In this topsy-turvy year for the watch industry, some traditions must be maintained, even if they look a bit different. WatchTime’s highly successful New York and Los Angeles collectors’ shows, which have brought brands and collectors together in person for five years, went fully digital in 2020. From October 21 to 24, some of the industry’s leading watch brands participated in WatchTime Live, a new virtual format that offered exclusive product presentations, industry panel discussions, and interactive conversations between collectors and brand representatives.

“While we obviously all miss the traditional watch shows this year, going virtual was the only logical, and more importantly the only responsible option for us,” says WatchTime publisher Sara Orlando. The new format attracted almost 600 collectors and featured more than 20 brands, including industry heavyweights like A. Lange & Söhne, Blancpain, Breguet, Grand Seiko, Greubel Forsey, IWC, Oris, Seiko, Tudor, and Vacheron Constantin.
Like its popular live-event predecessors, WatchTime Live featured an array of watch-industry panels, presentations and discussions, with industry VIPs holding forth on popular topics like chronographs, dive watches, pilots? watches, high complications, and the state of watchmaking in 2020 and beyond. Hosts included WatchTime Editor-in-Chief Roger Ruegger, Senior Editor Mark Bernardo, and WatchTime?s longtime event partner, Jeff Kingston.

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