For many watch brands, the most pressing technological issue has nothing to do with the introduction of app-laden “smart” timepieces or the difficulties of creating a complex new movement.

Instead, much like their counterparts in the fashion world, they are focused on how to satisfy the increasing number of customers who are accustomed to instant availability, thanks, in part, to the immediacy promoted by social media and the Internet. Many manufacturers use a decades-old system that includes a long lag time between the announcement of a new watch and the time it actually reaches the market.

This disconnect has been felt throughout the fashion industry during the most recent show season, producing a hodgepodge of solutions and test efforts ranging from capsule collections for immediate sale to an announcement by the British fashion giant Burberry that beginning with its next collection, the clothes on the runway will be the clothes you can buy that very day.

Traditionally, the top Swiss brands have introduced most new watches to the news media and retailers at the industry’s two major fairs: Baselworld, which is being held this week, and the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, or SIHH, in January.

But, “in today’s world, it’s ‘I want it now, give it to me now,”’ said Patrik Hoffmann, the chief executive of Ulysse Nardin. “People have become less patient.”

With that in mind, his company will start shipping the two key watches it is introducing at Baselworld — the Marine Chronograph Annual Calendar and the limited-edition Grand Deck Marine Chronometer Tourbillon — next month.

The brand has been selling some of its watches with this timeframe for more than decade, but has noticed customer interest in ever-quicker deliveries increasing over the last couple years, Mr. Hoffmann said.

Other brands are similarly truncating their delivery schedules.

“If people are interested in a new product, we want to be ready to deliver it,” said Jean-Paul Girardin, vice president at Breitling. “The information comes so fast today that everybody’s instantly aware of what’s going on. For sure that’s increasing the demand, in terms of reactivity, to be quick.”

Within the next few weeks, Breitling plans to start shipping the watch that is the focal point of its Baselworld presentation: the Avenger Hurricane, a self-winding, water-resistant chronograph with a case made of an extremely light patented polymer.

Instant delivery, of the kind that Burberry is promising its customers, could be much more complicated for watchmakers than fashion houses, as designing and making timepieces takes longer than, say, the average new dress.

The Breitling Avenger Hurricane was in development for around two years, but many timepieces take much longer to create. Ulysse Nardin’s new chronograph took four years from inception to unveiling, for example; the brand’s newly introduced tourbillon required five years. And the Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie, one of the watches that Audemars Piguet introduced at SIHH this year, took eight years to develop. Its deliveries are to begin in the fall.

Benjamin Clymer, executive editor of the watch site Hodinkee, said, “The issue with the watch industry is that these things take forever to be made.”

“A lot of times, brands plan to have products out the day they make an announcement,” he added, “but they just can’t.”

Some watches that are considered new are essentially tweaks of existing models, with a change of dial color or a different type of metal used for the case; those, of course, take less time to produce than a more innovative timepiece.

With the rising pressure for speed, some brands have become more proactive in planning and manufacturing.

Last November, TAG Heuer began production of watches that it plans to unveil for immediate delivery after the 2017 Baselworld. The timepieces are made daily and kept in a safe until next year, said Jean-Claude Biver, chief executive of the brand and president of the watch division at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the luxury conglomerate that owns it.

Hublot, which is also under Mr. Biver’s purview, has been selling watches without delay since 2011.

“Nobody wants to wait,” he said. “Everybody wants to be served immediately. Once people see it on Instagram, do people want to wait six months? No way! In six months they have other goals and ideas; they have another thing they’re thinking about.”

Introductions like the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Black, presented in mid-October and available for purchase the next day, leave little room for consumers to move on in that way.

It is worth noting that many watches with the traditional time lag are still selling well. Omega, for example, will be shipping in July many of the watches that it is showing at Baselworld, including a women’s Seamaster in deep brown. Others are to follow in the fall.

And, as some in the industry note, the lengthy delays needed to obtain the most collectible limited-edition watches might add to their allure.

“For highly complicated pieces, where it takes a longer time to penetrate the market, there’s a small volume so there’s an anticipation, there’s exclusivity,” said Tim Sayler, chief marketing officer of Audemars Piguet.

Ultimately, the premier brands’ major concern is not losing out to faster-moving competition.

“If you don’t make an effort to satisfy that customer there and then, you run the risk of losing him,” said Nick English, co-founder of Bremont, which said it would ship 40 percent of the new watches it is showing at Baselworld in the following few weeks.

“You kind of realize that if you don’t have the product available pretty much there and then, there’s nothing to stop people walking round the corner and buying something else,” he said. “That’s the pressure everyone’s under now.”