IAMWATCH 2026: INDEPENDENCE RELIES ON INTERDEPENDENCE

IAMWATCH returns to Singapore from 12 - 15 November 2026 at The Singapore EDITION, bringing together 45 makers and friends of The Hour Glass for its second edition. Across three public days, visitors will have the opportunity to meet the people behind the watches through conversations, lectures, thematic get-togethers, film screenings, masterclasses, and informal encounters.

The inaugural IAMWATCH in 2024 celebrated the independent artisanal watchmaker and demonstrated something that The Hour Glass has believed for decades: meeting the maker changes how we understand the watch. Conceived principally for a Pan-Asian audience, the gathering drew collectors and enthusiasts from around the world, many of whom were meeting the makers of their watches for the first time.

Building on the foundations laid by its inaugural edition, IAMWATCH 2026 is guided by a central conviction: independence relies on interdependence. The image of the sole watchmaker working at the bench tells only part of the story. Behind every maker stands an interconnected world of component suppliers, specialist craftspeople, retailers, writers, critics, collectors, enthusiasts, and institutions. Each contributes to the knowledge, relationships, and support that allow independent artisanal watchmaking to endure. IAMWATCH 2026 brings these people and relationships into the room.

The watch is often what first draws us to a maker. It sparks our curiosity about how something was conceived, the skills required to make it and the influences that shaped its creation. Meeting the maker adds another dimension to that understanding. Hearing their stories, learning about the people who supported them and discovering the challenges behind their work can change how we appreciate the watch itself. In this sense, the watch can be both the starting point and the conclusion.

This thinking carries through to the IAMWATCH 2026 programme, which brings together six Conversations and six Lectures across three public days, alongside thematic get-togethers, film screenings and watchmaking masterclasses. The programme explores the creative, technical and practical realities of independent artisanal watchmaking, from the challenges of establishing a workshop to the transmission of knowledge between generations, the continuing possibilities for invention and the relationships that sustain the craft.

The IAMWATCH 2026 programme begins on Friday with I Want to Make My Own Watch. Now What? with Alex Rosenfield, Mehmet Korutürk, Pierre Biver, and William Massena alongside moderator Manuel Emch. The discussion begins where the romantic image of independence often ends: after someone decides to create a watch. Capital, suppliers, retailers, pricing, production, and those crucial first clients all become part of the conversation. The Morteau Generation, moderated by Mark Kauzlarich, brings Rémy Cools, Thomas Aubert, and Victor Monnin together to consider their shared education in Morteau, the relationships that followed, and whether the circumstances that helped produce this generation of makers can be taught or recreated.

On Saturday, the questions move towards invention and inheritance. Who Actually Invents Anything Anymore? sees Andreas Strehler, Kari Voutilainen, Rexhep Rexhepi, and Roger W. Smith join Wei Koh to consider where refinement ends and genuine invention begins, and whether collectors would recognise the distinction if confronted by something truly new.

On the last day, What Should Watches Made in 2026 and Beyond Look Like? brings Gautier Massonneau, Benoît Mintiens, and Ming Thein together, moderated by Constant Kwong, to consider what it means to design for the present rather than continually drawing upon the past. Does Independence Need the Groups?, meanwhile, places Karl-Fritz Scheufele, Matthieu Haverlan, and Fei Hou in conversation with Aymeric Lacroix to examine whether independent makers and larger houses are rivals, patrons of one another, or participants in the same interconnected ecosystem. Taken together, the conversations reinforce the central idea behind this year's IAMWATCH: independence has never meant standing entirely alone.

Carlos Torres examines the often-overlooked specialists behind chronometric precision in Régleurs: Watchmaking's Invisible Masters of Precision, before turning to the observatory competitions of Neuchâtel, Geneva, Kew, Hamburg, and Besançon in The Precision Olympics: The Observatory Competitions and the Making of Horological Prestige. Andreas Strehler approaches innovation through its relationship with inherited knowledge in Standing on Tradition — The Historical Development of Innovation in Watchmaking, considering how established methods have been preserved, challenged, and developed over successive generations.

Roger W. Smith contributes two lectures centred on the man who shaped his own approach to watchmaking. Life & Times of George Daniels examines Daniels through his watches, ideas, and working methods, while The Co-Axial – From Idea to Reality follows the development of the co-axial escapement from an experimental concept to a mechanism capable of series production. Rémy Cools looks further back in 18th & 19th Century French Precision Horology, tracing the makers and technical developments that advanced the pursuit of accuracy and influenced what followed. History, throughout these sessions, becomes less a chronology than a chain of transmission. Techniques are passed between generations. Ideas are revisited. One maker's work creates the conditions from which another can begin.

Presented by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo and The Hour Glass, George Daniels 100: The Genesis of Artisanal Watchmaking showcases 22 of his watches, brought together for the first time. Marking the centenary of Dr George Daniels CBE (1926–2011), this unprecedented gathering offers the most comprehensive public survey of his work to date and represents a landmark moment in the history of independent artisanal watchmaking.

A self-taught horologist, engineer and craftsman, George devoted his life to advancing mechanical watchmaking in an era when quartz was in the ascendant. He created 24 pocket watches and two wristwatches, mastering 32 of the 34 disciplines required to make a watch by hand, with individual creations taking upwards of 2,500 hours to complete. His influential book, Watchmaking, has guided generations of watchmakers, while his invention of the co-axial escapement, designed to reduce dependence on lubrication and improve long-term precision, demonstrated his commitment to mechanical innovation. Its eventual adoption by Omega fulfilled his ambition to bring the invention beyond his own workshop.

Among the 22 watches on display, Space Traveller I and Space Traveller II will be exhibited together for the first time. Both were made in 1982, the second following George's regret at having sold the first. Incorporating a chronograph capable of measuring both mean solar and sidereal time, Space Traveller II became his personal watch for nearly 30 years, remaining with him until his death in 2011. Together, the two watches trace the evolution of George's ideas, while the wider exhibition of 22 watches offers an unprecedented survey of his technical ingenuity, craftsmanship and contributions to mechanical watchmaking. To mark the centenary, Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo has also commissioned a documentary exploring George's influence on subsequent generations of watchmakers. Filmed across the Isle of Man, England and Switzerland, with archival material from The George Daniels Educational Trust, the film receives its avant-première at IAMWATCH on 14 November.

The afternoon of Saturday, 14 November, the second public day of IAMWATCH 2026, is dedicated to George Daniels. Following the documentary's avant-première, the George Daniels 100 Screening & Conversation brings together Aurel Bacs and Roger W. Smith, moderated by Su Jia Xian, to examine George's life and legacy in its entirety, including a question that continues to resonate: was he the first of a movement, or the last of a kind? Later that evening, The Watchmaker's Apprentice traces Roger's relationship with George, from his determination to become an apprentice to their years working together, illustrating how knowledge and craft are passed from one generation to the next.

Beyond the conversations and lectures, IAMWATCH 2026 offers visitors an opportunity to experience watchmaking first-hand. Across all three public days, Swiss Federal Master Watchmaker Michael Dubs leads 90-minute masterclasses, introducing participants to movement decoration before guiding them through the partial disassembly and reassembly of a mechanical movement. With more than 30 years of experience, Michael provides hands-on instruction at the bench, and each participant leaves with the movement they worked on and a certificate of participation. The masterclasses offer a chance to appreciate the precision, patience and dexterity involved in watchmaking, giving enthusiasts a better understanding of the skills behind the watches they admire.

Not every meaningful exchange at IAMWATCH 2026 requires a microphone. The thematic get-togethers, or GTGs, are deliberately informal: no agenda, no formal discussion, just watches and people. Visitors are encouraged to bring watches from their own collections, meet the makers, share stories and let conversations develop naturally. Friday's The OGs GTG brings together established makers including Andreas Strehler, Felix Baumgartner, Kari Voutilainen, Martin Frei, Maximilian Büsser, Roger W. Smith, Sylvain Pinaud and Vianney Halter in the Penthouse. Saturday's The Young Guns GTG brings a younger generation together with collectors and enthusiasts, including Alexandre Hazemann, Alexis Ramel-Sartori, Anton Suhanov, Gaël Petermann, Gautier Massonneau, Mathieu Cleguer, Rémy Cools, Reuben Schoots, Thomas Aubert, Victor Monnin and Yosuke Sekiguchi.

The film programme continues across the weekend. On Friday, Man of the Hour, presented with La Fabrique du Temps, is followed by a conversation between Enrico Barbasini and Wei Koh. Sunday's screening of Man of the Hour explores Maximilian Büsser's journey and the collaborations behind MB&F, followed by a conversation between Max and Wei.

Each evening, the Sunset Social takes over The Singapore EDITION's Outdoor Deck with food, drinks, and a few hours with no agenda. It is an extension of what IAMWATCH is ultimately designed to encourage. A lecture might begin a thought; a conversation can continue it; a watch passed across the table may take it somewhere unexpected.

The dress code captures the same spirit: Double-wristed; resort casual. Wear the watches you want to talk about.