13 Best Watches of Watches & Wonders 2024
What is Watches and Wonders?
Watches and Wonders is the largest trade show for the watch industry. It typically lasts about a week. Just about every brand comes to showcase what they’ve been working on throughout the year via various releases. For a couple of years it was held in Miami, but has since moved to the Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland.
After the closure of Baselworld during Covid, there was a vacuum for these trade shows. We saw some other trade shows pop up, like SIHH and Dubai Watch Week. Watches and Wonders started as SIHH, and it was held in Miami for a couple of years in 2018 and 2019. Finally, In 2022, Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Richemont got together and formed the Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation, moving the trade show firmly to Geneva.
Why is Watches and Wonders Important?
For starters, it’s simply the biggest. More than 50,000 visitors attend the event in person, with some 54 brands being present to showcase this year’s novelties and that’s not even including all the independent and microbrands that are represented off-site around the Geneva area. Watches and Wonders gives brands access to press for a few days, so hands-on coverage can be made. And with the luxury watch business being just that, luxury, a lot of consumers want to see some of these watches hands-on before making an expensive purchase. Watches and Wonders not only gives access to the press to keep consumers informed, but it also invites consumers to visit and put their own hands on the novelties on the back half of the trade show.
What are our favorite watches that have been released for Watches and Wonders 2024?
We’ve seen a lot of cool and unique watches. This year, we were able to have boots on the ground for the trade show to capture a lot of hands-on pictures to give our thoughts. So without further ado, let’s get into our favorites.
Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT ‘Vintage Coke’
The absolute dimepiece of this years Watches and Wonders was Tudor’s Black Bay 58 ‘Vintage Coke’. We think it might be a mix of anticipation and rumors that Rolex was going to release a Coke GMT, but I think that Tudor is just a brand that really has it’s finger on the pulse of what enthusiasts want - And then actually provides it.
The Black Bay 58 has become one of the brand’s most popular models, and fitting it with a GMT movement and a really unique burgundy and black colorway that’s also gilded is simply an attractive watch aimed at enthusiasts everywhere. The watch measures in at a nearly perfect 39mm x 12.8mm and since it’s powered by the Tudor MT-5450-U movement, the watch is both METAS and COSC certified, meaning it’s likely to have any problems. And for a watch that prices in under $5,000, I don’t know what more we could have asked for.
Read more about the watch here.
Oris Aquis Calibre 400
The Oris Aquis has long been an industry-wide entry into the luxury dive watch segment. With that being said, it’s remained largely untouched since it’s release. Sure we’ve seen some limited versions of the watch, but it’s profile has remained pretty true to it’s original form. This year, Oris relaunched the Aquis Collection where “Choice” is the name of the game here. The watch comes in 3 different sizes, but we feel the 41.5mm feels the best overall.
The brand has revamped the case shape, as well as cleaned up the dial making simple, but welcomed refinements to the dial. The indices have been polished out a little, there’s less text and the colors have been revamped to be a little more modern. The case is slimmed down, with the bracelet being reworked to increase the size of the center link and create a more exaggerated taper. Further, the brand is offering the Aquis in both Sellita-based movements and the brand’s in-house Calibre 300. Further, a fan-favorite of the Upcycle has been released into the general collection as a staple. So with all these options, there something in the budget for anyone and we always like options.
IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar
Sure, you’ve heard about a Perpetual Calendar, but have you heard about an Eternal Calendar? IWC has created a complication that only needs to be set once, and as long as the watch is worn and remains wound, will keep the time for literally millions of years. While most Perpetual Calendars have to have adjustments made for a few things, the Eternal Calendar mechanically programs things like Leap Year, non-standard Calendar months, and can even function on a Gregorian Calendar. One of the main ways IWC has managed this, is building in things like skipping a day every 400 years to account for Leap years using a “400 Year Train” that only makes one revolution every 400 years to account for this.
Further, the watch utilizes among the most accurate moonphase that we’re aware off. Utilizing a Differental Gear, the watch accounts for the fact that the moon doesn’t follow a specific calendar cycle - Instead of a standard 30 or 31 day calendar month, the moon cycles 29.54 days requiring a gear to track precisely where the lunar cycle is. IWC claims it’s accurate to 45 Million years.
And even with all this, the watch remains superbly legible. While yes, there is a lot going on with the dial, but IWC has opted to use glass panels to display the different time-keeping indicators and that gives an overall transparent cohesiveness to an otherwise insanely complicated watch. It’s truly a wearable piece of mechanical art that testifies to IWC’s penchant for timekeeping.
TAG Heuer Monaco Split Second Rattrapante
The Tag Heuer Monaco is among one of the most recognized watches in the racing world. First introduced in 1969, the watch has made it’s way through racing movie history, most famously worn by Steve McQueen. The watch has had it’s share of special and limited editions, but none quite as Haute-y as the all new Split Second Rattrapante. This year at Watches & Wonders, Tag Heuer unveiled it’s most complicated chronograph yet. Really designed for performance, the Split Second Rattrapante is machined out of titanium, with sapphire on the front and back to show off the real star of the show - The Caliber TH81-00.
The movement is made entirely out of titanium with minimal components to keep the watch at a mere 85 grams - An insanely light chronograph that’s truly a feat to pull off. And it’s further impressive when it still maintains that 1/100th of a second split second function.
To futher keep it light, the dial is fashioned out of a sheet of sapphire to better view the movement, which is held by two large bridges. The watch comes in both red, or blue with the brands iconic square subdials still remaining on the dial. Overall, the Tag Heuer Monaco Split Second Rattrapante isn’t only a cool watch, it’s a testament to the brands penchant for technical innovation.
Gerald Charles Masterlink
Gerald Charles has always been a unique brand to us, because it’s born out the brain of Gerald Genta - Arguably the worlds most premier watch designer - Responsible for the likes of the Nautilus, Royal Oak, and Ingenieur. After his passing, the brand has been run by Federico Ziviani who has meticulously maintained Genta’s vision. This year, as a first for the brand, they released a stainless steel sport watch that has all of the hallmarks of Gerald Genta.
The watch itself still features the brand’s signature “Smile” at 6 o’clock, which presented some challenges from a design standpoint. Obviously, the bracelet is a core part of a sport watch and being integrated to a asymmetrical case is an obvious challenge. However, Gerald Charles pulled it off flawlessly. The bracelet integrates beautifully into the case, and the result is a solid stainless steel sport watch ripped right from the Gerald Genta sketchbook. The textured dial fits in perfectly, and we believe that we may be seeing a contender to competing with the big guys.
Read more about the Gerald Charles Masterlink here.
Panerai Luna Rossa EXPERIENCE Tourbillon GMT
One of the more complicated watches on this list is the Panerai Submersible Luna Rosa Experience Edition Tourbillon GMT (a mouthful I know). Panerai has long paired lavish experiences with limited edition watches, but this one is really unique. The purchaser of this watch will get to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the America’s Cup Finals in Barcelona and hang out with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sailing team for a peak behind the curtain of the competition and the team. For a watch this expensive, and complicated it’s cool to get to pair an experience with the watch too.
The watch measures in at a fairly large 45mm in a treated titanium to as-not-to add to the weightiness of a watch of this size. It also features 300 meters of water resistance. Like the name suggests, the watch features a visible Tourbillon at 10 o’clock, as well as a Day-Night indicator and a GMT function. Obviously, with the exclusivity of the event and watch itself, only 20 of these will be made and come with a pretty steep price tag of $176,000 USD, though, it’s not all that much more than the first iteration of this movement we see in the Bronzo.
H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton
Nobody does movements like Moser. The Streamliner Collection has long been a massive part of the brand’s core DNA. It’s integrated sport watch offering is most unlike most of the steel sport watches out there. It’s serpent-like integrated bracelet gives the entire watch a unique look, and it’s fluid cushion-esque case simply bodes a unique presence to the wrist. That being said, it’s gone through it’s paces of different models and iterations. This year, Moser brought some heat with the all-new skeletonized version with the Streamliner Skeleton.
For starters, the movement is simply stunning, and pictures really don’t do the watch justice. Moser has essentially stripped the entire movement down to remove any unnecessary clutter to provide what they call the “Minimalistic Skeleton” treatment. What’s left is a largely open-worked movement with minimal bridges to provide a clear view of each of the moving components. It’s a visually interesting what, and measuring in at 40mm x 12.1mm and 120 meters of water resistance, it’s a dead-ringer for our new favorite skeleton sport watch.
Read more about the watch here.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Heliotourbillon Perpetual
Jaeger-LeCoultre rolled up this year with a number of ultra-complicated watches - Something that’s become synonymous with the brand’s ethos and core releases. One of our favorites of this year’s Watches and Wonders was an ultra-complicated Tourbillon movement with a unique construction.
The Caliber 388 utilizes the brand’s Duometre technology, which is essentially a way to add more intense complications without compromising the accuracy of the timepiece. And with the Duometre Heliotourbillon, the brand introduces even more complication into the bones of the movement. Instead of the typical single, or double axis Tourbillon, JLC has introduced a third Axis. This gives what appears to be a “Wobble” or “Spinning Top” movement to the Tourbillon. If that wasn’t enough, they also added a Perpetual Calendar, and Grande Date Complication. Overall, it’s one of the most beautiful, complicated dress watches we’ve seen in awhile.
Read more about the JLC Heliotourbillon here.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra
When it comes to technical innovation, there aren’t so many that are at the forefront of that battle. One of the coolest things we’ve seen over the years is this race to make the “Thinnest” watch in the world, and this year for Watches & Wonders, Bulgari showed up in a major way, and without gloves to reclaim that trophy from Richard Mille’s Ferrari UP-01 released a couple of years ago.
The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra measures in at a whopping 1.7mm as a complete watch. And what’s even more impressive, is the movement is COSC certified, so the watch is a functional sport watch on top of being as thin as a toothpick. The movement had to be reworked from the brand’s initial Ultra releases to shave off an extra half a millimeter, but the result is a new world record that is seemingly going to be incredibly difficult to beat. From a sheer technicality standpoint, this is an incredible milestone for the brand, but even further - It’s simply a beautiful watch on top of all of it - Which is often rare when going for technical achievement. The watch features a QR code on the barrel that allows the wearer to learn more about the watch when scanned.
You can read more about the watch here.
Zenith Defy Extreme Diver
Zenith dips back into it’s heritage for their major release this year at the fair. For Watches and Wonders, Zenith has brought out 2 new models and for the first time in a long time, introduced a Dive Watch back into their Collection.
The Zenith Defy Extreme Diver takes a nod back to the brand’s first diver in 1969. Although, it doesn’t look vintage, rightfully so, as the goal here was to create something more contemporary and modern to fit into the mostly-futuristic Defy line. What results is simply a unique take on a dive watch. Gone is the traditional rounded bezel and simple colors as Zenith takes it back to the original orange accents of the brand’s A6348 model from the 1960’s. The Extreme Diver still maintains the brand’s claim-to-fame 600 meters of water resistance, though the case is made out of titanium this time to protect better against the elements and not be an anchor when diving. The watch also meets 3 separate ISO standards for diving, magnetism, and shock resistance making it quite the go-anywhere-do-anything sport diver.
Read more about the watch here.
Rolex GMT-Master II 126710GRNR Ghost
Anyone who’s been around the industry for even a short amount of time, knows the anticipation of what Rolex is going to release next is debilitating. Everyone wants to know what the Crown has up it’s sleeve. This year, Rolex released a number of novelties, but our favorite is the new addition to the GMT Master II line with the ‘Ghost’ (Ref. 126710GRNR).
This new colorway adds a couple options into the mix that isn’t typically Rolex’s style. Like the option of an Oyster Bracelet, or a Jubilee Bracelet. Further, the brand’s DNA is all over the watch with the signature green hands and text, but this time with the addition of a grey day/night indicator on the bezel as opposed to a solid black. It’s a little bolder option for those who want it and we’re here for it.
Read more about the watch here.
Patek Philippe Worldtimer Ref. 5330G-001
“Denim” was the name of the game for Patek this year, offering a slew of novelties aptly nicknamed with the moniker. But our favorite release was actually one that was unveiled last summer as a limited edition in Tokyo. For Watches and Wonders, the brand has announced that the Patek Philippe World Timer with Date (Ref. 5330G-001) will now be a standard part of the brand’s collection.
The watch has mostly stayed the same since it was initially showcased, though the buzz around this watch this year now that people could put their hands on it was loud. The Worldtimer features that same unique “Denim” look with colorful indicators. Though, the real big part of the show is a technical feat that was thought mostly impossible for a long time. The Caliber 240 HU C is now able to automatically change the date based on the timezone of the city you select. Patek has long been a master of the travel watch, but this firmly solidifies it.
Grand Seiko SBGD215
Grand Seiko showed up to Watches & Wonders this year with a whole lot of bling. The SBGD line has long been where the brand gets to let their hair down and play with precious materials and jewels. This year they upped their game and released what’s arguably their blingiest watch to date. An all SBGD215 in blue.
The watch comes in a gem-set platinum 950 case that measures in at almost 45mm x 14.4mm. Fitted to the case are over 300 gems between diamonds and sapphires. They’re placed in a “step” pattern on the bezel and dial, creating an illusion of major depth. Further, the dial is finished in a way that only Grand Seiko can accomplish. Inside the watch is an all-new movement (9R01 Spring Drive) made from the brand’s more exclusive movement manufacturer that utilizes 3 barrels instead of the Spring Drive’s typical single barrel, giving the watch an amazing 8 days of power reserve. Overall, Grand Seiko doesn’t often make spectacle of “loud” timepieces, but they seem to be more than comfortable doing it. This is a watch that’s meant to be seen, and who doesn’t love a little bling in their life?