Editor’s Note: In addition to being a writer and member of the international watch media community, Bhanu Chopra is also the co-founder of Micro Praha, a regional watch fair in Prague, which just celebrated its third year. We asked Bhanu to share his thoughts on the evolution of the event, as well as some photos from this year’s festivities.
Regional watch fairs have been around for several years, but their focus remained mostly mainstream brands and few independent brands. I remember visiting Vienna Time and Munich Time in the mid-2000s, and seeing Lange & Sohne and Habring booths in the same hall.
Three years ago, Ondrej Vislocky and I, two watch enthusiasts and friends, took the initiative to create a micro brand watch fair for the Central European region. Prague happens to be in the very heart of Central Europe with easy access to Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Italy, and even the Nordic countries. It also happens to be the city where we live. We are big fans of micro brands, so we wanted to bring our enthusiasm to Micro Praha.
The U.K. has a very active micro indie scene with fairs throughout the year. There are watch fairs in Germany, France, Italy, and Poland, but the participation remains very regional. Micro Praha brings together brands from around the globe. This year 82 brands participated, representing 24 countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Poland, the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Finland, Singapore, Taiwan, Sweden, the U.K., and Czech Republic.
Micro Praha follows the same principles of the Windup Watch Fair: the entrance for visitors is free, and there are no barriers between the brands presenting their watches on the open table. The number of brands and visitors has nearly doubled in three years. This year there were 3,200 visitors including media and retailers from Central Europe, the Nordic countries, and the U.S.
Bhanu Chopra
2025-12-12 21:00:00