Power List: The Most Influential Retailers

Start your year off right with the leaders, the wonders, the visionaries and all the people in watchmaking who have made it such an incredible, fascinating industry. These are Power Lists.

Retailers are influential middlemen who make an impact on the popularity and distribution of watch brands, and they have been constantly evolving their operations to further incentivize brands and end consumers. Singapore-based global retailers like Sincere Fine Watches and The Hour Glass, for example, have contributed invaluably to the public’s education of independent brands, while Cortina Watch has heightened the retail experiences of historical brands and added to their brand equity.

In other continents, Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons has organized watch fairs that have been increasing in scale every year, first in Dubai and now in New York City. Noting the burgeoning secondary market, Bucherer has invested its expertise in acquiring, certifying and promoting secondhand luxury watches, while Westime has been intrepidly championing young independent watch brands in North America, to great success.

Like New World wines, these New World watch retailers, through decades of diligence, have inserted themselves in many a watch conversation. Although making pilgrimages to your favorite manufactures should still be on your bucket list, the variety of festivities and exclusive limited edition launches organized by these retailers are incentivizing connoisseurs to visit and purchase from them. Thanks to these movers and shakers, the experience of buying a watch has become much more memorable and gratifying.