Over 54 brands presented new watches – or novelties, as we call them in watch world – this week at Watches & Wonders 2024. The tradeshow is by far the biggest event on the horological calendar – the place where virtually every major watchmaker unveils almost everything they plan on rolling out over the year ahead. GQ’s Cam Wolf and British GQ’s Mike Christensen spent the last few days ping-ponging back and forth through Geneva’s sprawling Palexpo convention centre to try on hundreds of new releases from Rolex, Cartier, Tag Heuer, and more. Here, the pair have narrowed down their 29 favourite pieces from Watches & Wonders 2024.
We are all prone to fangirling over certain watches, and for me, it's Montblanc's Iced Seas. I could try and control the outpouring of feels I get whenever Laurent Lecamp says the magic words and new ones like this bronze-dialled beaut drop – but where's the fun in that? Understanding precisely why mountain-inspired dive watches are my niche is something for a therapist to unpack. Mike Christensen
It’s only in its second year, but the 1908 is already making an impression in the robust Rolex catalog. The “sand-grain” dial in sour-candy blue is truly stunning – and good enough to nab a spot on this list over any of the Crown’s latest sport watch releases. Cam Wolf
Another eagle has landed in Chopard’s sportiest collection. It’s made of titanium, has a dial the colour of the sky – Rhône Blue is the party line – and it’s a chronograph, which makes it very sporty indeed. Someone give Pep Guardiola a nudge as we know he likes his watches and sky blue matches Manchester City. MC
Thanks to a mega 2023—headlined by the showstopping Tonda PF – Parmiagani is at last known for more than simply being King Charles’s favourite watchmaker. The monarch’s go-to Toric received a revamp this year that’s brimming with “refined luxury” energy. While such phrases normally have me reaching for the sick bucket, this Petite Seconde in rose gold goes straight on the bucket list. MC
I’m a sucker for the oval-shaped Ellipse in general, but the chain bracelet is the real star of the show here. You could put that bracelet on a slice of pepperoni and I would still wear it. This is the first time that Patek’s paired this style of band, seen on previous iterations of the Ellipse, on a large version of the model. CW
There’s nothing watch nerds love more than a new release that riffs off a vintage grail – and Tudor’s reinterpretation of Rolex’s ’80s-era Coke GMT is worthy of the hype. I’m more of a sparkling water guy myself, but I’ll gladly take a can of this fizzy, caffeinated number down anytime. MC
A one-of-one recreation of an original Zenith diver from 1969. The orange hue that accents many dive watches is used liberally here. And I’ve tried not to bore you with too much size chatter here, but the 37mm case is literally the exact size – a decent amount smaller than today’s standard diver – I want in a watch. CW
TAG Heuer knows the drill: Give a steel sports icon its long awaited return one year, follow that up with a sparkling rose gold version the next. With its tri-colour subdial, the Carrera Skipper is a bit like a captain’s armband – wearing one immediately infers leadership credentials. MC
There was a small green-meets-gold trend going on between Tudor, H. Moser, and Vacheron Constantin. VC made four new versions of its Overseas using this combination, each with different complications (or other additions like diamonds). My favourite of the quartet is the dual time, with its pointy red arrow that brings a sporty element to the otherwise luxurious piece. CW
Omega might be the official timekeeper of Paris 2024, but the Olympic-esque rings that populate the dial on Ressence’s latest Type 1 has me thinking that this watch would be a far more fun way for an Olympian to mark the occasion than the obligatory tattoo. In a world overpopulated by history and tradition, Ressence’s watches are as fresh as it gets. MC
The Cartier Privè selection, which brings back one of the Parisian maison’s vintage shapes, is always one of the most exciting bits of the show. This year, we got the Tortue in this pristine, time-only execution. The watch is everything I love about Cartier, with its beautiful, elegant dial in an oddball shape only the jeweller could pull off. CW
Pound for pound, this is the fittest automatic GMT fighter I’ve seen this week. The 39mm steel case, the silver dial, the ceramic bezel, the black rubber strap – all of it just works. MC
Nobody does optical multilayer coating better than the Japanese stalwart, and this hunky chrono GMT – with its dial shimmering from orange to red to pink, like the Shinshu skyline at dawn – is proof. MC
Technically this debuted a few days before Watches & Wonder, but I won’t quibble if you won’t. After all, I need a space to celebrate the alien-green dial of Moser’s new Pioneer. Moser is a brand that relishes in tweaking the watch industry’s formalities and rules, like using a colour that might prompt you to call the Department of Toxic Substances Control. CW
IWC used this fair to refashion its Portugieser line, pushing new versions of the model out in a variety of astral-inspired colorways with increasingly grand complications. My favourite is the black-dial (which IWC calls obsidian!) perpetual calendar. The dial is especially lustrous thanks to 15 coats of lacquer. CW
Piaget scored plenty of headlines by dropping the thinnest tourbillon ever made, but don’t let this cappuccino Polo Date slip under your radar. With its 42mm steel case and fetching brown rubber strap, it has all the makings of a low-key sports watch grail. MC
No one gets wacky the way Hermès gets wacky. Last year, the Parisian house unveiled a pocket watch with a portrait of a horse woven from horsehair; now, they’ve followed it up with another equine wonder in this minute repeater. The complication chimes out the hours and minutes using miniature gongs; on the Arceau Duc Attelé, Hermès shaped the mallets into tiny horse heads. That gets an enormous yes from me. CW
Oris didn’t simply put out a new Aquis it completely redefined the line. Every detail of the diver was reconsidered, right down to the newly developed typography used on the dial. My favourite of the bunch finds Oris doing what it does best: leveraging big colour to make a statement. This one mixes blues, purples, and white for a watercolour effect. Even better is that this is one of Oris’s upcycled dials, meaning it’s made of recycled plastic. CW
I spotted one gentleman walking around Watches & Wonder in an “I MISS GERALD GENTA” T-shirt. If you happen to share that sentiment, I’m happy to report that the legendary designer’s work is alive and well at Gerald Charles. With its smile design feature at six o’clock, the brand’s new Masterlink collection just upped the ante in the integrated bracelet game. MC
An unpopular truth, but very few brands can put their hands up and say they’ve delivered any unadulterated fun this year. Patek put a surfboard on a dial, IWC made a watch that’s accurate for 45 million years, and there’s of course Hermès’s aforementioned horse-shaped minute repeater. Beyond that, it’s only really Chanel who have really caught our imaginations with the new J12, which features a cartoonesque Gabrielle Chanel doing a bit of dressmaking on the dial with scissors, measuring tapes, thimbles et al. Beneath the hood, it’s powered by a new Caliber 6 and 355 components that comprise the famous mademoiselle. MC
Following the whimsical dials of the Alessandro Michele era, Gucci’s current creative director Sabato De Sarno has kicked off his run with a classic ’70s dress watch. The brutalism of the octagon bolted onto a square dial projects very different vibes than Michele’s bees and snakes, while the Roman numerals at 12 and 6 o’clock serve as a reminder of Gucci’s Italiness—as if you could forget. Gucci’s fine watchmaking division is only four years old, which is easy to forget, especially when you see its first-ever minute repeater on the house’s newInterlocking Jumping Hour Flying Tourbillon. MC
Dedicated to his friend and cofounder Serge Cukrowicz, watchmaker François-Paul Journe debuted this 10th anniversary edition of the impossible-to-get Élégante. The Élégante is something of an oddball in the luxury watch world: a quartz watch that is as desirable (and expensive) as any of its mechanical counterparts. The quartz is used to make a delightful mechanism that uses a motion detector. When the watch is left unworn it goes to sleep, but pick it up and the hands come to life and spin into the correct time. This one comes with a rainbow of glass stones in rainbow hues on the bezel. CW
The new, slimmer Nomos Tangente just dropped in 31 colorways, but none are more cheery and fun than the “Flamingopink” version. Clinically good Bauhaus design to celebrate 175 years of clinically good watches. MC
Just what the Hublot collection needed. The new Big Bang with an integrated bracelet sits neatly next to the brand’s typically chunky and fabulously colourful pieces. Even the most ardent Hublot collectors must wake up some days looking to wear something a little less splashy. This new Big Bang, which is perfectly sized at just 38mm, is just the ticket. CW
For a brand so daring and utterly bonkers by nature, this new monotourbillon is surprisingly understated to the point where if you showed it to your granny she wouldn’t jump for fear of being attacked by a multicoloured mutant on your wrist. The fact it’s a single metal (for once) certainly enhances its toned down appeal. MC
New logo, who dis? Guided by Davide Cerrato, the UK’s most well-known watch brand is having a bit of a makeover – and if the vintage-looking field watches Bremont just dropped are anything to go by, there’s lots to be excited about. Change is good and with Cerrato’s flair and experience at the helm, this aviation-inspired brand could easily reach new heights. MC
One of, if not the best young independent watchmaker out there right now, Laurent Ferrier has just decided to add a new movement to its fast-growing repertoire – a moonphase that compliments its iconic annual calendar. There are a lot of well finished movements but beautifully designed movements are more difficult to come by, which is exactly why Laurent Ferrier has become so popular so quickly. And the finishing touches to the dial and case only make this any even more appealing proposition. MC
Of Lange’s many signatures—the Up/Down power reserve function, the Datograph watches, the wide-eyed date windows—none perk me up quite like the Lumen. The watch earns its name through the use of a semi-transparent dial and enough luminous material to recreate the Green Lantern suit. When hit with a UV light (or after transitioning from daylight to darkness) the entire watch lights up. And I mean the entire watch: Lange even puts lume on the date wheels, which are typically hidden underneath the dial. It can all be yours for a reported price of around $620,000. CW
If you know anything about Bell and Ross, the chances are the BR-05 is the reason. It’s been a killer spokesperson for an often underrated watchmaker and now has a banging new ceramic collection to brag about. At 41mm, it’s gone against the trend by adding a bit of size though everyone knows all black is extremely slimming. One of the dark horses of the fair. MC