The dates for "Watches & Wonders Geneva 2025" have already been decided! Chanel, Hermès, and LVMH join the board of directors!

On June 25, 2024, two important announcements were made at Watches & Wonders Geneva, the world's largest watch fair. This article explains these two announcements and the background behind them, which are essential for anyone interested in watches, let alone those involved in the watch industry.

"Watches & Wonders Geneva 2025" will run from April 1st to 7th, 2025!

　Watches & Wonders Geneva (hereafter referred to as W&WG) is the world's largest and one-of-a-kind watch fair that anyone in the watch industry cannot miss. The dates for this year's 2024 fair were announced in November 2023, about four months before the event, but the dates for the next fair in 2025 have already been announced. The spring 2025 fair will be held from April 1st (Tuesday) to April 7th (Monday).

　The one-week schedule, starting on a Tuesday, ending on a Saturday and Sunday, will be the same as in 2024. As with this year, the final Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of the month, April 5th (Sat), 6th (Sun), and 7th (Mon), will be open to the public.

　As predicted in this column's article on March 16th, the 2024 W&WG will be a memorable year in which a new strategy will be fully implemented to transform the event from a "closed event for watch industry professionals" to a "tourist event held in the birthplace of Swiss watches that is open to watch enthusiasts as well as professionals."

　In addition to salon events, in 2025, boutiques of famous watch brands will be open to visitors, tours of watch-related facilities in the city such as the Patek Philippe Museum will be held, and a special tent will be set up at the Massine Bridge over the Rhone River, where the W&WG headquarters is located, where visitors can experience being a watchmaker.Although these city events have not yet been announced, we can probably expect to see a wealth of such events.

Chanel, Hermes and LVMH join the board of directors!

　Another notable aspect of this announcement is that Chanel, Hermes, and LVMH have joined the board of directors of the WWGF (The Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation), the foundation that organizes W&WG.

　The board of directors, established for W&WG in September 2022, was previously comprised of three members: Rolex, Richemont, and Patek Philippe. With the addition of Chanel, Hermès, and LVMH, W&WG will have an even stronger foundation as the world's largest, best, and most unique watch fair representing the industry.

　Of particular interest will be the participation of LVMH, which owns multiple brands. LVMH's watch division is led by Frédéric Arnault, the third son of CEO Bernard Arnault, and his fourth son, Jean Arnault, is also actively working on the watch business beyond the scope of Louis Vuitton. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth exhibit.

　Also, starting July 1, the chairmanship of the Board of Directors will change from Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour to Cyril Vigneron, President and CEO of Cartier International, who will continue to serve as treasurer. The vice-chairmanship will be Patek Philippe CEO Claude Péney.

　The future of the world's largest watch conglomerate, with over a dozen brands, remains unclear, and we will need to continue to pay close attention to its movements. Furthermore, compared to Baselworld, which was canceled in 2019, the number of exhibiting brands is still less than one-tenth. However, W&WG has steadily established a foothold in the Swiss watch industry, and its position is unlikely to be shaken.

The number of exhibiting brands will increase from 54

　Although not mentioned in this press release, the number of exhibiting brands in 2025 will certainly increase from the 54 brands in 2024. Those who attended W&WG in 2024 will know that the second floor was expanded to become an exhibition venue for new brands.

　There is still room for expansion on this second floor, and Palexpo has plenty of space to accommodate it.

　I plan to publish a separate interview in the future, but in an interview I conducted during the event, W&WG CEO Matthew Umair also acknowledged that "expanding the number of exhibiting brands" is a future policy. I also had the opportunity to speak with Oliver Ebshtein, CEO of Chronoswiss, who recently visited Japan and is exhibiting at W&WG, about the next W&WG on June 26th, and he assured me that "there will be even more exhibiting brands next time." So, there's no doubt that the number of brands will increase next year.

　However, even though there will be 54 brands this year in 2024, the number of days available for press coverage is limited to four (effectively three days), meaning that the number of brands that cannot be covered will only increase. I hope that at least the first day open to the public, Saturday, will be "set up so that press coverage is possible."