MILAN — If any proof was ever needed, the latest edition of Watches and Wonders signaled that watchmaking brands are bolstering their celebrity tie-ins, ambassador rosters and are no longer content with tapping an appealing face for one-off occasions.
According to data analysis from Launchmetrics, celebrity appearances contributed $2.5 million to the trade show’s overall media impact value, or MIV, a 77 percent jump compared to last year’s edition.
Overall, the 2026 edition of Watches and Wonders, held between April 14 and 20 in Geneva, generated $72 million in MIV, a 34.6 percent jump compared to 2025 as a reflection of the growing global appeal of the watchmaking industry.
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To be sure, the frenzy caused by celebrity appearances was second to none — from Usher visiting the Jaeger-LeCoultre booth to Olympic freestyle skier Eileen Gu and F1 driver George Russell drawing crowds at IWC Schaffhausen, for which both are ambassadors.
Other spottings included retired Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt at Hublot and Patrick Dempsey at Tag Heuer, both ambassadors of the respective brands; Joshua Hong from K-pop band Seventeen as a friend of the house at Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Jannik Sinner as ambassador at Rolex.
According to the Launchmetrics report, Rolex, Cartier and IWC Schaffhausen were the biggest winners when measured by the MIV generated during the timepiece fair, confirming the rankings of the previous two editions.
In particular, they generated $11.8 million, $9.3 million and $7.4 million in MIV, respectively. They were followed by Patek Philippe, Bulgari, Hublot and Jaeger-LeCoultre, as well as new entries Tudor and Piaget. Tag Heuer scored the 10th position, while Vacheron Constantin and Chanel dropped out of the top 10 list this year.
The Watches and Wonders MIV was largely driven by social media, which contributed to 80 percent, reflecting a significant growth in the fair’s social media exposure, up 47.2 percent year-over-year.
Switzerland, the U.S. and France contributed the most to this year’s MIV, respectively representing 17.5 percent, 13.7 percent and 7.5 percent of the figure.
Although media contributed to almost two-thirds of the MIV the fair generated as a whole, brands’ owned media, including social media channels, made up 19 percent of it. In the latter channel, Instagram was the top-performing platform, contributing to 48 percent of MIV.
Filipino-German actress and model Pia Wurtzbach, a guest of Bulgari at the fair, was the top MIV-generating celebrity, contributing $511,000 to the overall trade show’s MIV. She was followed by Russell and Gu, who both visited the IWC Schaffhausen booth, generating $365,000 and $259,000 in MIV, respectively.
Under the influencer bracket, Andrew Wave stood out, alongside watch-themed content creators Bernardo Britto, Derek Mon and Mike Nouveau.
MIV is a proprietary algorithm created by Launchmetrics to measure and benchmark the impact of all media placements and mentions across owned media, partners, influencers, celebrities and media in the fashion, luxury and beauty industries.