Manchester is renowned as the world’s first industrialized city — a hub of the Industrial Revolution in 18th-century Britain and home to more than a hundred textile factories at the time.

Today, that industrial focus has widened and, among its businesses, the sprawling metropolis of more than half a million residents has been making its mark as a watch city.

That will be particularly obvious on Saturday as the Manchester Watch Show makes its debut, drawing “watch enthusiasts from all over the north of England,” according to Hamish Robertson, the event’s organizer and the co-founder and chief executive of the Watch Collector’s Club in London. Thirty-five British watch brands are scheduled to exhibit at Hallé St Peter’s, an event hall northeast of the city center that is a home to the city orchestra.

Mr. Robertson said the event’s 300 tickets, at 12 pounds each (about $15), sold out in less than 24 hours. One of those buyers was Rob Kellner, 63, who lives in Manchester and, as “Rob the American,” talks watches to his roughly 1,960 YouTube subscribers.

During an interview at a local cafe, Mr. Kellner described himself as a collector who spends about £25,000 a year on watches from Rolex, Grand Seiko and other brands. On this particular day, he was wearing an IWC Schaffhausen Ingenieur Automatic 40 in stainless steel.