One of the most memorable additions to Windup Watch Fair San Francisco 2026 wasn’t a new release, a panel discussion, or even a brand activation. It was the twist of tiny screwdrivers, movements clicking into place, and attendees experiencing the satisfaction of building a mechanical watch with their own hands.
For the first time ever at a Windup Watch Fair, DIY Watch Club hosted live watchmaking workshops throughout the weekend, giving attendees the opportunity to assemble their own watches from the ground up right on-site at Fort Mason’s Gateway Pavilion. Led by DIY Watch Club founder Quinn Lai and his partner Rebecca Lai, the classes quickly became one of the Fair’s most talked-about experiences, drawing everyone from seasoned enthusiasts curious about the mechanics behind their collections to total newcomers looking for a deeper connection to watchmaking.
Each workshop guided participants step-by-step through the process of assembling a functioning mechanical watch, including casing the movement, setting the hands, and completing the final assembly. Participants each built one of DIY’s White Dial Stainless Steel GMT, giving them not only a hands-on introduction to watchmaking, but also a genuinely wearable travel-ready mechanical watch to take home at the end of the session. While some attendees arrived slightly intimidated by the process, the atmosphere in the workshop area quickly became collaborative, energetic, and surprisingly relaxed as participants realized they were capable of building something genuinely meaningful themselves.
Throughout the weekend, the DIY Watch Club tables became a playground for the watchmaking-curious. In a show built around experiencing watches firsthand, the workshops offered something uniquely personal: the chance to leave not just with a new watch, but with one you helped create yourself.
What made the activation especially compelling was how naturally it fit within the broader spirit of Windup Watch Fair. Windup has always been about making watch enthusiasm approachable, interactive, and community-driven, and this DIY Watch Club activation embodied all three. The workshops stripped away some of the mystery surrounding mechanical watches and replaced it with curiosity, accessibility, and hands-on learning.
By the end of the weekend, dozens of attendees walked out of Windup San Francisco wearing watches they had personally assembled only hours earlier. Judging by the reaction throughout the Fair, it’s safe to say this likely won’t be the last time DIY Watch Club becomes part of the Windup experience.
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