Every April, Geneva becomes an even more remarkable place. For one week, it becomes the undisputed center of the watch world, and the action spills out way beyond the main stage. Palexpo, a large convention center in Geneva, hosts Watches and Wonders, and that’s where the big guys show off. Rolex, Patek Philippe, and this year, finally, Audemars Piguet will all be unveiling whatever they’ve been working on behind the scenes.
But Geneva Watch Week has always had another narrative running alongside the headline act. And, in 2026, this narrative has a new address. Chronopolis, a brand-new watch fair launching this year, running from April 14 to 18 at Les Halles de l’Île (an exhibition space sitting on an island in the middle of the Rhône). Twenty independent watch brands will be showcasing their watches for the public. As in, it’s free and open to everyone — no appointment required, no press badge needed, and no feeling that you’re being just tolerated rather than welcomed.
That last part actually matters quite a bit, as it’s well known in the horological community that fairs have been structured around access: who gets in, which brands’ tables you can actually walk up to, and whether the person behind the booth is actually going to give you the time of day. Chronopolis is explicitly built around the opposite approach. There, watches are meant to be touched and experienced. And, in the context of an industry that has spent the better part of several decades perfecting the art of the velvet rope, it’s actually a pretty radical statement.
The Brands Worth Knowing
Mark D. McKee / The Manual
The full list of exhibiting brands includes Arsène Lippens, Atelier Wen, AWAKE, Baltic, Beaubleu, Breda, Dennison, Depancel, Echo/Neutra, Farer, Formex, Furlan Marri, Hegid, Jacques Bianchi, Maen, Nivada Grenchen, Serica, SpaceOne, Studio Underd0g, and YEMA. If most of those names sound unfamiliar, well, that’s exactly the point. This is the up-and-comers’ table, so pull up a seat.
Baltic makes stunning, vintage-inspired watches that don’t require you to take out a second mortgage on your house. Farer definitely deserves much more attention than they get, as they’ve been doing highly interesting things with color and dial design for so long. Studio Underd0g is just as fun as its name suggests. Nivada Grenchen has slowly built up a devoted fanbase with reissues of its vintage Chronomaster. And YEMA, a French brand with a history going back all the way to 1948 is, in my opinion at least, one of the most underappreciated names in the room.
Personally, though, the brand I will make a point of seeing is Formex.
The Formex Case
Formex
Based in Biel/Bienne and reinvented in 2016, Formex has built its reputation on engineering-driven watchmaking and ergonomic case design. This brand gets genuine pleasure from solving problems for its customers, from their patented case suspension system to their interchangeable bezel and quick-release strap mechanisms. They pay an almost obsessive attention to how a watch actually sits and moves on a wrist. On top of all that, these features are not added for marketing purposes, but because the people making the watches seriously thought about them.
At Chronopolis, Formex will be showing off something new: the Reef 39.5 Forged Carbon. Its features include a forged carbon dial and an interchangeable, lumed forged carbon bezel. The result? A watch that looks noticeably different in every single light.
The really cool thing is that no two dials are quite the same, due to the use of forged carbon. Forged carbon uses short carbon fibres bound together in resin and heated under high pressure, creating a composite with a naturally varied, non-repeating pattern. You would think a watch with this material would be at a higher price point, but that is not the case. Formex has put it into a 39.5mm diver with 300m water resistance, a COSC-certified movement, and a full interchangeable bezel system. It’s priced from around $2,085 on a strap, and the first batch is limited to 100 pieces.
Now, and I’m very excited to hear this, there is more coming. The brand has teased a whole new collection that will be launching on May 21, and visitors who go see them at Chronopolis will be treated to an early look. Consider that as an excuse to walk over and introduce yourself.
More Than a Side Event
Mark D. McKee / The Manual
While it would be easy to see Chronopolis as an indie film playing across the street from the major blockbuster with a celebrity red carpet, framing it that way completely undersells it. Chronopolis in no way claims to reinvent the watch fair, but it acknowledges a reality most of us live during Geneva Watch Week: not one single venue can tell the whole story anymore.
Watches and Wonders shows the public where the industry’s center of gravity sits at the moment, while Chronopolis shows you where a lot of the energy and imagination is building up. They aren’t competing against each other, they’re complementary (and isn’t that how a healthy watch ecosystem should work?)
The person who can spend Monday morning at a Patek Philippe booth at Watches and Wonders, and by the afternoon end up at Chronopolis handling a Formex, is not a person with confused priorities. They’re someone who understands that being a watch lover has never been about price brackets.