What I Think About This Year’s New Watch Releases
Over the last couple of years, stunting on social media has pushed the idea of watches as status symbols to a whole new level. This shift has probably shaped a lot of recent decisions by watch brands, and the need to show off online has made luxury watches more popular and mainstream than ever. Since demand is greater than ever, retail prices for watches keep rising every year, but that’s just because of inflation, right? Honestly that’s the main reason I lost interest in them. It’s kind of sad how predictable it is that people only care about the ‘hottest’ models and the harder they are to get, the more people want them. And of course the less available a watch is, the more people online want to show it off. So you can probably guess which watches are considered “the coolest” this year according to social media.
A week before Watches and Wonders, Breitling unexpectedly released the new Top Time B31 watch with a new in-house caliber and it totally caught me off guard. This is a brand I really haven't paid much attention to, since most of their designs over the last five years just didn’t speak to me. But this watch is very different from what we’re used to seeing from Breitling – it’s smaller, has a vintage appeal and it’s fun! Especially in the white and light blue dial variation. The open caseback is just a sweet bonus. And the price is solid (5800€ on a steel bracelet). They also nailed the launch campaign. I’m not really an Austin Butler fan, but his timeless look paired with this watch on a leather strap feels like a natural match – something we unfortunately don’t see often in endorsement deals anymore, since some celebrities switch brands as quickly as they do partners. I have to admit, this watch made me excited about watches again.
And just a day before Watches and Wonders, Breitling released another new watch – the Top Time Racing. This chronograph is a tribute to their chronographs from the 1960s. At 38mm, it’s just the right size. I really hope these two new watches are the beginning of Breitling moving toward smaller (read: better) watches. If that’s the case, it’ll be exciting to see what they do next!
To be honest, I think that for the last couple of years Tudor has been the brand that did the best job, and I believe their watches offer great value for money. I wish most of them were thinner, especially the Black Bay Pro. Two years ago, they nailed all the proportions with the Black Bay 54 and created the best steel sports watch currently available, not only aesthetically, but also in terms of value. But let me go through their novelties:
Black Bay Pro with new Opaline Dial – I love the dial and color. If they ever make this watch thinner, it will no doubt be one of the best value sports watches on the market.
Black Bay 68 – It’s very clear that this watch is for people who view watches very differently than I do. I think the BB58 is more than enough if you want a modern-sized sports watch.
Pelagos Ultra – This is their ultimate diving watch with 1000m of water resistance. The size will probably appeal to people who like oversized watches. What bothers me isn’t the watch itself, but the fact that this is their most “capable” watch and it’s as thick as the BB Pro. That just shows it’s about time to make the BB Pro thinner!
Alpina Heritage Tropic-Proof Handwinding – A great release from a lesser-known Swiss brand! 34mm is the perfect size for such a clean watch with a vintage aesthetic. I love the simplicity of it, but I'm not really sure about the price (1795€).
The Cartier Privé Tank à Guichets – All of a sudden, everyone is a crazy fan of this watch. How unexpected! I don’t get the hype around it, and the price doesn’t make sense to me. (52,000€ in rose or yellow gold, 60,000€ in platinum, and 66,000€ for the platinum limited edition.)
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Geographic – Talking about the price, I don’t understand how the Cartier Tank à Guichets is priced more than twice as much as this watch. The Reverso Tribute Geographic is such a beautiful and well-executed watch with great details. I really like the aesthetic, history, and basically everything about the Reverso, just not the size and how it wears. I would always choose a Tank over this, it’s smaller and wears so much nicer, even though I think the Reverso is the better watch. Unfortunately, how a watch wears and looks on the wrist is more important to me.
Laurent Ferrier Classic Auto Horizon – A very elegant watch, with a very well-balanced, beautiful blue dial. It has just enough detail so that it’s not too plain, but also not too busy. This is a brand I have no experience with at all. I hope I’ll have the chance to see it in person in the future.
Patek Philippe 6196P – I think this new Calatrava is too big, so the dial looks a bit plain. Also, the color of the dial and the markers don’t work for me. These two colors together create a weird effect, like they wanted the watch to look old but without the patina – something is off. And the price?! I prefer the new Lange 1815 34mm for half the price of this Calatrava!
Chopard L.U.C Quattro – This is better than the Calatrava but still too big, in my opinion. It’s a really beautiful watch; the combination of the rose gold case and markers with this deep blue frosted-texture dial makes it extremely elegant. I just wish it were a bit smaller and thinner – I think such clean, elegant, classic watches should be in the 34-36mm size.
Vacheron Traditionnelle and Patrimony 270th Anniversary Editions – Again, really elegant and beautiful watches, but 40mm and 42.5mm are just too big (not the 38mm, but since it is so clean it would look even better in 34-36mm and this actually applies to the other two sizes as well). I don't understand why such an elegant watch would be made bigger than 38mm. At this point I’m just repeating myself.
A. Lange & Söhne 1815 34mm – They really nailed it with this watch. The proportions are just perfect – 38mm in diameter and 6.4mm thick, this is true elegance. And they also nailed the dial! The blue tone they use is really beautiful, and the dial is perfectly balanced with Arabic numerals, a small seconds subdial at 6 o'clock, and the rest of the text. This is definitely one of the most beautiful, well-proportioned and elegant dress watches in a really long time.
The IWC Ingenieur Automatic 35 – This is another watch that caught my interest. To be honest, I’m not really a fan of the updated Ingenieur they released two years ago. A 40mm case for a steel sports watch sounds fine, but because of the new details it wears bigger. I still prefer the original design because it looks more elegant. I think the crown guards on the new version make it look and feel a lot larger, plus the case is bigger, especially the part where the bracelet attaches to the case. This detail makes the new version much bulkier and is also what makes the old version sit much nicer on the wrist (see photo below). That’s also why I think the new 35mm might be the perfect size to balance out these added details, so I’m definitely interested to see how it wears. I prefer the black dial version.
Different details on the new and the old IWC Ingenieur
Rolex – I don’t think I need to write much about Rolex. At this point, their designs seem to get tackier each year. Based on feedback from their loyal fans, it seems that with every new release, they move further away from the audience they once appealed to.
Let me know your thoughts about the new watches. Did anything catch your attention this year?
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'Things I Like This Month,' is a monthly newsletter where I share things I genuinely like or that stood out to me and felt worth talking about.