It's very hard to believe that we're celebrating our Fifth Anniversary this month! We held our first official event on October 21st 2021 in Farringdon in London, and were delighted around 30 people showed up to meet other watch enthusiasts and support our new initiative. To celebrate this milestone, and the nearly 200 events we've either hosted or attended with Club Members since then, we're not just holding a party; we've created our first Club Watch. Inspired by lots of input from our Club members, we've joined forces with Beaucroft and the Dial artist to create it and can't wait to launch it at the Party on the 20th.

Why did we start The Watch Collectors' Club?

The single biggest reason was that we felt existing (pre-pandemic) watch events weren't fun enough! They were too stuffy, too hard to access, and often intimidating. We wanted to create events where everyone was involved, you could try on loads of watches, and you didn't need to be a previous client or know the right people to be invited. We saw a Club of committed enthusiasts and collectors who could visit boutiques together and share their passion for watches as something that could be very popular, and most importantly, something we wanted to spend out time building!

What have we achieved?

A rather staggering number of Events, firsts, and opportunities to see both popular and extremely rare watches. We've seen everything from one off TAG Heuer Plasma Diamante Tourbillons in one of London's fanciest hotels, to unique piece Pateks, to Bulovas gifted to baseball MVPs in the 1950s, to brand new releases from big brands before they're even launched (thanks TAG)!

We've brought together watch enthusiasts from across the world on our Experiences in Switzerland and opened their eyes to the brilliance of modern watchmaking. We've appreciated the diligent collecting of Members with a budget of less than £100 a watch. We've had a guided tour by Breguet of the Clockmakers Museum in London and been to the frankly astonishing Swatch Museum in Biel, Switzerland. We've had dinners, brunches, and lunches and plenty of pints. Most importantly of all though, we've made some very good friends in the process.

What's changed the most?

The biggest difference between now and when we started is the priority we put on Education in the early days. We thought that a prime reason people would want to come along was to learn, and we made a big deal about doing talks at our Meetups and highlighting educational resources. The continued growth of online content that's actually very good, whether that's from traditional watch media, new influencers, the brands themselves, or mostly YouTube made us realised that people weren't going to come to use for education unless we became a more traditional media company, which we didn't want to do.

As we grow, the biggest opportunities remain in introducing people to new watches they've not seen before. We've moved to do more Meetups where the focus is on meeting other enthusiasts and trying on watches. We've built three fantastic shows in Glasgow, Southampton and Manchester, and we've established our Experiences - taking people overseas to visit watch Atelier, Manufactures and shows together. The biggest barriers to enjoying watches are not finding the information about them, it's trying them on and hearing what other enthusiasts think.

The great news is that this is the most fun part of what we do - sharing watch stories, exploring each other's collections, hearing why someone loves a particular watch so much. My favourite thing about running the Club is when I see someone be bowled over when they see a new watch for the first time. This will never get old, and even at our London Event this week with Bremont our Marketing Apprentice was totally smitten with by one of their new Terra Nova models. It was fun to see!

What's not changed?

The main thing that's not changed is who's coming along to our Events. We set out to build a warm, welcoming and inclusive community and one of the most regular comments we get is how friendly everyone is. The variety of watches we see never ceases to amaze me. We wondered at first if we would see a set of watches that reflected the market - dominated by big brands such as Rolex, Omega, TAG, Seiko, Citizen, etc. Instead we get a very wide range of brands, types, and ages of watch at just about every event. Whether it's a brand new pickup, a vintage heirloom or a Microbrand we've never heard of, we enjoy seeing a ton of great watches. When we run brand events people often try and wear a watch from that brand. Instead of the popular icons coming along, it's more common to see something unusual, something more niche, or sometimes, just plain odd that the brand put out once upon a time!

What's coming next?

The Club will continue to change as we want to do more of what's working best and where we have the most opportunity. Our shows in 2026 have gone very well, and Manchester should be our biggest yet. We've committed to repeating them all in 2027 so that the brands know what we're doing where and when. This should mean even more new brands can exhibit. We planning two additional shows of a different kind - watch this space.

There will be at least 5 Experiences next year, including a first tour of the Jura valley from June 16th - 18th, two visits to Geneva in April and September, Dubai Watch Week, and trip to Paris. We intend to host inbound experiences for overseas visitors to enjoy the London watch scene and our shows. Our Membership options will evolve over the next few months to ensure we can include the most people in our community and spend our time creating the best events we can. We'll have more intimate events for those interested in the High Horology space, as well as regular Meetups, brand and museum visits across the UK.

We can't wait to see where the Club goes over the next five years, we'll keep growing and looking for more opportunities to bring enthusiasts and collectors together. Make sure you're on our mailing list to get all our information and please follow us on social media (@thewathcc). We hope to see you at an event soon!