The dust has now settled surrounding the latest iteration of the WatchIt! Watch Fair.
It’s been over 3 and a half years since the inaugural WatchIt! event, and to be completely honest, we didn’t know what to expect. Would we have enough brands say yes to joining us? Would enough people turn up? Would the location be suitable?
Despite these concerns, we decided that a watch-centric event in the early part of the year in the Midlands was going to happen. We had heard so many watch fans (us included) say that London is a pain to get to, and that there just aren’t enough watch events in the UK in general either.
What a day it turned out to be! Over 400 guests joined 21 British brands and companies to make it a tremendous success. The general atmosphere was brilliant, and the hustle and bustle was a joy to behold as a nervous event organiser.
But, don’t let me do all the talking, here’s some feedback we received from the visitors:
Superb event bringing together watch fans and brand owners together for a fun time. Looking forward to the next event!
A great show that gives watch enthusiasts the chance to see and handle micro brands that are usually available online.
Great, personal event allowing easy interaction with the watches and the people behind them, looking forward to the next one.
A great event and one I will attend again. It was super to be able to see items in the flesh and try on watches as well as talk with designers.
This was the first Watch Fair I have attended. The atmosphere was friendly, the welcome was warm and the vendors were willing to talk without being stand-offish. I’m looking forward to the next and already saving for that future purchase.
Great event. Spent a fantastic morning discovering new watches and meeting the passionate people at the forefront of British watchmaking.
The Watchit Watch Fair was my first watch fair and I found it fascinating. The chance to speak to manufacturers, dealers and accessory suppliers in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere was great. Also meeting and chatting with people from different watch group communities made the whole experience very enjoyable. Would thoroughly recommend, can’t wait for the next one.
How about the exhibitors? What did they have to say?
Watchit! Watch Fair 2023 was a perfect event with the perfect crowd. The best possible way to kick off the year.
This was my first time exhibiting, and it was a really positive experience – meeting lots of really enthusiastic visitors and chatting to other watch brands
At last a proper travelling table top event, that is more concerned with the product (watch exhibitors) than the wrapping. Well done Josh and team.
WatchIt! was one of the most engaging watch events we have been to. A fantastic mix of brands, enthusiastic guests and all perfectly organised by Josh & James. I can’t wait for the next one.
A great show that we can’t wait to do again!
We are absolutely over the moon with the overall feedback received! Now, the event wasn’t without fault. This was only our second watch event after all, and we are not professional event organisers. The main feedback for improvement was the parking (the hotel had 200 spaces, and in our naivety we thought this would be enough), and it being a little bit cramped around the stalls. We obviously didn’t quite prepare ourselves for the success of the event, nor how busy it got!
Therefore, our main takeaways are:
- People want more watch events in the UK. So we will give it to them!
- We will use a proper conference centre next time, instead of a hotel
- The overall friendly non-snobbish atmosphere went down really well
- Smaller, British brands are hugely popular and people want to see them in the metal
Myself and James are investigating if we can arrange another event towards the end of the year. However, that time tends to be quite busy already with other watch events – so watch this space!
To all those who attended, we are incredibly grateful to you (some travelled hours!) for coming along and making it the success it was.
See you at the next one!
