Feature: Watches & Wonders 2023: 10 of the best!
While the industry continues to debate the hits and misses of this year’s Watches and Wonders event, we’ve put together ten of our favourite timepieces unveiled over the past few days. Did any of these make your own shortlist?
IWC Ingenieur
Gerald Genta would have been delighted to see the presence of one of his many “babies”, the Ingenieur, at Watches & Wonders. IWC has modernised this classic and brought out a couple of new versions, the best of which features a chequered “grid” dial in vivid aqua green. The date window blends nicely into the dial and the 40mm case size is the same as Genta’s 1970s iteration.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Artistica Calibre 179
Walking around Watches & Wonders this year, most gasps of astonishment might well have come from the Jaeger-LeCoultre booth thanks to some truly incredible pieces. This Reverso to end all Reversos is horological art and technical mastery of the highest level. The multi-axis tourbillon is the show-stopper here.
Chopard Alpine Eagle
We wholly approve of the subtle upgrades to Chopard’s Alpine Eagle, not to mention the stunning new “Eagle’s iris” dial in a peachy, salmony sort of orange-pink. A leaner case, small seconds subdial and the welcome omission of the symmetry-ruining date window between 4 and 5 o’clock give it a much cleaner aesthetic.
Panerai Radiomir Quaranta Goldtech PAM1026
Panerai have conjured up a borderline dress watch with this reduced Radiomir in Goldtech (its own version of rose gold). At just 40mm it’s a relative pygmy in the Panerai catalogue, of course, but those of us with average-sized wrists will welcome the brand’s rare foray into the sub-42mm category. We’d love to see more Panerais this size.
TAG Heuer Carrera Chrono
TAG Heuer has done a sterling job of blending retro and modern styling with this sporty Carrera chronograph. The deep-blue dial features an outer ring that graduates from fiery orange to red, with the chronograph hands also in red. The pushers are neo-vintage and the open caseback reveals an attractive automatic movement with skeletonised rotor.
Rolex Daytona Platinum
Considering it’s the Daytona’s 60th anniversary this year, we expected to see a new model released at the event. What we didn’t anticipate was this platinum number with an exhibition caseback! Rolexes with such a caseback were a real rarity, until this year when one was added to the new dressier 1908 line, too.
Grand Seiko Masterpiece Collection SBGZ009
You may already be familiar with Grand Seiko’s nature-inspired dials. If so, well done, for paying attention to one of the most exciting brands around right now. But what about a matching nature-inspired case to match? The platinum case on this watch is meticulously hand-engraved to resemble the grooves of birch trees. Truly outstanding craftsmanship.
Tudor Black Bay GMT
Resembling a very rare vintage white-dial Rolex GMT-Master from the 1950s, Tudor’s new Black Bay GMT comes with a crisp opaline dial. Tudor has essentially taken this Rolex model and modernised it, keeping it in line with its existing black-dial GMT with a 41mm steel case, “Pepsi” bezel and the COSC-certified MT5652 movement.
A. Lange & Sohne Odysseus Chronograph
Debuting A. Lange and Sohne’s first automatic chronograph movement, the Odysseus Chronograph is an exciting release. Featuring a sporty 42.5mm steel case and a black dial with bold red accents, this is a handsome timepiece indeed. You’d better be quick if you want one, though, as it’s limited to just 100 pieces.
Cartier Santos-Dumont
When people think of Cartier, they probably don’t think of watches like this Santos-Dumont, and that’s exactly why we love it. Through its stunning yellow-gold case and skeleton dial, you can view the Calibre 9629 MC with its unusual micro-rotor boasting a replica of the Demoiselle—an aircraft designed by Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1907—on the rotor.
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