Hands on Horology ran for its second year and despite the first show being a major success, somehow the team at Oracle Time managed to exceed expectations even further. The show turned out to be a wonderful day of sunshine, watches, and the community welcoming over 800 people through the door. The sold-out event hosted over 40 watch brands from all over the world and from budget to Haute Horology and even generated enough attention for a break-out show to take place just down the road!
Is Hands on Horology Now London's Premier Watch Event?
The Beginning of a New Collaboration
We were honoured to be an official media partner for the show, but our contribution didn’t stop there. We had the opportunity to bring some of the WatchGecko magic to the show by producing the VIP wristbands, a custom military nylon strap featuring the show colours that was limited to just VIP attendees. The strap was very well received adding a touch of watch enthusiasm to what is normally a throwaway item.
Earlier this year we began working with Nivada Grenchen, a brand that I have been a fan of since their relaunch in 2020. The thing I love most about them is their authenticity to the original designs that propelled the brand into the mainstream in the 20 th century. This year marks 100 years since Nivada was founded and to celebrate that we were given a very special opportunity. Those who attended the show will have been the first to see this new project, but to stay in the loop make sure to sign up to our mailing list because you are not going to want to miss out on what’s coming up.
A Breakout Event?
We all know about the breakout shows around Watches and Wonders. Time to Watches, Beau Rivage, Chronopolis, and others have grown from small independent brand meetings to fully fledged events that attract attention all of their own. Until recently, I assumed it would be unlikely that we would see this sort of thing happening in the UK. That was until I got a notification on Instagram about a new show in London on the same day as Hands on Horology.
To be clear, this show isn’t meant to compete with Hands on Horology, it is meant to compliment it and the way that the small team organised and ran it certainly meant that it felt like a breakout event rather than a mutiny! The idea came about when some of the brands hoping to exhibit at Hands on Horology could not get a space and so decided to set up their own event to compliment the bigger show. The teams from Elliot Brown, Arken, Clemence, Nomadic, and Sher put their minds together and within the space of three days had organised and branded practically the whole thing! The sessions started later in the afternoon so as not to compete directly with the main show and went on late into the evening to continue to focus from the day on a group of British brands. I was very impressed with how relaxed the event felt along with the energy the brands brought. I really hope that we continue to see more of this spread of community at big events in the near future.
A Fine Selection of Brands
As I mentioned before, over 40 brands exhibited at the show giving attendees option paralysis trying to decide which brand to visit next, which owner to speak to, and most importantly, which watches to get hands on with. Despite the numbers of brands and visitors, the show never felt crowded, the flow of people moved seamlessly throughout the event space and individuals were able to get one on one time with the brands that they love. The collection of exhibitors felt curated, there were no biases towards British or Swiss brands, nor were there only affordable or extremely high-end pieces. The mix felt just right, enough attainable brands to keep people buying and enough Haute Horology to inspire the watch enthusiast.
One of my favourite brands from the show was Brew. Anyone that has a passion for watches, coffee and Porsche is always going to become a fast friend of mine and Jon puts all three of those passions into his brand. Being based in the USA it’s rare to see this brand at shows in the UK so I’m always pleased to see these awesome watches. They also represent great value along with the retro design language. A metric is just £360!
There was a good mix of British brands too. CW, Beaucroft, Studio Underd0g, Isotope, and Paulin were representing the home country. It’s always nice to see these local brands alongside some of the more established European brands proving that the British watch industry is growing from strength to strength.
Moving up in price from some of our neighbours and independent European brands, Hands on Horology also have a room dedicated to high-end watchmaking. A unique opportunity for attendees to get hands on with some of the watch world’s highest quality pieces. One of my personal favourites in this space were Atelier Wen, we had the opportunity to spend some time with their flagship, the Inflection, and the quality of this watch truly captivated me. Louis Erard were present bringing some fun and unique design language to the room, and just to impress the crowd, Kudoke brought out some of their most excellent timepieces for the display.
Final Thoughts
Hands on Horology proves that the watch community in the UK is growing outside of just those of us working in the industry. It brings together new collectors, seasoned buyers, professionals, content creators and everyone in between. The show balances buzz without rush and budgets high and low showing that everyone in this community is welcome and has a story to tell. I truly believe that this is London's premier watch event.
I want to thank the team at Oracle Time for putting on another wonderful event and for allowing us to be so involved. We already cannot wait for next year and hope to see many of you again at the next Hands on Horology.
