Time To Watches 2025 Round-Up: Villa Sarasin Brings With It A Whole New Vibe

Seventy-seven brands. Forty-two podcast interviews. Six days of near-relentless sun. The fact I’m still awake and able to type is a miracle. Sleep-deprived and mentally overloaded, I find myself looking forward to the wonderful experiences of Time to Watches 2025 settling in my mind. At the moment, the memories are so loud, colourful, and jumbled, that making sense of what just happened is tough sledding. With a little distance, however, I am sure we will come to say that this edition of Time to Watches was not just the best yet, but a significant turning point in the industry.

There’s no fixed hierarchy when it comes to the slew of events that commonly take place during the first week of April every year. While Watches and Wonders is regarded as the king, the rest of the happenings comprising what has become known as “Geneva Watch Week” seem more concerned with raising each other up than vying for superiority. That said, there can be little question that following its move from HEAD Geneve to the Villa Sarasin, just one minute by foot from the Palexpo (home of Watches and Wonders), Time to Watches has elevated itself to the front of the chasing pack.

The organisation was seamless, the integration of on-site media (with a “glass igloo” recording studio populated for the most part by me and my co-host of The Real Time Show Alon Ben Jospeh) gave proceedings a lively and extremely current feel, and the avalanche of interesting novelties meant that this fair will live long in the memory as the moment the attention of the watch world shifted towards independence as the true heart of innovation.

Set against the backdrop of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, the mood was surprisingly chipper. None amongst us was blind to the fact that the imposition of fees up to 31% could very quickly become an existential concern for many of the brands showing at TTW, but having weathered two terrible years already, most greeted the news with an eye roll, a languid shrug, and a half smile that suggested they’d find a way, maddening as the situation may be.

There was no little speculation that, in a really odd way, the smaller indies might actually be the ones to benefit (relatively speaking) from Trump’s penalties.

For years, many mainstream brands have had Rolex and, most importantly, Rolex’s pricing in their sights. Brands like Omega and IWC have been taking advantage of the Crown’s ever-increasing entry point and raised their own prices, or positioned those of their novelties higher than one might have expected, to capitalise on Rolex creeping ever-closer to a five-figure starting point.

Consequently, the tariff that will be imposed on a new white dial Omega Speedmaster leaving Switzerland for the US will amount to around 2.5k. Thirty-one per cent is thirty-one per cent for everyone but in terms of cold hard cash, the real-world impact of a 2.5k levy versus, for example, the CHF 465 one would expect to pay on, say, a CHF 1,500 Nivada Grenchen is a sweeter pill to swallow. Will consumers punish the greedy gobblers that make up a huge swathe of the industry and funnel their hard-earned dollars into smaller, more agile creative enterprises (like NG, SpaceOne, Paulin, Airain, Awake, Lebois & Co., Beaubleu, Ba1110d, Elka, De Rijke, and the like)?

As you can probably tell from that shortlist of names, there was a lot of exciting stuff to see at Villa Sarasin. So much so, in fact, I could probably write ten articles of this length and still not cover everything I’d like to talk about, but for now, I’ve selected my top five brands of TTW 2025. Let us know what you think of my choices in the comments below.

While not an old brand, Awake has already been through some serious changes. Recently, it has embraced a new direction that favours artisanal dial finishing over edgier designs and existential messaging. The result is one of the most handsome and eye-catching models on the wrist.

A flying tourbillon with a moonphase and hand-finished dial elements? For less than 12,000? I’m not sure the words to do what Thomas Baillod and his team have achieved with a brand that never intended to be a brand (the whole project was established as a proof of commercial concept).

I’m a bit biased here because I spent a huge amount of time with Dennison creating content for their IG channel, but that opportunity only befell me because of how much time I’ve spent with the team since the brand’s resurgence began last October. The reason I spent so much time with the team is simply because I love the watches and the value proposition (especially when it comes to the hard stone dials). I wear a malachite Dennison on my right wrist and will certainly be adding at least one of the new models announced during TTW to my collection (most likely the coral but the rubellite is a close second…).

Possibly the most diligent approach to surface finish transitions in the history of watchmaking. Don’t take my word for it: if you can, get one of these on your wrist. The price point will make sense immediately.

The new Worldtimer from SpaceOne is the most preposterous watch for under CHF 3,000 I have ever seen. It is just as cool and even more wearable than the Tellurium (that really should have won a GPHG in my opinion). It is the perfect mix between the ergonomics of the “Flight of the Navigator” reminiscent Jump Hour and the truly extra-terrestrial vibes of the Tellurium. And it’s CHF 2,700. It doesn’t get much better than that. The only downside? You’ll have to wait until June for the images… Time to start saving up, at least.

Honourable mentions: there were countless excellent designs on display but one very apparent thing that warrants mentioning is the build quality of so many of the pieces being produced by these smaller brands. It seems the healthy micro/small independent scene has matured to the point at which you’re more likely to get “boom” rather than “bang” for your buck. I was particularly impressed with the material quality of watches from Atelier Jalaper, White Star Watches, Milus, Elka, Beaubleu, and Lebois & Co. (which makes possibly the nicest sub-5k chronograph on the market).