Forget the stuffy, high-end watch world of Geneva. The Windup Watch Fair is a breath of fresh air, completely free from the usual snobbery of the luxury wristwatch industry. You won’t find intricate tourbillon movements or flashy white gold cases here. In fact, brand names like Hublot are practically unheard of, and nobody’s stressing about Rolex waiting lists. This is a different kind of watch gathering.
Instead, the Windup Watch Fair offers an annual celebration for passionate watch lovers. It’s a vibrant gathering for those who have wholeheartedly embraced, and even become advocates for, the exciting growth of microbrands – smaller, independent companies known for their innovative designs and refreshingly accessible prices.
Jonathan Ferrer, the visionary founder of Brew Watch Co., a popular microbrand based in Hoboken, N.J., understands the laid-back vibe perfectly. He knows this isn’t the place for formal wear; his blazer stays at home.
“The true charm of these shows lies in their authenticity and approachability,” Ferrer shared in a recent interview. “Attendees simply want to connect with brands and feel understood.”
This weekend marks the highly anticipated 10th anniversary of the Windup Watch Fair, held at Center415, a sprawling 30,000-square-foot venue in Midtown Manhattan. Since its inception in 2015, the event has grown significantly, with organizers anticipating around 150 brands and over 10,000 attendees.
“From the very first Windup event, we kept thinking, ‘It can’t possibly get any busier’,” explained Blake Malin, one of the fair’s co-founders. “Yet, it just keeps growing. It has truly become an essential gathering that many watch enthusiasts feel compelled to experience.”
Back in 2011, before his watch fair days, Mr. Malin was raising funds for nonprofits. It was then that he decided he wanted a watch, and, like many, turned to online research, enlisting his college friend, Zach Weiss, to help.
“We quickly realized there was a void,” Mr. Malin recalled. “No one was discussing affordable watches with the kind of passion and detail we felt they deserved.”
This realization led them to launch Worn & Wound, a blog dedicated to watch enthusiasts. As the platform gained a significant following and evolved into an online retailer, Mr. Malin still found himself feeling like an outsider at traditional watch events. These gatherings primarily focused on luxury brands, catering almost exclusively to the affluent.
His discomfort sparked a thought: if he, an industry insider, felt out of place, how must the average watch consumer feel?
Concurrently, Mr. Malin was a frequent visitor to Pop-Up Flea, a vibrant, unpretentious temporary market in Lower Manhattan that showcased small and often independent men’s wear brands. It was a far cry from the opulent luxury events.
“In our opinion, Pop-Up Flea truly represented the pinnacle of such markets,” Mr. Malin stated, recalling discussions with his business partners after one inspiring visit. “It was then that we knew we had to create a similar experience for the watch community.”
In 2015, as Jonathan Ferrer was launching Brew Watch Co., he heard through friends that Worn & Wound was planning an event specifically for small, independent brands to showcase their watches, and for enthusiasts to discover and purchase them.
That October, the very first Windup Watch Fair opened its doors in a modest SoHo storefront. Ferrer was among the representatives from 18 pioneering brands, and the event was an immediate success, with queues forming daily outside the venue.
For Mr. Malin, it was a tangible realization of a burgeoning online community of watch aficionados finally connecting in person. “It was all the passionate, ‘nerdy’ folks from the online forums,” Mr. Ferrer chuckled, recalling the scene.
Mr. Malin characterized the fair as “approachable and low-key,” intentionally designed to be the antithesis of the often-stuffy environments favored by the industry’s luxury giants.
For smaller, direct-to-consumer watch brands, many of whom lack substantial marketing budgets or their own physical retail presence, the exposure provided by the Windup Watch Fair is incredibly valuable.
“Major players like Omega simply don’t need this kind of platform,” Mr. Ferrer noted. “They already reach tens of millions of people daily through their expansive marketing efforts.”
Oris, a prominent Swiss brand, has been a lead sponsor since the fair’s beginning, standing out as a well-established entity amidst the microbrands. V.J. Geronimo, CEO of Oris Americas, highlighted the immense value of direct consumer interaction at the event.
“It’s crucial to genuinely listen to what customers are saying,” Mr. Geronimo emphasized, “a practice not all brands prioritize.”
Since its expansion to San Francisco in 2018, the Windup Watch Fair has successfully launched additional events in bustling cities like Chicago and Dallas. This remarkable growth perfectly mirrors the upward trajectory seen across many microbrands in the industry.
When Mr. Ferrer first founded Brew, he sold approximately 150 watches annually. Today, his company boasts sales of over 15,000 units a year. Despite conducting “99 percent” of its business online, the Windup Watch Fair holds an indispensable spot on his annual schedule.
Beyond sales, the fair acts as a dynamic incubator, fostering a rich exchange of innovative ideas among burgeoning watch start-ups, Mr. Ferrer explained.
“One might assume such an event would be intensely competitive,” he remarked, “but I’ve consistently had incredibly valuable conversations. It truly feels like a master class, shared among fellow watch-brand owners.”
Furthermore, the fair provides him with an opportunity to actively engage with the broader watch community, Mr. Ferrer noted, highlighting that customers definitely take notice if his brand is absent.
“If you’re not present,” he stated, “people start to question your authenticity as an independent watch brand and wonder if you’ve become too big for the community. But being there demonstrates that you’re still one of them, still connected to your roots.”