For the 15th week, I was able to book a two-day trip to Geneva, Switzerland, in between other work. My goal was not the biggest watch event in Europe, Watches & Wonders 2024, the purpose was to find smaller events and get to know the local watch culture - offered by both individuals and companies.
My journey started early Tuesday morning from Helsinki-Vantaa airport. When I boarded the plane around eight o'clock, my eyes, still full of sleep sand, could recognize all sorts of watches on the wrists of other passengers, such as Richard Mille, Oris and Panerai to name a few brands. It was clear that the destination was the promised land of watches.
The museum presents the 500-year history of watchmaking and the watches manufactured by Patek from the founding year 1839 onwards.
(F.P.Journe's boutique. Worth noting is the design of the shop window, the decorative door handle, and the clock above the door.)
(The entire tram was decorated to promote the Maximilian Büsser and Friends (MB&F) brand.)
After wandering around the shops and daydreaming in front of the display windows, I headed to a must-see place for watch enthusiasts, the Patek Philippe Museum on Rue des Vieux-Grenadiers. The museum presents the 500-year history of watchmaking and the watches manufactured by Patek from 1839 onwards. The exhibition spaces are divided into several different floors according to theme and era. The museum's collection includes around 2,500 watches and clocks, so there is enough to admire and wonder about for many hours.
The Plainpalais event is one of Switzerland's largest open-air flea markets and annually gathers tens of thousands of visitors to explore the tables of hundreds of different sellers.
Since the 1970s, open-air flea markets have been organized in Plainpalais square every Wednesday and Saturday, as well as every first Sunday of each month. Rain or shine. This Wednesday it neither rained nor shone, but the day dawned gray and oppressive. I added some clothes and headed straight to the Plainpalais square by tram - Finally I would get to know the local flea market selection, which according to rumors also includes a lot of old watches and their accessories. The Plainpalais event is one of Switzerland's largest open-air flea markets and annually gathers tens of thousands of visitors to explore the tables of hundreds of different vendors. This time, about a hundred vendors had appeared around the square, but there were no crowds of people to be seen. The cloudy and cool weather definitely had an effect on this.
There was a lot of old and interesting stuff on offer and almost every table had some kind of watches for sale. There were a lot of books for sale, and naturally among them also various watch books. A few watch books caught my attention, but I thought they wouldn't disappear if I kept wandering around for a while longer. I was wrong, the next time I passed by the table the books had disappeared, so there is clearly a demand for them.
A couple of sales tables rose above the others in my own eyes. In the first one, files, tweezers, spare parts boxes, and other watchmaker's tools and supplies were sold in big boxes. The second one sold watch books, brochures, stands, boxes, spare parts and, of course, watches. From this table, I grabbed 1970s Zenith El Primero and Longines steel bracelets, a bag of Omega crowns and stems, and a Jaeger LeCoultre official dealer sign. After talking with the seller for a while, I found out that he buys and clears lots from watchmakers and various shops in the Geneva area. Most of the goods end up through his hands to the Asian market, where there is a huge demand for Swiss watches and related goods.
(Not every finnish flea market offers finds like this.)
Naturally, it wasn't until the last day of the trip, Thursday, that Geneva decided to show its best. The sun was shining, Lake Geneva glistened in its brilliance, and people were out and about in a completely different way than during the previous days.
There were advertisements for the Watches & Wonders event all over Geneva, but in accordance with the purpose of my trip, I headed to a smaller event a little outside the city center.
There were advertisements for the Watches & Wonders event all over Geneva, but in accordance with the purpose of my trip, I headed to a smaller event a little outside the city center.
10.-14.04. organized Time to Watches brings together a wide range of different watch brands, both old and new, and offers visitors the opportunity to get to know many interesting watch manufacturers, which may not be very easy to see live. In addition to the old and well-respected Sinn, Yema, Laco and Squale, there were also brands that are a little more unknown to the general public, such as Atowak, Arilus, Milus, Utinam Besançon, Done Watches, Wilbur.
In addition to watch brands, there were a few manufacturers of straps and watch boxes. I would like to see more of them at watch events, because they are in an important position in the watch industry. What would watches and enjoying them be without straps or storage solutions!
There is something for everyone in the selection and it was interesting to hear that all their watches come from Geneva.
From the Time to Watches event, I headed back to the city center to visit the shops, see the sights and enjoy the sunshine. For example, I stopped by La Maison de I'Horloger, a used watches shop on Rue du Cendrier. I was warmly welcomed and while being served coffee, I got to know the owner of this second-generation shop, as well as their wide selection, where you could find watches from around €1,000 up to €400,000. There is something for everyone in their selection and it was interesting to hear that all of their watches come from Geneva. It really says a lot about the city's watch culture.
(A small sample of La Maison de I'Horloger's wide and versatile selection.)
I spent the last few moments of my trip before heading to the airport hanging out by the water and seeing a few watch boutiques, you can't really avoid them in Geneva, no matter where you go.
(Almost every watch shop had a large "wall clock" above their door. Here's an example from Breguet.)
(Swatch stores can be found all over Geneva and they seem to pop up on every street corner.)
(An obligatory tourist photo of L'Horloge Fleurie, which is located on the edge of an idyllic park right next to Lake Geneva.)
At Geneva airport, the supply of watches was by no means reduced, there were several stores and watches were present everywhere. The amount of watches on offer was even a bit confusing when you consider that Geneva airport is relatively small, and there is not a lot of choice when it comes to food or other shopping.
At around eight o'clock in the evening we were in the air and heading towards Helsinki-Vantaa, where we landed around midnight local time. From the airport, the journey continued on local trains slowly but surely back to Lahti.
Overall, the trip was a great experience. It was amazing to see how otherwise peaceful Geneva is packed full of people interested in watches, and for a week it feels like everyone lives and breathes this atmosphere. Although there was not much time, I still managed to see and experience a lot. There is no way to see everything in that time and this left me hungry for the future. I am sure I will come back to Switzerland and Geneva again soon. On my next trip, I would like to get to know even more shops and sellers of used watches and also travel outside of Geneva.
Travelling really broadens your world and gives new ideas and perspectives on life, also with watches.
