We are back from the Windup Watch Fair in Chicago, and it was the best weekend this company has had. Thank you to every single person who came by the DeMarco Watch Company booth.

The best event we have done

Windup Chicago turned into our most successful event to date, and honestly it went well past what we expected walking in.

Hundreds of people came through. Collectors who have followed us since the start, people who had never heard the name until they walked past the banner, and plenty who came for something else and stopped because a dial caught their eye. Every one of them got the same thing from us: a tray on the table and an invitation to try something on.

That is the part a website cannot do. You can shoot a watch from ten angles and write a thousand words about the finishing, and it still will not tell you how it wears on your own wrist.

The Ironside collection stole the weekend

The biggest highlight was the response to our new Ironside collection. We ended the weekend with a large number of pre-orders from people who wanted to be among the first to own one.

Three things came up over and over at the table: the dial, how the case actually sits on the wrist, and the fact that it is a real dive watch rather than a diver-styled one. If you are new to it, here is what the Ironside 200 is, and here is what a 200m water resistance rating actually lets you do, which was the single most asked question of the whole show.

The full range is on the DeMarco store page.

The conversations were the real thing

Beyond the sales, what made the weekend was talking to people. Where DeMarco Watch Company came from, why we design the way we do, and what we care about getting right.

A lot of those conversations landed in the same place, which is why people buy from independent brands at all. It is rarely about price. It is a small run, a specific set of choices, and being able to talk to the person who made them. We wrote about that in why small batch microbrand watches are having a moment, and two days behind a table is the best proof of it we have had.

Thank you to the Windup team as well. Putting on a show that size and keeping it feeling like a room full of enthusiasts rather than a trade floor is not easy, and they pulled it off.

What happens next

We are already working through the orders, including every Ironside pre-order taken at the show. If you ordered from us in Chicago, yours is in that queue.

For what to expect between now and the box arriving, our shipping guide covers the timeline. And when it does land, read the setup guide for a new Ironside 200 before you put it on.

Thank you, Chicago. To everyone who bought a watch, placed a pre-order, or just came over to say hello, that is the whole reason we do this. See you at the next Windup Watch Fair.

Missed us at the show? See the current collection, and get in touch if you have a question about any of it.

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