Last weekend, I packed up a collection of Celeste watches and headed to the Windup Watch Fair in San Francisco, one of the largest watch gatherings in the world. More than 80 watch brands filled the Fort Mason venue this year, and the show was bigger and more energized than ever.
What struck me most was how different the Celeste booth felt from almost everything else in the room.
There were incredible watches everywhere: dive watches, field watches, chronographs, GMTs, beautifully machined cases, and textured dials with tiny details only watch nerds notice and appreciate. I spent hours talking with other independent brand owners about the realities of building a watch company: design challenges, service issues, manufacturing delays, tariffs, sales highs and lows, and the endless pursuit of getting small details exactly right. I completely geeked out over the craftsmanship and engineering that so many brands brought to the show. Even the way the watches were displayed and discussed was interesting.
And yet, in a room filled with watches, there was nothing quite like a Celeste watch. Our table stood out.
The natural shell dials caught light from every direction inside the Gallery Annex at Fort Mason, which may have had the best lighting of any indoor show I’ve attended. The building was flooded with soft natural daylight, and the abalone and mother of pearl absolutely came alive. People would stop mid-conversation when the colors shifted across a dial.
One of the things that made me especially proud was being the only woman-owned watch brand exhibiting at the show. Not because I think watches should be divided by gender, but because it reminded me how unusual this path has been. Most of the brands around me were focused on technical specifications and industrial design. Meanwhile, I was over there talking about shell, color, birds, dragons, butterflies, the ocean, and wearing your own personal story on your wrist. But somehow, I was exactly where I needed to be and it all went together beautifully.
I also could not have done this show without the help of Mary and Mike, a husband-and-wife team from Eugene who volunteered to help me for the weekend. Being deeply into watches themselves, they wanted to attend the fair anyway and generously flew down to work the booth with me. The show was incredibly busy and intense, and they spent the entire day talking with customers, helping people try on watches, answering questions, and keeping everything running smoothly. Their support made an enormous difference, and I’m deeply grateful.
Another surprise highlight was discovering that Sunflowerman was at the fair painting watches live. Appreciating his talent, I commissioned a painting of my Pearl Dragon watch. Watching another artist interpret my favorite watch in real time was surreal and deeply meaningful.
One of the sweetest moments from the show. Mary has worn her cloisonné calla lily watch by master enamelist Merry-Lee Rae for years, and this weekend they finally met in person at the show.
The entire weekend reminded me how much enthusiasm and passion exists in the watch world right now. More and more people are wearing watches right now. Attendees traveled from all over to see rare pieces in person, meet the makers, and experience watches with their own eyes instead of through a screen. It was exciting, exhausting, inspiring, and deeply affirming.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth, tried on watches, shared stories, and supported this unusual little company from Oregon. It meant a great deal to me.
38mm and 42mm Swiss Automatics
