PARALLÈLE / GENEVA WATCH DAYS 2026
GENEVA NOTES · 01
When the Watches Become Real
A lighter mood, familiar faces, new encounters, and the pleasure of finally seeing the watches beyond the press images.
Geneva, Day One.
There is always a particular energy to the first day in Geneva. Yesterday it felt especially noticeable.
Busy, certainly. Energetic, definitely. But also lighter.
Around the tables were journalists and friends arriving from around the world. Different languages, different perspectives, but the same reason for being here: watches.
And by mid-morning, one gesture seemed to be repeating itself: people leaning in.
Behind the perfect shot with Emily @secretdiaryofawawatchgirl
SCHWARZ ETIENNE
When an image becomes a watch
There is another small pleasure that comes with the first day of a watch fair: finally meeting the watches you have been talking about for months.
The black-and-gold contrast creates the first impression. Then the watch turns over.
“The press image creates the first reaction. The watch itself creates the second.”
MINASE
A different kind of surprise
Minase Yusai Dials
The Mastercraft J3 creates curiosity for almost the opposite reason. Its more compact proportions and restrained design offer an accessible introduction to the Minase universe, a bridge for collectors discovering the brand for the first time.
But look beyond that first encounter and what truly sets Minase apart is its approach to Japanese craftsmanship. Across the wider collection, intricate decorative techniques bring different expressions of the brand’s heritage to the wrist, giving each piece a distinctly Japanese character.
The Mastercraft may open the door.
Craftsmanship is what makes people stay.
Looking, photographing, asking another question.
AROUND THE TABLE
The conversations between the watches
Geneva isn’t only about what is sitting on the table. There is room to sit, room to talk, and room for an appointment to become something less formal.
Meetings, familiar faces and new encounters across Geneva.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY
Curiosity beyond the table
One of the day’s highlights came away from the traditional meeting table, with Swiss television filming our clients as part of its Geneva Watch Days coverage.
BEFORE DAY TWO
What stayed with us
By the end of the first day, the appointments had blurred slightly into one another and there were already far too many photographs on our phones.
The mood feels lighter this year.
And after months of looking at watches through screens, there is still no substitute for putting one on the wrist, turning it over and watching someone else discover the detail you have been waiting for them to see.
Not everything that happened.
Just what stayed with us.
