Move over Dubai: Watch Week Aspen is luxury's new hot spot
Move over, Dubai—the best watch week in the world may now be happening in the Rockies. Watch Week Aspen just wrapped its third and largest edition in mid-August 2026, welcoming more than 300 collectors to Colorado's Aspen Mountain for four days of rare wristwatches, brand unveilings, and intimate gatherings that rival Dubai Watch Week—without flying halfway around the world.
Founded in 2024 by Elizabeth Smith Hrubala and her father Oliver Smith—whose Oliver Smith Jeweler opened a second-story location on Aspen's Hyman Avenue in 2020—the event is quickly becoming one of the hottest dates on the horological calendar. For buyers who already treat Aspen as a premier destination for high-end living, the gathering doubles as both cultural pilgrimage and serious shopping.
Key Takeaways
- Watch Week Aspen held its third and largest edition across four days in mid-August 2026, drawing 300+ collectors who collectively spent millions.
- Fourteen watch brands—including A. Lange & Söhne, Hermès, Omega, and Blancpain—joined retailers Avi & Co., Betteridge, Meridian Jewelers, and M.S. Rau.
- Unlike Dubai Watch Week, dominated by a single multi-brand retailer, Aspen spreads the experience across multiple boutiques.
- Collectors praised the informal atmosphere for turning digital watch friendships into in-person relationships.
- Luxury demand in Aspen is described as "insatiable," with seven-figure pieces expected to sell within days.
Why Is Watch Week Aspen Drawing Collectors Away From Dubai?
For collectors who have dreamed of Dubai Watch Week but lacked time for a desert pilgrimage, Watch Week Aspen offers a more accessible American alternative. Staged against Aspen Mountain rather than the Burj Khalifa, the event swaps abayas and dishdashas for cowboy hats and denim while keeping the same well-heeled clientele and focus on rarefied wristwatches.
According to Robb Report's coverage, co-founder Elizabeth Smith Hrubala says returning guests are now bringing friends, cousins, uncles, and aunts—evidence that the event's appeal is spreading through collector networks organically.
What Brands and Retailers Defined the 2026 Edition?
This year's gathering hosted 14 watch brands: A. Lange & Söhne, Analog:Shift, Blancpain, Buccellati, Cyrus Watches, Gerald Charles, Glashütte Original, Hermès, IWC, L. Leroy, Moritz Grossmann, Norqain, and Omega. Participating stores included Avi & Co., Betteridge, Meridian Jewelers, and M.S. Rau—the legendary New Orleans antique gallery that opened its permanent Galena Street outpost about five months ago.
At M.S. Rau, highlights ranged from a steel Patek Philippe salmon-dial world timer with flyback chronograph ($640,000) to one of 100 Ulysse Nardin x Urwerk "UR-Freak" models ($162,000). At Avi & Co., a Rolex Daytona with an obsidian dial, blue sapphire baguette markers, and diamond-accented lugs—valued at $1.2 million—was expected to sell by the following Monday or Tuesday.
How Does Aspen's Luxury Culture Fuel Watch Demand?
Executives including A. Lange & Söhne Americas president Charles Langlois and Moritz Grossmann CEO Christine Hutter traveled to Aspen because anyone shopping there is, by virtue of simply being in town, pre-qualified. M.S. Rau COO Chris Drake summed up local appetite in one word: "Insatiable."
Aspen's summer season—once called the "secret season"—now draws families who plan vacations around the event. Collectors from Austin to Peoria highlighted independent watchmaking favorites and the easygoing environment where relationships with brands matter as much as purchases. In a town long known as a billionaire's playground, even the Maroon Bells struggle to compete for attention when rare H. Moser & Cie. and bronze Alto pieces are on wrists all weekend.