Every independent brand eventually reaches a moment when it has to leave the safety of the workbench and enter the room.

For EP Watches, one of those moments came on 28 March 2026 in Payerne, Switzerland, at Optimus Elite Experience. The event brought together entrepreneurs around business structure, reliable professional connections, leadership, clarity and networking. For Eduardo Pimenta, it carried an additional meaning: it was the first event he attended representing EP Watches as a brand.

There was no large booth, established corporate team or years of exhibition experience behind the moment. There was simply a young independent watch brand, its founder and an opportunity to start presenting EP Watches outside the atelier.

Why Optimus Elite Experience?

Optimus Elite Experience was created for entrepreneurs looking to strengthen their businesses, connect with trusted specialists and build a committed professional network. The first edition in Payerne included sessions in Portuguese, reflecting the entrepreneurial community around the event.

That environment made sense for EP Watches. At this stage of the brand, networking is not only about finding immediate customers. It is about meeting people who can open new perspectives: entrepreneurs, service providers, potential collaborators, future clients and people who understand what it means to build something from the beginning.

EP Watches attended with exactly that mindset — to listen, introduce the project and create genuine connections.

The first time representing EP Watches at an event

Building a brand at home or in an atelier can feel very different from explaining it face to face. Online, there is time to choose the photograph, edit the sentence and refine the presentation. At an event, the story has to make sense in a real conversation.

What is EP Watches? Why create another watch brand? What makes the project different? Where are the watches assembled? What does the name mean? Those questions become more immediate when there is a person standing on the other side of the conversation.

For Eduardo, Optimus Elite Experience was the first opportunity to answer them while formally representing the brand at an external event. That made the day more than a networking appointment. It was also a test of the identity EP Watches had been building.

Taking the story beyond the product

A watch can start a conversation because it is physical. People can see the dial, notice the movement, ask about the case or discover an open-heart mechanism. But a young independent brand needs more than a product specification.

The conversation around EP Watches is also about the atelier in Vuisternens-devant-Romont, hand assembly, the choice of movements and materials, personalisation, future collaborations and the idea behind the brand: watches created to accompany meaningful moments rather than simply measure them.

Presenting that story outside the atelier helped make the project feel more tangible. EP Watches was no longer only something being built behind a workbench and presented through a screen. It was becoming something that could enter a professional room, meet other businesses and create relationships.

Networking before selling

Not every valuable business conversation should begin with a sale.

For an independent microbrand, strong relationships can eventually lead to many things: a collaboration, an introduction, an event invitation, a supplier recommendation, a corporate project, a customer referral or simply useful advice at the right moment.

The value of Optimus Elite Experience was therefore not measured by how many watches could be sold in a few hours. It was measured by exposure to people, conversations and ideas outside the normal routine of the atelier.

That distinction is important to the way EP Watches wants to grow. Sustainable visibility is built through repeated contact and credibility, not only through advertising.

What EP Watches brought back to the atelier

The most useful result of a first event is often perspective. Speaking about the brand to new people exposes which parts of the story are immediately understood and which need to be explained better. It also forces the founder to see the project through someone else’s eyes.

For EP Watches, the experience reinforced the importance of three things: being able to explain the brand simply, building a network beyond the watch industry and being present in the real world as well as online.

Those lessons matter as the brand moves toward more collaborations, events and direct relationships with customers and partners.

The first event, not the last

Looking back, Optimus Elite Experience represents a modest but important milestone in the EP Watches timeline. It was the first time Eduardo walked into an event not only as himself, but as the person representing EP – Eduardo Pimenta Watches.

Every future fair, collaboration meeting, networking event or brand presentation will build on experiences like this one.

The atelier remains where the watches are assembled. But a brand cannot grow by remaining inside it forever.

On 28 March 2026, EP Watches took one of its first steps beyond the atelier. The destination was Payerne. The real journey was into the world around the brand.