The Great Big Watch Calendar 2026

The watch industry events, shows, and gatherings to look out for this year.

I often get questions about the watch shows, events, and gatherings worth attending. Here’s a calendar of major watch events in 2026—I stuck to gatherings that are open to the public. There’s been a boom in events and shows over the past few years. A few notes:

• Watches & Wonders is the biggest. Since 2023, it’s occurred every spring in Geneva. It’s the biggest trade show: 60+ brands, led by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Richemont’s brands, take up residence in a convention center near the Geneva Airport, while hundreds more exhibit at satellite shows throughout the city. It’s geared towards retailers and media—the first four days are industry days. But it’s becoming slightly more friendly to enthusiasts. Anyone can buy tickets to the show’s final three days, and it’s also promising more programming throughout the city in 2026.

  • Should you, a collector, attend Watches & Wonders? Probably only if a brand invites you, or if it serves as a jumping-off point to visit other watchmakers and manufacturers in Switzerland. You won’t get hands on with many (or any) watches at the show otherwise.

  • Geneva Watch Week, the biennial Dubai Watch Week, or NY Watch Week are more collector-focused.

• For vintage collectors, the twice-annual auction seasons in Geneva and New York (and Hong Kong) also serve as meetups. Over the course of a long weekend, the major auction houses host live sales, offering the chance to preview hundreds of watches. The November Geneva season is often the biggest since it’s alongside the annual GPHG awards. In the lead-up to these sales, these watches also travel to major cities, so keep an eye out for those previews.

• Every year, I try to attend at least: (1) Watches & Wonders, (2) a Windup Fair, (3) an auction season, plus (4) either Geneva Watch Days or New York Watch Week. Since I cover watches for a living, my goal is to spend at least 2 weeks in Switzerland every year.¹ In-person events renew my faith in humanity, bring me out from behind a screen, and provide tons of story ideas.

• What about 2026? As I write this in the first week of March, I have plans to attend the Original Miami Beach Antique Show (where I’ll also be hosting a panel), Watches & Wonders, and New York’s unofficial “Watch Week” in October.

Let me know if I missed any major shows:

Schedule of big watch industry events and hangs in 2026

• March 8: British Watchmakers Day, London

• March 13-15: Windup Watch Fair, Dallas

• March 21: HSNY Gala, New York

• March 26-30: Original Miami Beach Antique Show

• April 12-20: Watches & Wonders, Geneva

  • Public days: April 18-20

  • Time to Watches

  • Chronopolis

• April 24-26: Auctions, Hong Kong

• May 1-3: Windup Watch Fair, San Francisco

• May 4: Indies NYC, New York

• May 9-11: Auctions, Geneva

  • Antiquorum, Christie’s, Phillips, & Sotheby’s

• May 27-21: Couture, Las Vegas

• June 12-15: Auctions, New York

  • Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips

• July 10-12: Windup Watch Fair, Chicago

• Sept. 2-6: Geneva Watch Days

• October 16-18: New York Watch Week

  • Windup Watch Fair

  • WatchTime

• November 6-9: Auctions, Geneva

  • Antiquorum, Christie’s, Phillips, & Sotheby’s

• November 7: GPHG Awards, Geneva

• November 20-22: The Escapement, Abu Dhabi

• November TBD: Auctions, Hong Kong

• December TBD: Auctions, New York

There are many other private, trade, or regional shows throughout the year, including:

• March 7-8: District Time, Washington D.C.

• June 6: Collective Horology Open House, Los Angeles

• August 13-16: Watch Week Aspen, Aspen, Colo.

• November 28-29: MicroPraha, Prague

• November TBD: WatchPro Salon, London

• Intersect Watch Shows, New York City (Feb. 27-28), Los Angeles (July 17-18), Austin (November)

• Minutes + Hours Shows, Chicago (April), Austin (November)

• Timepiece Shows: Vancouver (April 25-26), Montreal (May 30-31), Toronto (September 26-27)

This is focused on the U.S. and Europe, the markets I know best and where most subscribers are located. It doesn’t include Tokyo Watch Week (October), the Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair, India Watch Weekend, and I’m sure many others. Let me know what I missed. I also didn’t include brand-driven “events” like LVMH Watch Week or AP Social Club.

1. This is about the most I can afford before the Unpolished accounting department starts raising some flags. Friendly tip: Airbnbs are much more reasonable in Geneva than hotels.