Watches worth lingering over, a very civilised afternoon tea, and a swim between appointments. A week in Geneva with Bob Allaby.
By Brent Robillard
Bains des paquis
By Friday afternoon, Bob Allaby and I were in Lake Geneva. We had already visited Czapek and De Bethune, there were more watches waiting for us at the Hotel Eastwest, and Greubel Forsey would bring the week to a close. But first, a swim. After several days of unrelenting sunshine, the Bains des Pâquis had become a very persuasive appointment.
It belongs in the highlights reel. So does a clicking pen, a silver tea service, and someone shouting hello from a hotel mezzanine. I went to Geneva Watch Days expecting to come home with watch stories. I have plenty of those. Looking back through the week, though, I keep finding the people attached to them.
Monday with nowhere to be
Bob and I arrived two days ahead of the show. There was some sensible reasoning behind this: time to acclimate, followed by a full programme of pre-show visits on Tuesday. Those appointments were the reason we had made the trip. Monday, however, was ours.
I was happy to spend it showing Bob some of my favourite parts of Geneva. We wandered through Place du Bourg-de-Four and along the Quai du Mont-Blanc and Quai des Bergues, enjoying the unusual luxury of walking without checking how late we were. The city was warm, sunny, and thoroughly accommodating. Patio stops became frequent. We called this acclimatisation.
There is considerable pleasure in sitting still long enough to watch Geneva go about its day. Usually, I am the person hurrying through someone else’s view with a camera bag and an appointment to keep. This time, we had a chance to settle in before the watches took over.
That first afternoon also established something of the week’s pace. Our calendar would get busy, but Geneva itself remained part of the visit.
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A watch show with a view
The most obvious difference between Geneva Watch Days and Watches & Wonders is geography. Watches & Wonders centres on Palexpo, near the airport, where brands such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, and Tudor mount enormous displays of watchmaking. You can spend a very long day inside and still leave feeling you have missed half of it.
My own Watches & Wonders weeks have always extended beyond those walls. Villa Sarasin, Time to Watches, L’Icebergues, and the hotel salons have been regular stops. More recently, Chronopolis has joined the itinerary. I like getting out into the city and seeing what the independent brands are doing.
Geneva Watch Days makes that movement around town part of its character. Boutiques, hotels, and showrooms become the exhibition, with the Pavillon at the Rotonde du Mont-Blanc and the nearby Blue Box providing two principal gathering points. Established names such as Breitling and Zenith participate, while independent brands, individual watchmakers, and some wonderfully unusual ideas occupy much of the conversation.
The organisers’ post-event figures put this year’s gathering at a record 71 brands and nearly 400 new releases. This year, among the collectors, private clients, and enthusiasts who attended (bolstered by at least 500 members of the media) more than 15,000 people attended the event. That is a lot of watches and a lot of people hoping to see them.
Even so, the mood felt relaxed. Appointments required attention to the clock, naturally, but the walks between them allowed the previous conversation to continue. Evening events gave us another opportunity to catch up. It was a very sociable way to spend a working week.
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Tuesday over breakfast
We began Tuesday in Old Town with Didier Cavasino and a small group of fellow watch obsessives. Around us were Tom Petit from Oracle Time, Zach Kazan from Worn & Wound, and Edouard Davidaud, co-founder of Timefest and the podcast Des Montres et Vous. Andy B. of Andy’s Watches joined us, along with fellow Canadians Verne of @watchstudies and Eric of @averagewatches.
I had met Didier on an earlier visit, so there was the pleasure of seeing how his young business had progressed. His DTC-02 novelty gave us something new to discuss. These return encounters are among the reasons I enjoy attending shows. You remember the earlier conversation, then get to see what the person has done since.
From breakfast, we were taken out to Laurent Ferrier’s manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates, where Jessica Gasser guided us through the work behind those beautifully composed watches. We watched finishing, jewel setting, and the sort of inspection that makes you reconsider your own use of the word “perfect.” Gentian wood and diamond paste were being used to bring small metal surfaces to a polish. Even a rejected case had something to teach us.
Then we were invited to try a little of the work ourselves. My attempt at perlage made a useful contribution to the day by demonstrating why I should remain on the writing side of the business.
Back in Old Town, we spent time with Alcée of Maison Alcée and visited M.A.D.Gallery, where the Maison Alcée x MB&F Nostromo introduced a very different way to get involved. The three-legged clock arrives as a 222-component kit, with roughly ten hours of assembly ahead of its owner. It has the appearance of something that might wander off your desk if left unattended.
Alcée spoke about learning through making, and about the time people spend together while building one of her clocks. After our morning at Laurent Ferrier, I had a fresh appreciation for the value of a good instruction manual.
The evening brought a gathering hosted by Micromilspec, Voxel, and Furlan Marri. The Micromilspec Fieldmaster appealed to my longstanding weakness for a capable tool watch, with years of feedback from serving military personnel behind its development.
Voxel’s Meridion VX01-E offered a different sort of attraction. Its hour scale changes between twelve- and twenty-four-hour numerals, while the hands carry on doing their usual work. Co-founder Thibault Luc accompanied me outside for a better look in the remaining daylight. That small detour, away from the crowded room, gave me a chance to appreciate what the brand had built. The Electric Blue version was particularly convincing.
We had come for those early appointments. By the end of Tuesday, the trip was already yielding plenty to write about.
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Wednesday at the Beau-Rivage
Wednesday belonged largely to the Beau-Rivage. Moving from one appointment to the next, we encountered enough different approaches to watchmaking to keep Bob and me talking for the rest of the week.
David Candaux explained the origins of his Magic Crown, tracing the idea back to his university days and the habit of clicking a pen. I loved that detail. A mechanism can look terribly serious when presented beneath sapphire, yet its first inspiration might be something familiar enough to annoy everyone sharing a classroom with you. Hearing David tell the story made the crown even more enjoyable.
At Hautlence, René Schmitt offered a useful introduction of his own: “Hautlence is all about jumping.” Spend a little time with the watches and the explanation holds up. There is real entertainment in watching a mechanism change its display, particularly when the person across the table is enjoying it as much as you are.
Alexandra Martel showed us Trilobe’s Château Trente-Deux, allowing me to catch up with a collection I had seen during Watches & Wonders in April. Those continuing conversations carry forward like story threads. A watch seen once can remain a striking first impression; seeing the next development helps you understand where its makers are heading.
There was plenty for my more conventional collecting appetites, too. I particularly liked the Oris ProPilot Bronze. Tutima showed us the Patria, and DOXA had the SUB 300 Whitepearl. Frédérique Constant brought the Highlife Moonphase Date Manufacture and the Moneta Handwinding, while Alpina had the Seastrong Diver Extreme Automatic and Alpiner Extreme Solarmetre.
Beda’a was a welcome surprise. The affordable Angles Guichets held its own in a day crowded with ambitious watchmaking. After several appointments at the far end of the price spectrum, finding something interesting within more ordinary financial reach was especially pleasing.
We finished with a walk to L’Icebergues and Zenith’s Chronomaster Solo Sport. A three-hand Chronomaster was always going to prompt discussion. In person, particularly in chocolate, it made a strong impression on me. The asking price deserves scrutiny, but the watch itself stayed on my mind.
That evening, the official opening and an Alto-sponsored set by Cassius supplied a change of soundtrack. We had spent the day listening to people explain watches. There was something to be said for letting the music take over and the unofficial networking begin.
Thursday and tea for two
Thursday gave us a little more room to breathe. At the Hotel Eastwest, Massena LAB and Atelier Wen showed us their collaboration, bringing further attention to the quality and ambition of contemporary Chinese watchmaking. It was a rewarding stop in a week when the word “Swiss” was understandably getting plenty of exercise.
We also caught up with Fears designer Lee Yuen-Rapati and the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar. This was another watch that left me with plenty to consider. Fears had fitted a high complication into a remarkably slim, recognisable Brunswick, with a price that opened a much larger conversation about the brand’s place in independent watchmaking. Having Lee there made it an opportunity to discuss the design with someone directly involved in it.
At the Cottage Café, we visited Lilian and Thibaut from AWAKE. Their use of Vietnamese lacquer work has given me plenty to admire, and the new Frosted Leaf collection offered another reason to linger. An outdoor café was also a particularly agreeable place to continue the day’s watch discussions.
Then came Urwerk.
“Tea for Two” took place in the restaurant at the Hotel d’Angleterre, with no more than a dozen of us seated around a beautifully appointed table. There was a silver tea service, along with cakes and sandwiches. Founders Felix and Martin joined the conversation, which travelled from the weather to travel and eventually to the history of time itself.
There was no presentation to sit through. We had the afternoon tea in front of us and the freedom to ask questions, follow a tangent, or simply listen. Considering the wonderfully unconventional watches Urwerk makes, the setting was almost disarmingly civilised.
It became one of my favourite encounters of the trip. You learn a great deal about people when a conversation has room to wander. Their interests emerge. So does their humour. By the time you return to discussing the watches, you have a much better sense of the people who imagined them.
That evening, Frédérique Constant hosted us across the river at La Potinière, beside the Grande Roue. Geneva was making a strong case for extending the working day well into the evening.
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Friday along the waterfront
Our final day began on the Quai des Bergues at Czapek’s new flagship boutique. Aristo Xanthopoulos sat down with us and brought out some seriously interesting watches, including the prototype Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue.
Two balance wheels oscillate in the lower half of its face, with a differential above them at twelve. The glacier-blue mainplate gives the exposed mechanics an almost icy backdrop. I could happily have spent much longer watching it work. A platinum, ten-piece edition was comfortably beyond any plausible shopping plans, which left me free to enjoy the view.
A short walk across the footbridge brought us to De Bethune and the extraordinary DB25 Digitale. By this point, the week had provided enough remarkable watches to make any attempt at choosing a single favourite feel rather unfair. De Bethune did nothing to simplify matters.
The heat, however, made our next decision easy. Bob and I headed to the Bains des Pâquis for a swim. I recommend leaving a little space in any Geneva itinerary for the city to suggest something of its own. On this occasion, it was suggesting that we get in the water. And, frankly, who were we to argue?
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Refreshed, we returned to the Quai du Mont Blanc for coffee with Bausele’s Christo Hoppe, whose dive watch collection was very much to my taste, and afterward a return visit to the Hotel Eastwest with UNIMATIC. After five years of somehow missing one another, the latter meeting was overdue. The Modello Quattro UC4 Classic rewarded the wait: a substantial, distinctive tool watch that immediately had me thinking about straps.
Our last appointment took us back to the Beau-Rivage, where Patrick Graells guided us through Greubel Forsey’s collection. The Hand Made 1 and Hand Made 2 have already prompted a longer reflection on these pages. Patrick’s explanation of seven finishes and roughly thirty hours of work on a single balance bridge gave us a particularly useful way to understand what we were seeing.
There were also a few pieces I cannot discuss yet. Those will have to wait. Suffice it to say that our final appointment gave us good reason to keep watching.
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A voice from the mezzanine
Somewhere in the middle of all this, Bob and I were crossing the Beau-Rivage lobby when Alexandre Beauregard called down to us from the mezzanine.
We had no appointment. We are planning to catch up at the Toronto Timepiece Show later this month, so this was simply a brief hello in passing. Yet it is one of the moments I remember most clearly: a familiar voice overhead, a pause between meetings, and the pleasure of unexpectedly seeing someone you know.
Watchmaking can feel like a surprisingly small community. You meet someone in Geneva, see them again in Toronto, and pick up a conversation that began months earlier. Over time, those encounters change how you look at the watches. You remember who showed you a particular detail, or explained why something took so long to get right.
It is difficult to put a value on a week like this. I can count the appointments and the articles that follow. I can go through the photographs, which will keep me occupied for some time. But I also came home knowing people a little better, with new questions to ask them when we meet again.
In an earlier interview, Alexandre told me, “The watch adventure is a human adventure.”
After a week of walking Geneva with Bob, I think he had it exactly right.
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About the author
Brent Robillard is a writer, educator, craftsman, and watch enthusiast. He is the author of four novels. You can follow him on Instagram.
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