London’s Newest Watch Show — Hands On Horology

London’s Newest Watch Show: Hands On Horology

Bringing over 40 international watch brands to Shoreditch, Hands On Horology’s set to become London’s premier watch event.

You can wistfully window shop down Bond Street all you want, sign up to all the latest microbrand drops and follow every watch influencer out there for painfully perfect Instagram shots – when it comes down to it, the only way you can really appreciate a watch is with it on your wrist. And honestly, as a watch writer, I do take that for granted a fair bit.

Full disclosure, I edit a watch magazine – Oracle Time in case you’re interested – and regularly ‘have to’ try out some of the coolest watches around. But I’m well aware that’s not an opportunity many collectors get, at least not in the UK.

Other parts of the world have pretty fantastic watch shows – Wind-Up in New York, Inhorgenta in Munich, Geneva Watch Days in, well, Geneva. Collectors can go, try on their dream timepieces, chat with other horological aficionados and potentially empty their bank account all too quickly. What does London have? Not much. That’s why this June will be so momentus with the launch of Hands On Horology.

I won’t bury the lede here. 40 watchmakers, 800 visitors and a whisky tasting for good measure, Hands On Horology is going to be London’s biggest watch show by a significant margin. Taking place in Shoreditch’s light-filled Protein.

Studios on 14^th June across a morning and an afternoon session, it also has all the ingredients to be the best.

The watch brands in question range from accessible British labels like Christopher Ward, anOrdain and Studio Underd0g alongside cool Swiss independents like Formex, Horage and Awake. And yes, if your bank account is particularly healthy, there will be a selection of haute horology pieces from the likes of Bianchet and Haute Rive.

It doesn’t matter what your budget, level of knowledge or wrist size is, you’ll find something to catch your eye and you’ll have carte blanche to try on and buy anything you see. That includes a few exclusives created specifically for the event like an art piece from Glaswegian brand Paulin and a sexy Tiger’s Eye stone dial model from hyped micro Nodus.

If this all sounds too good to miss, you’re in luck. To celebrate the relaunch of JOSHUA’S, we’re offering you a discount on standard tickets to Hands On Horology. Simply visit www.onhorology.com and use the code JOSHUAS40 for a 40% discount.

Honestly, you don’t need to be a serious collector to enjoy an event like this. The idea is to create a welcoming, accessible event that embraces all levels of watchmaking. If you like unique designs with independent flair, this is one for you. I’ll see you there.