The Best New Watches From Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024

Jeremy Freed and Justin Mastine-Frost April 12, 2024

Anyone with a yen for the tiny inner workings of mechanical watches has a lot to be happy about this week. Whether you’re into understated dress watches, fantastical high-complications or luxury dive watches, it’s never been easier to find a timepiece to spend your discretionary income on. Compared to recent years, there weren’t quite as many showstoppers or “all new” releases this year, with many brands opting for technical updates of existing models, or line extensions to grow existing collections. That said, a few pieces at this year’s edition of Watches & Wonders managed to stand out from the pack, whether by their looks, their complexity, or their sheer chutzpah.

Taking a tandem approach this year, between our Watch Editor Jeremy Freed on the ground in Geneva, and our Digital Content Director (and resident watch expert) Justin Mastine-Frost surveying the landscape remotely, we’ve collectively compiled our thoughts into the list found below. These are the watches we’ll be thinking about long after Watches & Wonders closes its doors for 2024.

Best Act of Brinksmanship: Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon

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Despite being in the business of making unbelievably thin watches for more than 60 years, Piaget is still managing to set new records. This year it’s the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, whose blue PVD-treated cobalt alloy case is just 2mm thick (while somehow also remaining water-resistant to 20 metres), makes it the world’s thinnest tourbillon. Bravo.

Best Enthusiast Pleaser: Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT

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As we’ve already covered in our news from the fair, Tudor is the home of enthusiast launches these days, and the Black Bay 58 GMT was their easy win of the year. Proportions perfect and retro cues on point, it’s a stellar throwback that satisfies the “Coke Bezel GMT” itch that Rolex chose to keep ignoring in 2024. The vintage vibes won’t be for everyone, but beyond that it’s become the new GMT to beat this year.

Best Conversation Piece: IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar

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Flying in famed astro-physicist Brian Cox to wax poetic on the nature of time is never a bad idea at a convention devoted to devices that measure it, but it was especially appropriate this year, given the mind-boggling capability of IWC’s flagship launch, the Portugieser Eternal Calendar. Thanks to a gear that turns once every 400 years, its movement is designed to display the correct day and date well beyond the next millennium, and IWC claims its moon phase display will be accurate for no less than 45 million years. You don’t need to be an astronomer to appreciate that.

Best Use of Colour: De Bethune DB28xs Purple Rain

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We’ve seen bright dials galore, but De Bethune has a knack for making vibrant monochromatic creations out of heat treated titanium that are unlike anything else in the market. First it was blue, then it was yellow, but this year’s DB28xs Purple Rain is now the one to beat. Its guilloché wave pattern dial and smaller case (measuring 38.7mm in diameter and 7.4mm thick) seal the deal as far as we’re concerned.

Most Cohesive Collection Refresh: Jaeger LeCoultre Duomètre

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If you trace things back through the watch industry over the last decade, you’ll notice that when a brand refreshes a model range, often the changes are either dramatic or imperceptible. In the case of the Duomètre, the changes can be easily noticed — a softer and more refined case profile, to start with — yet seeing the two side by side makes it clear they didn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Best Flex: Rolex Deepsea In 18 ct Yellow Gold

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What’s better than a watch that can dive to 3,900 metres? A watch that can dive to 3,900 metres that’s made out of a chunk of solid 18 ct yellow gold, of course. Because sometimes you need to do a thing just because you can.

Most Under-The-Radar Daily Wearer: Bvlgari Octo Roma DLC

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Yes, Bulgari broke another record this year, but something else also caught our eye. The go anywhere, do anything segment is a real tough one these days, but one look at this stealthy Octo Roma pushed it to the top of our wants list. The all matte black look with crisp white indices is wonderfully cohesive and simple. Combine that with a screw-down crown and 100m of water resistance? Take it to work. Take it on vacation. Wear without worry, which is something to be appreciated these days.

Biggest Curveball of The Show: Hautlence Retrovision ’47

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Would you look at this thing? It’s such a playful bit of retro futurist nostalgia that would rest well alongside a ’50s tin toy robot, and that on its own was enough for it to surprise us amongst the otherwise rather “safe” new watches of the year. What makes it the biggest curveball is in part this design, but also that it came from Hautlence — a brand best known for its edgy and modern design. A retro-inspired watch brand it is not, and yet they executed it so bloody well.

Most Promising New Case Material: Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Luna Rossa Ti-Ceramitech

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Panerai’s watches and its booth — which featured team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s actual America’s Cup training boat hanging from the ceiling — were dedicated to the pursuit of seagoing performance. Likewise, the case of its newest Submersible is made from a proprietary ceramicized titanium that’s similar to the material used in the boat’s rigging. Over seven years in development, it’s said to be 44% lighter than steel ten times stronger than traditional ceramic.

Most Generous Use of the Word “Watch”: Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers The Berkley Grand Complication

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This year saw plenty of new releases not designed to be worn on the wrist, from necklaces to rings to pocket watches, but the most impractical (and by far most impressive) of them all is this spectacular grand complication that reportedly took more than a decade to design and build. With 2,877 components and 63 horological complications including a world-first Chinese perpetual calendar programmed until the year 2200, The Berkley Grand Complication now holds the title of “world’s most complicated watch.” At 98 mm in diameter, 50.55 mm thick, however, this grapefruit-sized marvel strains even the most generous definition of the word.

Best “If You Know, You Know” Collab: Beauregard x Vianney Halter Ulysse

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Beauregard is a charming relative newcomer to the watch space that we’ve been keeping eyes on these last few years. Mostly known for building high level luxury watches for women, this latest launch sees the firm pairing up with Vianney Halter — a proper legend in top tier indie watchmaking. The end result is gorgeous, and only 10 of these mystery-hand watches will be produced.

The One We Didn’t See Coming: Zenith Defy Extreme Diver

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Of all the brands that could have rebooted a dive watch this year, Zenith was the least expected. If anything, our money was on a return of the IWC Aquatimer, but instead the 42mm Zenith Defy Extreme Diver landed in our laps. Powered by a high beat El Primero automatic movement, and designed with an integrated strap/bracelet configuration, the new watch aligns with the balance of the Defy collection, though it’s a stark departure from any Zenith dive watch we’ve seen over the last several decades.

Best Celebrity Cameo: Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph JX7

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Watches & Wonders always includes a few surprise appearances by celebrities with connections to the watch world, and Chopard rolled out its newest Mille Miglia chronograph — a tribute to motorsports legend Jacky Ickx — with a surprise cameo by the six-time Le Mans winner. The watch is a worthy tribute to his legacy, featuring a midnight blue dial inspired by Ickx’s helmet, a matching Dunlop tire-tread strap, and (in 50 of the 250 pieces) a halo-like bezel in ethical 18-carat yellow gold.

Best Example of Less is More: Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Petite Seconde

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Under new guidance, Parmigiani Fleurier has been updating all of its core collections over the last few years. 2024 was the year of the Toric, and it did not disappoint. A simple grained texture pie-pan dial — note the curvature of the dial at its edges — adds a layer of depth to the watch without cluttering the dial up with additional superfluous details. This new design language for the brand is killer, and we can’t wait to see more of it.