Windup Watch Fair San Francisco Panel Roundup

This year’s Windup Watch Fair in San Francisco featured a broad selection of panel discussions and interviews with brands exhibiting at the show and some of our favorite watch world personalities. We talked about the importance of technological advancement in modern watchmaking, deconstructing watch categories, making haute horlogerie available to the masses, and a whole lot more. If you were unable to attend the show in San Francisco but still want to get a taste of these panel discussions, we’ve recorded them and made them available below, and via our YouTube channel.

We hope you enjoy, and we also want to thank all of our great panelists who participated in these discussions!

Making Haute Horology for the Many with Christopher Ward

Worn & Wound Cofounder Zach Weiss leads an in-depth discussion with Mike France, CEO of Christopher Ward on how the Bel Canto has helped change the game in the world of affordable high-end complications.

Advancing Watchmaking into the 21st Century with Accutron

Editor Zach Kazan at Worn & Wound leads a panel of experts discussing how a historic brand like Accutron is using technology, legacy, and culture and collaborations to continue to advance watchmaking into the 21st century. Panel experts include: Richard Callamaras – Accutron collector and Jason Gong – Complecto Founder and CEO.

Deconstructing Watch Categories with Fortis

Diving, Pilot, Field, or Driving watches suggest that they are made for divers, pilots and explorers, or drivers only, while the intention is the complete opposite. Why does the watch industry lean on these categories so much? Has the time come for a new way of categorizing watches? Blake Buettner, Managing Editor at Worn & Wound is joined by Andreas Bentele, Marketing Manager at Fortis Watches, as well as Bradley Price of Autodromo and Dana Li of Tell the Time.

It’s Not Easy Being Green with Oris

For Oris, connecting and bonding with consumers goes beyond products. Enter the Oris ProPilot X Kermit Edition, a watch that explores self-care, mental health, positivity and why these concepts, outside of strictly watches, are so important to us and to Oris. Blake Buettner, Managing Editor at Worn & Wound, sits down with VJ Geronimo, CEO-The Americas at Oris, to discuss why it’s important to be green—in more ways than one—by crafting meaningful partnerships built on shared values.

Always Wear Your Watches with Zodiac

Kyle Snarr, Head of Partnerships at Worn & Wound, leads a conversation about putting watches through their paces in the wild. Michael Pearson, Global Brand Director for Zodiac Watches, Jonathan Ferrer, Founder of Brew Watches, and Asha Wagner, Fire Captain, adventurer, and tool-watch enthusiast, talk about experiences with the watches, how owners are using watches as inspirational artifacts to inspire new adventures and make new memories.

In addition to our panels, our San Francisco event also featured a happy hours sponsored by our friends at Complecto and Vero. During Complecto’s Happy Hour, founder Jason Gong was joined onstage by TJ Harris, Director of Luxury Brands at Citizen Watch America, for a conversation about the state of the watch industry.

Vero’s happy hour included a musical performance (a Windup Watch Fair first!) by Matt Costa and a screening of the short film “Katabatic Flight.”