Watches & Wonders 2025: It could have been so beautiful - visitor record included

Watches & Wonders 2025: It could have been so beautiful - visitor record included

But the poorly coiffed spoilsport from overseas has made his move in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Watches & Wonders 2025. Customs bomb burst - and cast its shadow over the Shiny world of luxury goods. And as this appeared on the world stage earlier and with more explosive force than expected for many Swiss watch manufacturers, there was initially a lack of advice and speechlessness in this regard.

However, this did not apply to the new products. In terms of storytelling and innovations, it was business as usual for the time being.

And that worked pretty well in the champagne-soaked Palexpo bubble, seemingly sealed off from the outside world. Very well, in fact.

This year's Watches & Wonders once again set a new visitor record with over 55,000 visitors (2024: 49,000) in the entire week from 1 to 7 April.

There was growth in all categories: 6,000 dealer representatives (+5 %), 1,600 journalists (+7 %) and 23,000 tickets sold on the public days (+21 %).

Many celebrities also made their way to Geneva - including Simone Ashley, Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Carl Lewis and Hans Zimmer - and, together with the commitment of exhibitors, influencers and journalists, attracted a lot of attention on social media. The hashtag #watchesandwonders2025 reached an estimated reach of over 700 million people (+17 %) before the end of the event.

Cyrille Vigneron, President of the Watches & Wonders Geneva Foundation, commented:

"Watches & Wonders has established itself not only as an unmissable inter-professional event, but also as a platform for the expression of watchmaking maisons. The event offers everyone the opportunity to visually express their own universe, to see and wear beautiful creations and to share a common passion. It is a medium and a mediator."