A Preview of What’s in Store at the Chicago Windup Watch Fair

The inaugural Chicago Windup Watch Fair is just a week away! Scheduled to take place July 15 – 17 at 221 North Paulina St, this will be our first event in the Midwest and our largest Windup to date. Over 40 brands will be presenting and we’ll have programming throughout the weekend.

To get you hyped for the weekend, we’ve put together a roundup of products that will be on display at the Fair. But before we get to that, here’s a quick rundown of just some of the programming and fun times you can expect throughout the weekend:

∗ Live podcasting with the Worn & Wound team and The Grey NATO
∗ A limited-edition gallery with pieces from Collective Horology’s archive 
∗ A giveaway with Citizen, Christopher Ward, Grant Stone, and Topo Designs
∗ Live watchmaking demo with Oak & Oscar
∗ Food trucks, a bar, and lounge space for weekend hangs
∗ Free parking on site

And here’s a full list of presenting brands:

Now, on to the preview of watches that will be on display at the Chicago Windup Watch Fair.

Oris

Oris’ new limited-edition Aquis supports the Billion Oyster Project, which was founded in 2014 with the goal of restoring one billion oysters to the New York Harbor. With over 75 million oysters already propagated in the New York Harbor, the Billion Oyster Project is well on its way to achieving its goal and aims to hit the 100 million oyster milestone later this year. The Oris Aquis New York Harbor Limited Edition features a 41.5 mm case width, matte steel bezel with polished numerals and markers, and 300 meters of water resistance. Limited to 2,000 pieces, Oris’ latest limited edition is available now wherever Oris watches are sold.

Bulova

Inspired by Bulova’s military heritage, this stylish field watch infuses historical elements of the iconic A-11 Hack watch into your contemporary lifestyle. The clean, sporty design features a self-winding automatic movement with a hack feature in a silver-tone stainless steel round case finished with a detailed coin edge and a blue dial with white Super-Luminova® hands and markers, a red second hand, and a brown nylon NATO strap with buckle closure. This essential timepiece has a smaller case size for everyday versatility and has a domed mineral crystal for durable wear. Water resistance to 50 meters.

Christopher Ward

A transparent, super-thin dial of pure sapphire backed with a layer of blue polycarbonate that gives the dial its translucent blue glow. Water resistance to 600m, and a self-winding Swiss movement with a 38-hour power reserve. The 40mm C60 Sapphire is both a thing of beauty and a professional-grade diving watch.

Citizen

The Citizen Promaster collection offers a range of function-forward professional sports watches that are designed for an active life outdoors, whether that is on land, at sea, or in the air. The Citizen Promaster Dive series consists of a diverse assortment of purpose-built diver’s watches that offer ISO-certified performance and all of the features that are necessary to spend a life exploring the mysteries of the ocean.

Collective Horology

Collective Horology will be joining the Windup Watch Fair for the first time and will be helping us host our first ever limited edition watch gallery. Founded in 2018, Collective is a collectors group with the goal to create collaborative watches for enthusiasts, and boy have they done that in style. In just a few short years, Collective has collaborated with Zenith, J.N. Shapiro, H. Moser, URWERK, and, most recently, IWC. Each of these limited pieces sold out quickly and can be quite difficult to see in person…until now. All five of these limited pieces will be on display at the Chicago Windup Watch Fair and throughout the weekend there will be sessions where you can go hands-on with the collection.

Farer

With its mix of textured whites and racing-themed color highlights, the Bernina is a modern watch built to be a beautifully-bold addition to any wrist. The main dial plate is set in flat matte off-white with the triple sub-dial layout punctuated by brilliant white embossed top twin sub-dials. The main 60-second chronograph hand sits as a sharp line of racing red along with the dauphine style hour/minute hands – which are infilled in Super-LumiNova Grade A – and gloss red multi-overprinted hour numerals edge the dial, all held by the internal telemeter scale. Framed by a ceramic bezel and engraved with a racing red tachymeter scale to complete the Bernina alpine sports look, this is Farer at its boldest.

G-SHOCK

G-SHOCK’s new limited edition GMW-B5000TVB1 (Virtual Armor II) is inspired by the world of science fiction and video games. It’s not likely that you’re going to throw on a mech suit before you head out the door for some coffee, but this new G-SHOCK definitely gets you a step closer. Crafted from lightweight titanium that’s treated with TiC (titanium carbide) coating, as well as brown and dark gray IP (ion plating). In a truly unique fashion, the brown and gray coatings are applied in a geometric camouflage arrangement, creating a watch with an aggressive, graphic look like no other. Furthering the technical style, words are laser etched throughout the case and bracelet.

The Grey NATO

For most Worn & Wound readers, The Grey NATO (TGN) needs no introduction. But for the uninitiated, TGN is a leading watch podcast hosted by two prolific watch and adventure lifestyle journalists, James Stacey and Jason Heaton. James and Jason will have their own home base within the Windup floorplan where they’ll have some cool gear for sale and, most importantly, be interacting with TGN fans. They also plan to host a live podcast at the Fair. TGN is an exciting addition to the Windup Watch Fair that you don’t want to miss.

NORQAIN

A sign of NORQAIN’s watchmaking craftsmanship, the Independence 22 model’s skeletonised Sellita movement is based on the architecture principles of beam construction: each support point is held by at least two arms. Wearers and admirers can enjoy a stunning view of the robust and shock-resistant movement through the sapphire glass on both sides of the stainless steel case. The 42mm case features three different finishes – brushed, polished and sandblasted. The Independence 22 Skeleton has been produced as an unlimited special edition that starts with 300 pieces.

William Wood

The William Wood Triumph Collection is the brand’s most prestigious watch in it’s growing family of timepieces. It is an exemplary display of their craftsmanship and unique values. Each watch is made in the iconic Jura Valley of Switzerland, the home of luxury watchmaking. The Triumph Watch is fitted with a Swiss-Made Sellita SW510 chronograph movement. The watch is available in 3 colors; Heat (Red), Oxygen (Blue) and Fuel (White), which together being the 3 elements needed to start a fire.

Zodiac

The Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Pro-Diver is the brand’s take on a modern, performance dive watch. Building off of their design heritage dating back to 1953, the visual identity of the Pro-Diver is easily recognizable as a Super Sea Wolf, but everything is newly designed and engineered. ISO certified to current specifications, chronometer-certified, rated to 300M of water resistance, lume like a torch, and Swiss-made, the Super Sea Wolf Pro-Diver is a top-tier sports watch.