Across the spectrum, from Breguet’s boundary-pushing Expérimentale 1 to Parmigiani Fleurier’s radically simplified chronograph, this year’s strongest watches are rethinking how complications function, not just how many can be packed into a case. At Chopard, the centuries-old chiming complication is elevated to the hilt with sapphire-crystal gongs. And at Jaeger-LeCoultre, the tourbillon moves into even more theatrical three-dimensional territory.
Materials were a major consideration, too, and that’s no surprise given current economic trends. With gold continuing to surge in value, many watchmakers turned to platinum, a distinguished precious metal that suddenly looks like a relative value proposition. Marquee releases from Vacheron Constantin, Louis Vuitton, and Patek Philippe—to name just a few—all came in the high-end alloy.
At the same time, a parallel shift toward restraint is taking hold. Smaller case sizes, slimmer profiles, and cleaner displays—seen in pieces such as Lange’s Saxonia Annual Calendar and Vacheron Constantin’s Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin—underscore a growing desire for wearability without sacrificing mechanical depth. Meanwhile, métiers d’art and high-jewelry creations from houses such as Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Cartier show that technical prowess and creative expression remain equally important and, when combined, offer the full package of Swiss watchmaking.
What unites these standouts is a shared focus on mechanical ingenuity, ease of use, wrist comfort, and design excellence. Innovation here isn’t defined by complexity alone, but how convincingly it is resolved: by making the most sophisticated ideas feel intuitive and refined designs feel quietly extraordinary. They suggest, perhaps, that the future of watchmaking won’t be louder. It will be smarter.
-
Watch of the Year: Breguet Expérimentale 1
Closing out Breguet’s monumental 250th anniversary celebration in December, the 43.5 mm by 13.3 mm Expérimentale was the chef’s kiss on a landmark year. But it’s far more than your average anniversary piece: It is both a technical manifesto and the brand’s boldest step forward in years. The Calibre 7250 pairs a 10 Hz regulator with a magnetic constant-force system that smooths the delivery of energy to the escapement. Ten years in development, it is an elegant, modern alternative to traditional remontoir or fusée-and-chain solutions. It is also the first-ever contactless mechanical escapement to operate without oil while maintaining stable amplitude. During founder Abraham-Louis Breguet’s era, an oil-free escapement was considered one of horology’s great unrealized ambitions. Centuries later, with the launch of the Expérimentale, that quest has finally been fulfilled.
It is intended eventually to be industrialized, a process that will likely take years, if not decades. Then again, the watch industry is accustomed to taking its time. Just as it did in the 18th century, Breguet has once again pushed traditional watchmaking into a new realm—Abraham-Louis would be proud. $422,400
-
Chronograph: Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Chronograph Mystérieux
Modern watchmaking often turns complexity into a kind of horological bragging right. This year, Parmigiani offers a world-first so outwardly simple and user-friendly that one wonders why it had not been done before. After all, isn’t engineering, at its best, supposed to make things easier? The latest ingenious addition to the Tonda PF line does just that: a supremely clean chronograph without subdials, where all indications originate from a single point. In its resting state, it serves as a traditional timekeeper, with rhodium-plated hours, minutes, and seconds tracking civil time. Press the monopusher, and rose-gold delta-shaped hour and minute hands pop out from behind to track the civil time while the three rhodium-plated hands track the chronograph function. A second press stops the chronograph, and a third returns the hands to alignment with the time display, restoring the dial to its original simplicity. This 40 mm by 13 mm watch, in steel with a platinum bezel, distills the chronograph to its purest expression. $44,600
-
Annual Calendar: A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Annual Calendar
It’s no secret that watches are getting smaller as tastes shift. But at Lange, sizing down isn’t about chasing trends; it’s an exercise in engineering. Anthony de Haas, the company’s director of product development, says work on the new caliber for the 36 mm Saxonia Annual Calendar began four years ago as a challenge to his team. “If you say, let’s try to make the Annual Calendar in 36 millimeters, and please don’t go higher than 10 millimeters [for the thickness], that’s a challenge for the movement design,” he says. “And actually, I didn’t have so much in mind to really launch in 36 millimeters—that came later when we got a prototype and we said, ‘Wow, this is actually quite cool.’ ”
The automatic Calibre L207.1 also brings meaningful improvements. It offers 60 hours of power reserve, up from 46, a 21,600 VpH rate, a winding rotor in 950 platinum, and a larger balance wheel. But the real importance of the downsizing lies in expansion: Demonstrating that it can reengineer complications in more minute dimensions while improving its technical performance. About $63,000
-
Multi-Axis Tourbillon: Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Hybris Inventiva Gyrotourbillon À Stratosphère
In 2004, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced its first gyrotourbillon: a regulating organ housed within two perpendicular cages, where the inner cage itself is set perpendicular to the regulator, allowing the mechanism to continuously shift position in space as it rotates on two axes. This year, the maison ups the theatrics in the 42 mm platinum Stratosphère: “On top of the two cages, we have added a third cage that actually takes all of the mechanism and spins it, so it removes now 98 percent of the effect of gravity, besides being very beautiful to watch,” Matthieu Sauret, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s director of product marketing and heritage, tells Robb Report.
This new triple-axis tourbillon uses a cylindrical balance spring, allowing it to beat concentrically at any angle, while ceramic ball bearings reduce friction. The cage rotates at 20, 60, and 90 seconds. It is not the first triple-axis tourbillon, but its differentiating point is scope: Earlier gyrotourbillons accounted for roughly 70 percent of the positional map; this one covers the full field. Add an unusually high frequency of 4 Hz, 64 hand-beveled inner angles around the caliber, 18-karat-gold movement plates decorated in blue enamel, 53 rubies (some set in gold chatons), and you have a bona fide piece of high horology. Price upon request, limited to 20
-
World Timer: Louis Vuitton Escale Worldtime Flying Tourbillon
High-end watchmaking has long been alive and well at Louis Vuitton, thanks to La Fabrique du Temps, the maison’s Geneva atelier helmed by master watchmakers Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini. More recently, under Jean Arnault, the company’s director of watches, the brand has been capturing the attention of serious horophiles. The platinum 40 mm by 12.8 mm Escale Worldtime Flying Tourbillon is a prime example. It elevates the classic world timer with a grand feu enamel dial, hand-painted with flags representing the time zones. Each one is crafted by a single artisan and can require more than 80 hours of meticulous work.
At its center is another showpiece: a flying tourbillon in the shape of the LV Monogram Flower integrated into the movement. The in-house Calibre LFT VO05.01 required a redesign to accommodate the world-time function, jumping display, and tourbillon. Combining its complications and métiers d’art, the timepiece suggests Louis Vuitton intends to be taken seriously in the watch world—and the efforts are paying off. $239,000
-
Moon Phase: Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Jour Nuit Phase de Lune
The moon phase has always brought beauty to the dial, with watchmakers taking great pains to decorate the complication. But with the latest addition to its Jour Nuit collection, Van Cleef & Arpels pushes that poetry a step further. Here, a golden guilloche sun gives way to a white mother-of-pearl Moon across a Murano-glass aventurine sky, all set on a 24-hour rotating disc. Over time, the Moon shifts to reflect its technically accurate 29.5-day cycle. Now its beauty can be enjoyed even after sunrise: A pusher summons the Moon on demand, sending the disc into a full rotation to reveal its current phase. The caseback displays an engraving of the Moon’s topography, while the sapphire crystal protecting the oscillating weight is painted with a view of the cosmos, as seen from the lunar surface.
The dance between astronomical accuracy, theatrical animation, and decorative craft is signature Van Cleef & Arpels. More unexpected are the proportions: At 42 mm, the watch marks the maison’s first men’s-size timepiece since the Midnight Zodiaque Lumineux collection from 2018. $153,000
-
Perpetual Calendar: Patek Philippe In-Line Perpetual Calendar Ref. 5236P-011
When Patek Philippe introduced its 41.3 mm by 11.06 mm in-line perpetual calendar in 2021, it solved a persistent problem with the complication: It made it easier to read. As with so many feats in watchmaking, the idea sounds simple—arrange the day, date, and month into a single line across a dial, rather than scattering them among a trio of busy subdials. In practice, it called for a genuinely groundbreaking mechanical solution, the product of which remains one of the most legible perpetual calendars on the market. The model debuted in platinum with a navy-blue dial, followed in 2024 by a platinum salmon-dial version (both on dressy alligator straps). This year’s iteration is the best yet: a silvery dial with a vertical satin finish extends into an ombré black rim, punctuated by a crisp white railroad minute track. Charcoal-gray white-gold hands and hour markers echo the tone of the fabric strap with white stitching, for a final note of refinement.
Along with its pared-back aesthetic, the watch retains its technical sophistication. Patek’s in-line display requires an intricate system of discs and instantaneous jumping mechanisms to keep all indications perfectly aligned. The result is a perpetual calendar that can be read at a glance—and now has a design that merits a second one. $156,039
-
Power Reserve: Panerai Luminor 31 Giorni
Panerai built its reputation developing timepieces for the Italian Navy before it ever became a commercial watchmaker, so longevity has always been part of its DNA—out of necessity rather than convenience. For its military dive watches, long power reserves were mission critical. In the 1950s, the brand adopted the Angelus SF240, an alarm-clock movement, and adapted it for the wrist to offer an eight-day power reserve. Now, after seven years of R&D, Panerai brings another profound innovation to the table with the Luminor 31 Giorni, the first wristwatch to offer 31 days of power reserve through the crown alone. Other watchmakers have produced timepieces that offer extensive reserves—Hublot at 50 days and A. Lange & Söhne at 31 days—but all must be wound using tools. Vacheron Constantin’s Twin Beat offers 65 days, but only in standby mode.
The brand achieves this world-first via multiple barrels arranged in series in the hand-wound, skeletonized PAM01631 movement, housed in a 44 mm Goldtech case. It’s big. It’s bold. And it gives collectors what they ultimately want: a tactile reminder that we’re always trying to stretch time to its limits. $107,000
-
Time-Only: Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin 2500V
Platinum. Salmon dial. Ultrathin. Need we say more? This follow-up to the Overseas 2000V—a white-gold, boutique-only limited edition from 2016 that became a collector’s darling—was easily one of the stars of Watches and Wonders this year. The 2500V offers a winning combination of simplicity, beauty, and wearability, all in one elegant package. And for anyone thinking platinum cannot be a daily wear, this 39.5 mm by 7.35 mm piece is executed in a new version of the alloy said to be 2.7 times tougher than its predecessors.
The real magic, though, is inside. The watch houses the new Calibre 2550, fully developed in-house. The automatic movement features a platinum rotor and a more technically interesting architecture, with improved shock resistance and greater durability. It is Vacheron Constantin’s first modern, purpose-built ultrathin automatic for one of its flagship sports watches. To echo the verdict of more than one enthusiast: “It killed.” $120,000, limited to 255
-
Skeleton: Daniel Roth Extra Plat Skeleton
The resurrection of the Daniel Roth brand under La Fabrique du Temps, Louis Vuitton’s high-complication manufacture, presents a compelling blueprint for brand revival: Do less, and do it with reverence. Since its 2023 comeback, Daniel Roth has honored its founder’s work rather than chasing a forced modern interpretation. Its first releases were close remakes of 1990s models, updated with new movements to collectors’ delight. Still, a little dissection never hurt. Set in the brand’s signature double-ellipse case, the 38.6 mm by 35.5 mm rose-gold skeleton is a first at the modern house. While Roth produced skeletonized watches in the 1990s, those pieces featured fanciful baroque engravings. This time-only interpretation is cleaner and more restrained, with expert finishing visible from both the front and the back. It is also a full millimeter thinner than its solid-dial Extra Plat predecessor. On the wrist, or simply in the palm of the hand, the quality is unmistakable. Pair those details with an elegantly stylish execution, and you have one of the most desirable skeleton models on the market. Price upon request
-
Grand Complication: Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike
“I could say that’s probably an achievement, which took 20 or 30 years to reach, because when we started Chopard manufacture in 1996, I didn’t really think about striking watches yet,” says Karl Friederich Scheufele, copresident of Chopard, of his magnum opus, the L.U.C Grand Strike. “But, you know, it really became a goal after 10 years down the road, and so I think it’s a major milestone and kind of a summit we managed to reach.” The high-horology masterpiece brings together the most revered complications—grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, minute repeater, and tourbillon—within a single dial-less stage that showcases its 686-component movement. The timepiece was developed over more than 11,000 hours and is protected by 10 patents, but its crowning achievement is its sapphire-crystal gongs, crafted from a single piece of crystal to deliver a more resonant chime than traditional metal. The result is a culmination of Chopard’s decades-long pursuit of sonic perfection. Certified by both COSC and the Geneva Seal and powered by twin barrels for timekeeping and strike functions, the Grand Strike represents the full expression of Scheufele’s vision for Chopard at the pinnacle of classic watchmaking. A wine connoisseur, he compares it to a fine Burgundy—specifically, a Pinot Noir—for its transparency. “It really doesn’t get any better,” he says. $947,000
-
High Jewelry: Cartier Grain de Café
Introduced in the 1930s, Cartier’s Grain de Café translates the humble coffee bean into sculptural, textured gold. It famously took the spotlight when worn by Grace Kelly, but it was also a favorite of European aristocracy. This year, Cartier released a stunning amplification of the motif with a watch decorated with approximately 60 of the signature hand-engraved “beans.” Each is polished on its raised surfaces while the grooves remain matte, creating a light-catching effect splendid enough to stand on its own. Diamonds accent only the tips of each tiny form, leaving the dial and bezel to take the full pavé treatment. Adding another layer of charm, the beans are slightly articulated, moving with the turn of the wrist.
Despite headlines around other brand mainstays, the Grain de Café watch felt like a genuine surprise, even though the motif returned in 2023 as a jewelry suite. So far, it is the tour de force of the collection’s modern releases. Consider it an instant collector’s item: A 1950s Grain de Café bracelet sold at Sotheby’s last June for more than three times its original $50,000 top estimate. Price upon request
-
Transformable: Piaget Art of Color High Jewelry Sautoir
Piaget says it was the first to revive the sautoir watch—a form of timekeeping adornment dating to the 16th century—when it unveiled its 21st Century collection in 1969. Determining which house truly brought it back may be impossible, but Piaget can certainly lay claim to some of the finest sautoir timepieces in the industry. This year, the maison turned heads with an 18-karat-rose-gold lariat-style necklace that puts its goldsmithing expertise front and center: Its twisted-gold chain links are painstakingly crafted and finished by hand. Accented with malachite, turquoise, and diamonds, the lower portion can easily be removed to be worn as a cuff watch with the turquoise dial at its center.
Not surprisingly, the singular creation sold instantly at this year’s Watches and Wonders, underscoring what Piaget can achieve when it brings its fluencies in watches and jewelry into perfect alignment. Price upon request, one of a kind