By the time I write this, we have finished another digital edition of LVMH Watch Week. While it is great that we live in a time and age where it is possible to bring high-quality content to people around the globe, I wish the situation was different. There is simply no substitute for holding a brand new watch in your hands, trying it on your wrist, and discussing it in-depth with brand representatives and colleagues. It allows you to not only take in all its details but also see how they interact, how the watch plays with the light, what the wearing comfort of the strap or bracelet is, and if the dimensions are pleasing.

For writers and journalists, this hands-on look at watches provides essential information, with what is gained resulting in better articles for you? our readers and the brands’ (potential) customers. But while the information gained from hands-on experiences is essential, it now rarely occurs. Instead, after an embargo expires, the internet is immediately flooded with articles about a watch very few have experienced in the metal, each featuring the same press pictures, and in-turn yielding another downside of not having physical fairs.
To me, this lack of in-person, hands-on experiences underscores the importance of still having trade shows in the watch industry. They are not a thing of the past but part of the future, although perhaps not in their pre-Covid form. I think now is the time for brands to reevaluate and revamp their market ...