The ultimate standard of ‘if you know you know’, Watches & Wonders – one of the world’s biggest and glitziest trade shows of the international watch industry – reconvened in Geneva once more to showcase to watch connoisseurs the best of the industry for the year ahead.
A subtle and exclusive affair, if you missed Watches & Wonders this year, don’t panic; most did. Although, admittedly, not Roger Federer, David Beckham and Julia Roberts, who were all reported to have attended the sold-out show.
With new releases from indisputable giants of the luxury industry including Rolex, Cartier, and even Chanel, we’ve rounded up our favorite watches of wonder for those that couldn’t make it, and also for those that did – who, quite understandably, just want to relive the magic over again.
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Arceau Hermès Story
Taking the wonder of Watches & Wonder this year to literal, ethereal new heights is luxury fashion house Hermès, with its presentation of the Arceau Hermès Story. Featuring a beautifully painted mother of pearl dial depicting a princess atop a house – wielding a selfie stick, no less – with a merry band of exotic birds around her, it is a joyful and eccentric piece of painting wizardry.
The strap is Chantilly alligator in silver, and the case is a white gold, bezel set that features 82 diamonds. Youthful and timeless at the same time, the watch is already a modern classic.
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Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Dual Moon Grand Complication
Designed as a homage to the moon, the final product of luxury house Vacheron Constantin’s latest watch Les Cabinotiers Dual Moon Grand Complication was revealed to planet earth at Watches & Wonders 2023.
The watch takes full advantage of navy and silver tones to bring the moon – two moons to be exact, and a scattering of stars – to the forefront of the new watch. The final product, which also features a navy alligator leather strap, a white gold case, and even a sky chart at the back that highlights the sky’s constellations – is as stylish as it is whimsical.
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Rolex Oyster Celebration Dial
It’s no surprise that this is one of the firm favorites of the Watches & Wonders 2023 show. Bursting with color and playful in tone, this watch feels considerably uncharacteristic from one of the luxury watch industry’s central players.
And yet beyond the retro circles design of the dial, the Oyster Celebration Dial is totally Rolex. Using Oystersteel for the steel watch case, the finish is exceptionally polished and reliably resistant. An exciting and utterly fun new form of the Oyster collection, one of the brand’s oldest lineages of watch and bracelet.
TAG Heuer Carrera Plasma Set
Now this is a big one, and we’re not just talking about the diamond size. TAG Heuer have presented its Carrera Plasma 36mm watch, which features 1.4 carats of Diamant d’Avant-Garde with pink and white lab-grown diamonds, marking the first time the luxury watch brand has used colored lab-grown diamonds on a watch.
A pioneering step for not just TAG Heuer but the industry at large, the watch betrays no sign of its ground-breaking laboratory origin or its exciting scientific success. Instead, it is totally chic in the classical way, with subtle inclusion of pink enhancing the sophisticated silver tones of the dial and strap.
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Patek Phillippe Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar 5261R
Stylish and practical are the baseline expectations we look for when watch shopping, and – to quote the TikTok kids – Patek Phillippe has, as usual, understood the assignment, and then some.
With technology that not only tells the time, but the day, date, and month of the calendar, the brand’s patented Annual Calendar is back with a stylish new format. The dial is a lovely shade of blue-gray with gold applied numerals, gorgeously complimented by a blue-gray strap and a rose gold case. Small details of stars nod to the date and month feature, the latter of which is easy to use, only requiring manual correction when the clocks go forward.
Chanel J12 Caliber 12.2 33mm
Yet again reminding us why it remains such an indisputable titan of the luxury sphere, Chanel showcased its J12 Watch Caliber 12.2 at the Watches & Wonders 2023, in which the new self-winding technology has been manufactured exclusively for Chanel.
Made out of black ceramic and steel, the watch is as stylish as you’d expect from the French designer house. Also featuring a black lacquer dial and a highly resistant ceramic bracelet with a steel triple-folding buckle, the Chanel J12 Caliber in Black is water-resistant for up to 200 meters. A perfect piece of both technology and fashion to gift – or, better still, be gifted.
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Cartier Santos Dumont Micro-Roter
A tribute to the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, for whom Louis Cartier designed the first wristwatch as we know it today in 1904, the Cartier Santos Dumont Micro-Roter is some serious bling.
A classic of the genre that has been revisited several times over the past century, the 2023 model is updated with skeletonized movements and a variety of colors to pick from, including steel, pink gold, and even a limited edition of yellow and blue.
Our favorite of the 2023 offerings, admittedly, goes to the latter. Boasting a yellow cold case with royal blue lacquer, the piece feels freshly modern whilst also paying homage to the Art Deco beginnings of the watch’s original fin de siècle origins.
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Montblanc 1858 The Unveiled Secret Minerva Monopusher Chronograph Le 88
Making its debut at the Watches & Wonders 2023 show, the third reiteration of Montblanc’s Minerva monopusher chronograph is updated for a more contemporary look, courtesy of the distressed steel case.
A three-fold process, the black coated case nods to Minerva’s first fluted bezel on 1927 which a white gold fluted bezel. Yet it’s the dial itself that is the stand-out feature here; with around 21 parts, great technological skill has been utilized to reverse the direction of the dial hands for a finished product that includes an arrow-shaped lever and the iconic V-shaped Minerva bridge.
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