One thing that all of us at WatchPoint agreed on from the very beginning was that everything we do will be done with as much transparency as possible, seeing as the watch world is often shrouded in a mysterious veil of fake waitlists, ghost kitchen manufacturers, and marketing mumble. Wandering Watch Hours would, among other things, also be a celebration of just that, a bonanza of watches; for watch nerds, by watch nerds. In the spirit of that notion, and now that we’ve wrapped up a very successful first watch fair, here’s a bit of transparency.
Sinn was a popular choice from the TimeOnly section.
We were going to be very happy with a few hundred attendees – initial interest indicated as much – with our three-strong group chat celebrating hitting 150 tickets, and quickly realising there are plenty more people who wanted in. 24 hours of scrambling to book a larger venue and a “SOLD OUT” Insta post later, and we were encroaching on 700 visitors. The day itself went exactly as we’d hoped, with a wall of watch-hungry enthusiasts Aragorning the double doors (I hope at least some of you get that reference) at 10:00 on the dot, and the rush never really slowing down for the rest of the day. Yes, we’re feeling pretty smug and self-assured, but without the support of the folks that came along to make the show great and the Perth WIS, we wouldn’t have an excuse to come back next year.
Feynman showing off the Q and some rare, enamel creations.
A special shoutout is in order for Feynman’s YK and QF, who flew all the way from Singapore to make the show, and then joined us in Melbourne a few days later.
A lucky few managed to catch the duo in the WatchPoint Showroom to really get into the nitty gritty from the brand’s founder, but if you missed out and want a closer look at their creations, we think we’ll do a decent job of conveying the story too.
If your goal was to meet a brand founder, you could have also moseyed on over to Houtman’s table, where Jason was very happy to tell you the tales of his Aussie-inspired collection.
Any good watch also deserves an excellent strap, and lucky for you, Jayson from Artisan was there to show off his wares. The Sydney-based leatherworker really does live up to his name, and it’s highly likely that any custom straps you see at your next watch GTG came from him – whether a holey, cheesy one for a Studio Underd0g Pizza Watch, or a refined cordovan custom-fit to a Patek Nautilus.
Speaking of the Pizza Watch; Time+Tide, our colleagues from down the road in Melbourne also joined, and their table looked like this for most of the day – packed. Thankfully, we got a couple of nice shots in amongst the crowd, and this Baltic chrono stood out with Norqains, Christopher Wards, and many others flying left and right.
But if there’s one person we have to thank in particular, it’s Praka from the OverTime Podcast. He’s been a keen supporter of the cause from the very early days, and hosted a live podcast session during the show, joined by James of WatchingJames fame who somehow eluded the photographer’s lens.
We need to make sure to take a photo before the event kicks off next year!
At the far end of the room, comprising nearly half of our showroom brands including Hz, Vario, RZE, Second Hour, Formex, and so many more – as well as our congregation of German independents (courtesy of TimeOnly) – we could hardly see through the constant wall of people, so much so that most of the photos don’t even show the watches. That in itself was proof that Perth was a great first stop for Wandering Hours. For those who have read this far, you get a little teaser of what’s to come as well; we’ve not been shy about our return to Perth, but we’re also planning on bringing WHWF to at least two other Australian cities in 2027. All will be revealed soon – make sure you’re following @wanderinghoursfair on Insta for the latest news.
