Next week you can discover the watch of your dreams at London Watch Week – The City Edition at Royal Exchange on Wednesday 18 November. Get your tickets here before they sell out!

Whether you’re daydreaming online, flipping through some glitzy catalogue or being bombarded on socials, watches try to deceive you. They want you to fall for them, to swipe right, fantasise, and then buy. The trouble is that it can be an expensive one-night stand if you get it wrong. 

That’s why we have pulled together some of the biggest names in the watch industry for London Watch Week – The City Edition. Hosted at Royal Exchange on Wednesday 18 November, i’s a chance to discover that the chunky diver you have had your eye on, that looks like it should weigh as much as a kettle, is actually shockingly lightweight, and that elegant dress watch that looks like it would vanish if you sneezed is reassuringly heavy, because, in that ultimate display of stealth wealth, it’s machined from a solid block of platinum. 

There is no substitute to getting to know a watch – and that means holding it, feeling its weight, looking its dial in the eye and, perhaps, losing your heart. No matter what you see or read, what the reviews or blogs say, it all boils down to how the watch makes you feel when you see it in the flesh.  

Here’s a lowdown on some of the brands on display at this exclusive City AM event.

This French microbrand, based in Paris, has some unbelievably cool retro chronographs that punch way above their weight. The watches are assembled in Besançon, and Baltic has a well-deserved following among collectors who want vintage styling paired with modern, reliable movements.

A UK luxury watch house whose founder and designer, Ednah Nzombe, has carved out a niche for bold, striking watches. Timeless classics are the starting point, refreshed and seen through a thoroughly British design language.

Co-founded in 2002 by brothers Nick and Giles English, Bremont told the world the British were coming when it entered the market. It makes some of the best pilot- and military-inspired mechanical tool watches money can buy.

The great disruptor of the watch world, which proved the British were here to stay when it bridged the gap between luxury finishing and accessibility. Simply sublime watches that don’t cost the earth.

Founded in 2016 by industrial designer Zhang Jianmin, the innovative Chinese watch brand is celebrated for its modern skeleton designs. It is the Marmite of the watch world: you will either love it or hate it, but you could never ignore it.

The stylish sister brand to Bovaro under the umbrella of Horological Atelier Ltd, Clévior is the collector-grade dress watch counterpart to Bovaro’s bolder, more contemporary designs.

Founded in 1990 by Roland Schwertner, this independent German watchmaker produces a range of unmistakable watches that all share its clean, minimalist Bauhaus and Deutscher Werkbund aesthetic.

Founded in 2002 by English watchmaker Peter Speake-Marin and now based in Geneva, the brand produces beautiful watches recognisable by their signature Piccadilly case, which is reminiscent of the iconic WW2 Longines “Tuna Can” C.O.S.D.

Every watch needs a befitting home, and Rapport London is home to a good number of them: fine watch boxes and winders crafted in beautiful materials by a maker steeped in craft history.