These 24 top watches are sure to be envied on your wrist in 2024
From Bulgari to Bremont, Patek Philippe to Panerai and Girard-Perregaux to Grand Seiko: what would you like to wrap around your arm next year? From the Summer issue out now.
No matter your preference for shape, size, complication or case material, there’s a watch to bring joy to your wrist in the new year.
Over the rainbow
Patek Philippe introduces the first Grand Complication in its “contemporary casual” line for women, the Aquanaut Luce Haute Joaillerie minute repeater. It’s paved with 130 baguette-cut diamonds (8.66 carats) on the dial with 779 multicoloured baguette-cut sapphires (45.05 carats) forming a rainbow on the bezel, case sides and bracelet.
Completing the dazzling tableau are 12 multicoloured sapphire hour markers, a diamond hour ring, a ruby-set hour hand and a blue sapphire-set minute hand. Inside, a self-winding calibre and the price? $1.4 million range.
Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce Haute Joaillerie minute repeater; Dior Grand Bal Milly la Nuit.
No leaf unturned
From its malachite dial with leaf and floral patterns to a bezel crowned with 292 round-cut diamonds and a front-facing diamond and sapphire decorated oscillating weight, the Dior Grand Bal Milly la Nuit is a stand-out. $61,000.
Bell & Ross BR-03-94 Blacktrack; Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Meteorite.
Track time
Inspired by motorcycle design and cased in matt black ceramic, the Bell & Ross BR-03-94 Blacktrack promises no-nonsense presence in a sleek almost industrial package. $10,300.
Just landed
The Frederique Constant Classic Tourbillon Meteorite showcases its eponymous feature in a cut-out in the wafer of meteorite making up the dial. Entirely hand-finished, just 35 are on offer, cased in platinum. $70,000 range.
Striking gold
The only mechanical timepiece combining a jumping numeral display and chiming time indication, the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater now comes in a limited edition of 30 pieces. $750,000 range.
A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater; H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Chinese Calendar
All correct
The H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Chinese Calendar combines the Chinese lunisolar calendar with the solar-only Gregorian calendar and displays the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac alongside the moon phases, all without requiring any correction for 12 years. $150,000 range.
Franck Muller Vanguard Slim V37; Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech.
Show time
The Franck Muller Vanguard Slim V37 is anything but when it comes to horological presence, a skeletonised 136-part in-house movement dominating proceedings in a 45 millimetre by 37 millimetre rose or white gold case just 9.1 millimetres thick. And yes, there are diamonds. $110,700.
Cutting edge
As its name suggests, there’s nothing vintage about the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech, housed as it is in a carbon/titanium composite with a random structural pattern. It’s mounted on an integrated fabric-look rubber strap. $45,000 range.
Bremont self-winding Waterman Apex II dive watch; MeisterSinger Mystique NL Edition.
Surf’s up
Bremont’s self-winding Waterman Apex II dive watch, which was tested by revered big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, comes in a 43-millimetre stainless-steel case with ceramic bezel, water resistant to 500 metres. Limited to 350 pieces, $8450.
Single-minded
The MeisterSinger Mystique NL Edition with its tone-on-tone sapphire blue dial is the latest colourful take on the brand’s one-handed display, the solo pointer in high-contrast white. It’s 43 millimetres, self-winding and limited to 123 pieces. $4000 range.
Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar and Panorama Date Moon Phase; Bulgari Octo Finissimo Carbongold Perpetual Calendar.
Dial tone
Glashütte Original is famed for its exquisite dials, and this Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar and Panorama Date Moon Phase lives up to expectations despite the number of displays it accommodates. $34,200 in steel, $53,700 in gold.
No carbon copy
Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Carbongold Perpetual Calendar brings something unique to the wrist thanks to a case and dial in patterned carbon with gold hands and indices. $170,000 range, or time teller only, $42,000.
Hermès H08 Monopusher; Panerai Radiomir Officine PAM01385.
Pushover
A single button incorporated in the crown triggers the chronograph function in this new Monopusher version of the Hermès H08. The contemporary cushion-shaped case is carbon composite with a titanium bezel and self-winding movement. $11,400.
Pastime
Panerai’s Radiomir Officine PAM01385 returns to the basic lines of the brand’s original 1935 prototype, no complications or elaborate crown guards on this 45-millimetre model. Hand wound with minimalist brown dial, it’s water resistant to 100 metres. $8300.
Speake Marin Openworked Sandblasted; Grand Seiko SBGJ275.
A blast
Speake Marin’s Openworked Sandblasted models come in titanium or red gold cases and get their name from sumptuously grained titanium dials that appear rough in texture and refined in effect. A decorated and partly exposed movement with small seconds at 1.30 completes the picture. From $40,000.
Triple treat
Three time zones, legendary accuracy and a dial inspired by the sky at daybreak – the Grand Seiko SBGJ275 rocks the blues in summery hues. $11,350.
Corum Admiral watch; Breitling Avenger Chronograph.
Striking decorum
Corum’s famed Admiral watch with its nautical-flag hour markers gets a spiffing makeover thanks to a ceramic case and urban-influenced paint job. $25,000 range.
High flyer
The revamped aviation-themed Breitling Avenger Chronograph comes in a range of colours and sizes, simple time teller to chrono and GMT models. Here, the handsome B01 Chronograph 44. $10,950.
Zenith DEFY Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer El Primero; Urwerk UR-100V Time and Culture II.
Making waves
Zenith’s DEFY Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer El Primero takes on a metallic blue hue evoking the fading light after sunset. Its open dial featuring a four-pointed star element matches the blue bridges and mainplate of the movement. Cased in titanium and limited to 200 pieces. $21,000 range.
Astrology lesson
Beneath the sapphire dome of the Urwerk UR-100V Time and Culture II, aka “Sumer”, are references to the Sumerian civilisation’s astronomical knowledge from sun god motif to sky charts and planispheres, while the hours and minutes are displayed alongside kilometric data on the Earth’s rotation. Self-winding. $125,000.
Seamaster Planet Ocean Dark Grey; C by Romain Gauthier.
Champagne taste
The fifth edition of the C by Romain Gauthier unveils a champagne dial in titanium, hand-decorated to create a variation of tones and bring a play of light to the dial. Inside beats a finely finished hand wound movement. Circa $70,000.
Case study
The Seamaster Planet Ocean Dark Grey is cased in super light but tough silicon nitride ceramic [Si3N4], the first time it has been applied by Omega on a large scale in a watch. A titanium bezel tops the 45.5-millimetre case. $36,900.
Singer Flytrack Cocktail edition; Tudor Black Bay 32-millimetre model.
Cocktail time
The Singer Flytrack Cocktail edition is dedicated to the art of cocktail mixing. It has a scale showing ice melting times for drink preparation in four strengths: Fruity, Strong, Balanced and Floral. Triggering a pusher activates the seconds hand to measure the time with perfection. A summer must then, $45,000-plus range.
Blue the new black
Tudor’s popular Black Bay welcomes a new 32-millimetre model to the range with a blue dial option also available in the 36-millimetre and 42-millimetre sizings. From $4900.
The Summer issue of AFR Magazine – plus Watch special – is out on Friday, December 8 inside The Australian Financial Review.
Introducing your Newsfeed
Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.
Find out moreRead More
Latest In Fashion & style
Fetching latest articles