offer the best experience to our visitors.
We also coordinate a lot of aspects such as the overnights stays of the invited guests and aim to provide the perfect, immersive experience for visitors – especially now that we are open to the to the public for three days.
WATCHPRO: So, what would you say are the main goals for the Foundation beyond running a show?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: Our mission is very clear: we exist to promote watchmaking worldwide. You know, the strength of Watches and Wonders is that we have major Maisons exhibiting, but also smaller, independent watchmaker and all of these brands come together to talk about watchmaking. Communication is so much stronger when we all come together – last year, we had an estimated reach of 700 million globally and our public days sold out.
We also aim to create a new passion for the watchmaking industry and one of our pillars for 2024 is the young generation. We have developed many initiatives for them in Palexpo and also in the city with a brand-new programme dedicated to young people.
WATCHPRO: Are you talking in terms of watch buyers or watchmakers when you talk about the new generation?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: It’s both. In fact, if we can capture the imagination of the very young through this event and if we can ignite a passion for watchmaking, then children of today are more likely to become the watchmakers of tomorrow. And as for the buyers, well last year, 25% of the tickets were purchased by people below the age of 25 and the average age of all non-trade visitors was 35, so it shows clearly the dynamics of the industry.
We also invite schools – watchmaking schools, business schools, engineering schools – to attend and this year, we will have a dedicated space for them called the Lab. It is located at the heart of the exhibition, and will showcase new ideas from the Maisons as well as projects from students showing their vision of tomorrow’s watchmaking.
WATCHPRO: You mention schools, but are you also looking at younger children who possibly haven’t even thought about future careers?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: Absolutely. We encourage young people between 10 and 15 years old to come and discover the job opportunities in watchmaking. We will also have workshops for kids in the city where they build a watch, conferences that target young people and guided tours of Geneva’s most important watchmaking spots – and all of this is for free.
It’s a very inclusive approach because we invite anyone in the city of Geneva to discover the joys of watchmaking because again, that is the mission of the Foundation. If we want good watchmakers in the future, we need to find the next generation early on.
WATCHPRO: Last year was the first proper physical Watches and Wonders post-covid. Inevitably there were some issues. What have you learned from 2023 and what improvements have been put in place for 2024?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: Last year was the first time we had all the markets back to Watches and Wonders and this made for a very special atmosphere. The return of a physical event really showed us how important it is to meet face-to-face. Covid taught us that there is nothing more important than being able to interact, to network and to have the products in your hands.
The fact that all 12,000 tickets for the public days sold so quickly really showed the demand for events of this kind, and growing interest from the exhibiting brands – last year we had 48, this year, we have 54 – demonstrates how important it is for the entire industry.
WATCHPRO: But were there any negatives from last year that you have acted on for this year?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: Well, we definitely had some bottlenecks to get into the fair. But this could be seen as a good problem because it was a measure of our success and the fact that we had all the markets back.
This year we will have a new entrance, in addition to a new hall. So there will be two big entrances for visitors which will definitely help to beat the access issues that some people faced in last year’s morning rush. The main entrance will go directly into Hall 2 and the new area where there will be some great independents, as well as the British brand Bremont, which will join us for the first time. We will also keep the entrance that we had in 2023.
Every year we will come with additional aspects to the event in order to make it both exclusive and comfortable for journalists, clients and guests.
WATCHPRO: What would you say the main priorities are for the Foundation in terms of satisfying exhibitors, visitors, the press and buyers, and how do you balance the needs of everyone?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: That’s a good point. All year long we discuss with the exhibiting brands to build on the programme we offer. The Maisons make recommendations and we listen to them. Today we offer the first days as professional, invitation-only time to welcome journalists, retailers and clients invited by the brands. For the final three days, it is open to the public. And it is this that has changed the way we welcome visitors because we need to offer a different experience.
We really wanted to offer brands the opportunity to reach out to anyone. Some brands are more b2b, others more client-focused but with Watches and Wonders we try not to forget anyone. This is very important because all visitors are our guests and our best ambassadors. People need to have this very immersive and exclusive experience and that’s what we try to do – offering a platform that allows anyone to meet the industry and then what the brands chose to do with that is down to them – we deliver the platform, and then they work within it.
WATCHPRO: Why did the public days come about? Was it something that was asked for by the brands themselves?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: Yes, although it is not new – we had this in mind back in 2021 but because of covid, we couldn’t do it in 2022. Once it was possible in 2023, we pushed ahead with the goal of making the show more inclusive.
We have such a beautiful platform and it made sense to open the doors and to invite the public to discover this environment.. Watchmaking is an evolving world and we need to evolve with it. So, we have changed the fair’s name and been joined by new players such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chanel, Chopard and Tudor.
Watches and Wonders Geneva is more than an event, it is a watchmaking summit bringing together the entire industry. It is also the momentum where all the novelties are launched. A time for the public to discover the latest creations from the Maisons.
WATCHPRO: So what exactly do members of the public get from their experience at Watches and Wonders?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: Some of the brands will have organised product presentations on the booths and visitors will have the opportunity to discover the novelties and to talk directly with the watchmakers.
You will see some very welcoming areas because brands are working hard to transform their booths in order to welcome visitors There will also be an exhibition revealing watches and clocks frozen in time. Then, of course, there is everything going on in the city where we’ll have a brand-new Watchmaking Village at the Pont de la Machine, with educational content for free. And on Thursday April 11, there will be a big party with street performances.
WATCHPRO: And there will be public access to all stands?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: Each brand has its own specific approach. Some, will open their entire booths, others will open specific areas. From our side, we encourage everyone to be as open as possible – it’s their decision.
WATCHPRO: You have some of the industry’s biggest hitters exhibiting. How do you make sure that the smaller brands are not overshadowed?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: We give equal visibility to all the Maisons. The Carré des Horlogers is very well located at the heart of the show. And in our communication, everyone is listed in alphabetical – major brands and smaller ones. So clearly, it’s something very important. We have a huge demand for small brands to be represented so it is obviously important that we give them equal visibility.
We also have a press embargo on Watches and Wonders previews until April but this lifts two weeks earlier for the smaller brands in order for them to have good visibility in the media before the big brands announce their releases. For the Maisons, the embargo lifts on the first day of the fair and this is when all the novelties are launched. We have had great feedback on this initiative already.
WATCHPRO: Baselworld was killed off for many reasons, among them the greed and complacency of the organisers and the city. How are you going to safeguard against that happening in Geneva as the show becomes bigger and bigger?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: We are very careful about this and that’s why we have a team here working full-time with our partners, hotels, restaurants and the city. We centralise the coordination of the hotel rooms in order to avoid double invoicing, so it is no longer possible to do two or three bookings for the same night at the same hotel, for example – everything is checked by us.
We are talking to hotels all year long. The ambition is to make this event strong but in order to do it, prices need to stay reasonable, not only in the hotels, but also in the restaurants and everywhere else. We are a non-profit foundation
WATCHPRO: Watches and Wonders is still small in comparison to Baselworld. How big do you think you can realistically go?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: The limit is the size of Palexpo and there is still quite some space to fill. On our side, what is important is to make sure we grow at a steady and controlled pace. We are in no rush to increase the number of brands joining the event. Of course, we will definitely have newcomers in the future – there is a lot of interest – but we are also very careful in terms of the quality of services that we want to offer.
WATCHPRO: There are a lot of brands showing in the city independently of Watches and Wonders, and there is also the Time to Watches show going on at the same time. How do you feel; about that?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: You know, the more we talk about watchmaking, the better. It also shows the strength of watchmaking in Geneva. It is great to see other initiatives coming and if they come during Watches and Wonders then that is great because it creates more momentum and shows the importance of physical events and meeting face-to-face. There’s room for everyone.
WATCHPRO: What are the biggest changes that you’ve made for 2024? And what should visitors not miss?
MATTHIEU HUMAIR: No visitor should miss visiting the LAB with its projects from start-ups and existing Maisons that give a view of tomorrow’s watchmaking. And in the city, people should take a few hours to visit the watchmaking village where there will be a lot of educational content. And on Thursday night, there will be time to celebrate and party in Geneva. We are just crossing our fingers that the weather will be as nice as last year.
