The Toronto Timepiece Show, which was started and organised by Jason Hutton, returned this year for its second edition, this time held at the Meridian Arts Centre in Midtown Toronto. On the surface, it looked familiar. Tables lined with microbrands. Collectors circulating with watches on wrists and phones out for photos. Conversations about case finishing, dial textures, the works. If you have been to Windup in New York or San Francisco, or Intersect across cities in the U.S., the Toronto show felt very much the same.

Last year’s debut was modest but promising. Vancouver’s edition earlier this year surprised many with its turnout. Now Toronto has returned, stronger and steadier, suggesting these shows have staying power. They work because they are repeatable. They can be picked up and placed in different cities while still producing the same excitement. The presence of collectors and makers under one roof is enough to generate energy.

The show was followed by the inaugural Timepiece World Awards, the first award ceremony of its kind in Canada. That matters. Awards tell us something about what a community values, what it wants to highlight and legitimize. For decades, Geneva has dominated that process with the GPHG. Now, in Toronto, a new model is emerging, one that reflects the tastes of collectors, writers, and independent makers who exist outside Switzerland’s orbit. Even if the ceremony is still in its infancy, its existence marks a shift.

Windup and the Timepiece Shows share more similarities than differences. Both rely on microbrands, both are discovery-driven, and both thrive on the energy of direct interaction between collectors and makers. Toronto is not reinventing the formula so much as adapting it to its own setting. The Meridian Arts Centre gave it a slightly more formal backdrop, but the essence was familiar.

But Canada is not trying to outdo the US in scale. It is not competing with Switzerland on heritage. Instead, what is developing here is a middle ground where community and reflection are just as important as sales. When you look around the Toronto show, you notice fewer headline-grabbing launches and more emphasis on conversation, networking, and discovery. The awards reinforced that by spotlighting smaller brands and design choices that might not make headlines elsewhere. What it is doing is building infrastructure. Every new edition of the show, every repeat of the same formula, normalizes the idea that Canada has a place in the global watch calendar. It may not be central, but it is no longer peripheral either.

Still, it is fair to ask how much weight we should assign to these events. Is Canada truly becoming a node in the global network, or are we simply flattering ourselves? After all, the market size here remains small compared to the US. The number of Canadian-born brands with international recognition is limited. And the awards, while symbolically powerful, are not yet influential enough to move the market.

But that may be the wrong way to measure it. The importance of the show and the Timepiece World Awards lies less in scale than in orientation. They point toward a version of watch culture that is less centralised, less dependent on Geneva or New York to validate what matters. When a collector in Toronto sees a brand like Atelier Wen or Studio Underd0g in person for the first time, it changes how they think about what is possible in watchmaking. When an award ceremony recognizes a design choice or a brand that would otherwise be ignored, it nudges the conversation in a new direction.

It also raises a harder question for the industry. Are these regional shows the future of watch enthusiasm, or are they a niche that will remain peripheral? Windup has already proven that discovery-driven fairs can sustain real momentum. Toronto now shows that the model can spread and adapt to different contexts. The critical next step will be whether brands see these fairs as essential stops on their calendars, or simply nice-to-have add-ons.

On the one hand, the event was impressive in its execution and promising in what it suggests for Canadian collectors. On the other, it still felt fragile. A community is clearly forming, but whether it can sustain itself at scale is still uncertain. There is always the risk that Toronto becomes another small node in a network that remains overwhelmingly shaped by Europe and the US.

And yet, I find myself leaning toward optimism. Watch culture has always been about more than markets and headquarters. It is about the conversations that happen when collectors and makers gather in one place. Toronto now has that space, and the awards give it a symbolic anchor. Both may still be young, but they represent a shift in how global watch culture is imagined.

Toronto may never be Geneva. It does not need to be. It is carving out something different, something that reflects its own identity. That, in the long run, may be just as valuable. And if the question is whether I’ll be back next year, the answer is yes. Without hesitation.

With that said, here are some photos from the weekend:

Photo Report: Toronto Timepiece Show & Timepiece World Awards

Hands On: Anoma A1 ‘Slate’