The watch trends (haute horlogerie) that are going to dominate over the next twelve months are served. Smaller watches (36 or 38 millimeters in diameter). Lots and lots of gold (and solid, preferably yellow). Dials in all blues, oranges and pinks (from salmon, to pink, pink) and greens, in all their meanings.
Diving watches with extra design, complications and… also with gold straps and cases! Automata. And completely extraordinary complications like the 63 included in the Vacheron Constantin masterpiece, the Berkley Grand Complication! The never seen. It even includes the Chinese calendar.
Also fascinating is IWC’s Eternal Calendar Portugieser. It is a technological madness that allows it not to have to be adjusted in the next 400 years! and with a lunar phase so precise that at most it can deviate one day in 45 million years! and its Portugieser Hand-Wound Tourbillon Day
Crazy. Crazy what was seen at the last Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva in which Patek Philippe has given one more twist to its exceptional World Time Ref 533G-01 than under its beautiful dial with names of the most evocative cities in the entire world. world hosts a brutal engineering feat. It is a new patent from the Geneva manufacture that allows date display synchronized with the local time without the need for correction.
When the user crosses the international date line (in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) the watch automatically reconciles with the new time. And there is more. Another delight also signed by Patek is the Golden Ellipse, which recovers the exceptional gold mesh that already accompanied this model in the 1970s.
Piaget has also surprised with a technical feat that of course also blows away collectors. Because, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding, the manufacture has created the finest tourbillon in history. It is the Altitplano Ultimate Concept, only two millimeters thick! Yes. Two millimeters. It seems impossible but it is true. Looking back to the 70s, JJaeger-LeCoultre also dresses its Swingin Sautoir in gold and, becoming more eighties than ever, it does the same by covering its Polo 79 with gold case and mesh, the brand’s first sports watch.
But if something has distinguished Jaeger-LeCoultre over almost two centuries, it is its obsession with precision and its great experience in tourbillons, in addition to having also invented the Duometre mechanism, which allows complications to be added without compromising the precision of the function. time.
In 2024, Jaeger-LeCoultre unites these two lines of development to create the Duometre Heliotourbillon Perpetual. Pushing the boundaries of inventiveness further than ever, the new Caliber 388 features an entirely new tourbillon construction: one that rotates on three axes to create a “top” effect. The caliber 388, which beats at a frequency of 4 Hz (28,800 vph) to further improve chronometry, also features a perpetual calendar with a large date display.
More gold? Rolex has introduced its powerful Deepsea diving watch in yellow gold. Equipped with a brilliant sea blue dial and a matching ceramic bezel, the caseback of this watch that despite so much gold is still a diving instrument is made of titanium. And from gold to platinum that he uses for his elegant, and very successful 1908 line that burst into the collection last year. Now this watch made of platinum also comes with an ice blue dial decorated with a guilloche of rice grains.
It is undoubtedly another provocation for collectors just like the Cartier mini Tanks and Santos (with peacock blue and emerald green dials and matching straps) or the Tortue range from the Cartier Privé collection. Rummaging through its archives, the French firm has recovered that turtle-shaped watch and presents it in platinum and yellow gold with a single-pusher chronograph or two-hand models.
Although the most surprising thing is its Santos Dumont Rewind (the indices are upside down so it goes back in time) to take a look. What is indisputable is the appeal of the exquisite packaging of it; platinum case combined with carnelian dial. This unusual Santos-Dumont will be issued in limited edition format, with 200 numbered pieces.
But it has also surprised, once again, with its secret watches and its jewel watches. They are unique pieces that show his legacy in high, high jewelry.
The proposal of the upside-down indexes is groundbreaking, something that Hermès agrees with with its new Cut collection. Breaker, with the crown moved between one and two o’clock and a proposal for interchangeable metal or different colored straps is a proposal that, like all of the manufacture, is here to stay in a size that it was a few years ago.
But to impress the Slim d’Hermès Le Sacre des saisons: several artistic crafts exhibit their exceptional savoir-faire in this limited edition of four models embellished with paillon enamel, engraving or miniature painting to represent the cycle of the seasons.
Hublot has also gone smaller sizes to the point that the Classic Fusion line in titanium arrives in feminine 29 millimeter versions, with a diamond pavé version included, and the 42 millimeter Unico Ceramic surprises in several vibrant shades, including a A very successful orange whose creation has taken months to manufacture. and that is very, very Hublot.
Furthermore, the MP-11, always equipped with its sculptural seven-barrel movement that offers a two-week power reserve, sports a completely new color for the first time: a radiant and translucent aqua blue.
On the other hand, and after eight years of collaboration between Hublot and Maxime Plescia-Buchi, the first sapphire creation has finally arrived: Spirit of Big Bang Sang Blue Sapphire, a model in which three-dimensional geometry and indelible lines are inked on this high-tech material so appreciated by the Swiss watchmaker. A watch that is pure geometry tattooed on the wrist, between intensity and softness, between strength and delicacy.
Also surprising in orange is the A3648 by Zenith, a diving watch from 1969 that the firm has recovered in 37 millimeters. And with a race countdown indicator in three colors on its ocean blue dial, Tag Heuer has also made sailing lovers fall in love with its Skipper. But the brand, which recovers the presence and personality that once fell in love with Steve McQueen and Stanley Kubrick, where it gives a real impact is with its new square Monaco rattrapante chronograph that it presented 55 years ago.
And it is also committed to reviving its avant-garde Haute Horlogerie collection with the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph, once again exceeding the limits of timekeeping through watchmaking craftsmanship and avant-garde innovation. The Carrera Chronograph presents a new, modern version of the 1963 vision in 39mm, refining the design of its iconic model and renewing the timeless charm of the panda chronograph look in the new Glassbox construction.
It surprises just like Tudor, which welcomes a bold new version of its most popular model, the Black Bay 58, in 18K yellow gold with an open case back, accompanied by an 18K yellow gold bracelet. solid.
But Chanel’s surprise. With her Couture 0’Clock she builds delicious watches (some secrets) with the elements of sewing. Measuring tapes. Thimbles. Cocó Chanel herself moving on some of the dials and a J12 Couture with a needle and (sewing) scissors to indicate hours and minutes.
Roger Dubuis, for his part, pays tribute to the tourbillon in all its forms with four impressive new releases. They are the Orbis in Machina, Excalibur Sunrise has perfected the technique, with 319 components and two flying tourbillons that are linked, again, by a differential. And the more minimalist Excalibur Titanium Monotourbillon and, completely in the opposite sense because it is recharged, Excalibur Dragon, a Monotourbillon that represents the creature in a more abstract way, leaving more room for interpretation and inviting the user to let their imagination fly.
Another beautifully ornate dial, although it is in a métiers d’art key, is that of the Lady Arpels Brise D’Été watch by Van Cleef.
It is an ingenious use of horological skill and a wonderful example of how Van Cleef
Montblanc also has something to talk about with its new products. Following the launch of the Montblanc Iced Sea collection in 2022 with its “frozen” dials, Montblanc takes experimentation to a new level in 2024 with the Montblanc Iced Sea 0 Oxygen Deep 4810. The Montblanc Iced Sea collection with automatic date continues to expand with two new editions that are inspired by the warm tones of the sunset in this glacial landscape: a bronze model with a black dial with the glacier pattern and a stainless steel design with a dial in a new burgundy color with the glacier pattern .
More surprises? The impossible colors with which Moser
The always very rare spheres of Ressence and Artya. Oris’s firm ecological commitment, which uses recycled materials for both its dials and its straps.
The indisputable elegance of Chopard and deLange
