IAMWATCH 2026 started its first public day with the kind of access collectors rarely get in such an easy setting.
On Friday morning, 13 November 2026, The Penthouse at The Singapore EDITION hosted GTG The OGs, a breakfast gathering built around conversation, coffee and some of independent watchmaking’s most recognisable names.
It set a personal tone for an event centred on people as much as watches.
At a glance
- IAMWATCH 2026 opened its first public day with GTG The OGs at The Penthouse at The Singapore EDITION.
- The morning brought collectors together with leading independent watchmakers including Felix Baumgartner, Maximilian Büsser, Kari Voutilainen and Roger W. Smith.
- The format was deliberately informal, with coffee, breakfast, wrist shots and direct conversation shaping the experience.
A Singapore morning built around access
The GTG format, short for get-together, suited the opening slot.
Rather than a stage-led presentation or formal panel, the morning was arranged as a relaxed meeting point for collectors, enthusiasts and watchmakers.
There was coffee and a small breakfast, but the real draw was proximity.
For many collectors, independent watchmaking is followed through waitlists, auction results, interviews, macro photography and the occasional boutique appointment.
Meeting the people behind those watches changes the relationship.
It turns a name printed on a dial, bridge or caseback into a person with a point of view, a voice and a memory attached to the object.
The OGs in the room
The line-up explained the energy in the room.
GTG The OGs featured Felix Baumgartner, Maximilian Büsser, Martin Frei, Vianney Halter, Sylvain Pinaud, Roger W. Smith, Andreas Strehler and Kari Voutilainen.
It’s a group that cuts across very different expressions of independent watchmaking.
Some are associated with architectural complications and speculative design, others with classical finishing, handcraft, chronometry and deeply personal production.
Together, they represent a generation that helped make independent watchmaking a distinct collecting category rather than a niche footnote to the larger Swiss industry.
That made the informality of the setting feel especially relevant.
The morning wasn’t only about seeing watches on wrists, but about seeing how collectors interact with the makers whose work has shaped their taste.
Why the GTG format worked
Watch events often lean on spectacle, but this one appeared to understand the appeal of restraint.
A packed penthouse, a cup of coffee and the chance to ask a watchmaker a direct question can be more meaningful than a polished brand presentation.
Wrist shots were part of the morning, naturally, but so was the simple pleasure of shared enthusiasm.
That matters in independent watchmaking, where the gap between creator and owner is often much smaller than it is in mainstream luxury.
Collectors don’t just buy a product story in this corner of the market.
They tend to follow methods, philosophies, finishing choices, movement architecture and the evolution of an individual workshop over years.
A strong opening note for IAMWATCH 2026
As the first program of the event’s public day, GTG The OGs gave IAMWATCH 2026 a clear identity from the start.
It positioned the event less as a showcase of objects in glass cases and more as a meeting ground for the independent watch community.
That’s a valuable distinction in a collecting culture where knowledge, access and personal connection carry increasing weight.
For seasoned enthusiasts, the morning offered a rare concentration of makers in one room.
For newer collectors, it offered a concise lesson in why independent watchmaking inspires such loyalty.
The watches matter, of course, but the people behind them remain the reason the category feels alive.
