Some of the prestigious Swiss watch brands come together to create the "Geneva Watch Days 2020”At the end of April, a self-managed multi-brand watch event that is scheduled to take place in Geneva from 26 to 29 April 2020, just when it was planned Watches & Wonders 2020.

Luxury watchmakers face turbulent times. The two main fairs, Watches & Wonders (Eg YESHH) is Baselworld have just announced the cancellation of their 2020 editions amid fears of a possible pandemic COVID-19 Coronavirus. With these missed opportunities to meet retailers and the press, the watch brands have to manage the activities that would take place during the two shows, but in a different way.  

In just three days, at the initiative of the CEO Jean-Christophe Babin di Bvlgari, a group of brands has established the organization of "Geneva Watch Days 2020". The self-managed and decentralized multi-brand event will be held from 26 to 29 April 2020, on the same dates as Watches & Wonders 2020. Many brands already involved in the project: Breitling, Bvlgari, Gerald Genta, Girard-Perregaux, MB&F, Ulysse Nardin, De Bethune and Urwerk. 

The idea behind Geneva Watch Days 2020 is simple. With the cancellation of Watches & Wonders e Baselworld, the only solution for brands would have been to organize their roadshows and events privately. The proliferation of such meetings would have created many problems for the main players in the sector, as retailers and the press could not easily participate in each of them. So why not coordinate and create a collective meeting in Geneva? Each brand will organize its own showroom, mainly in hotels in the center of Geneva. A steering committee involving all the brands will coordinate all activities, including a dinner with the press and a party organized with GMT.

The committee is also in charge of negotiating hotel rates for all attendees and possibly opening the Geneva Watch Days to other brands, if they consider it interesting. The state of Geneva was quick to approve the initiative, despite the Swiss Federal Council has just banned public and private events with more than 1.000 attendees. Evidently, i Geneva Watch Days 2020 decentralized, would not violate this prohibition.