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For a category often seen as a safe harbor for demure and conservative design, the dress watch regularly delivers some of the year’s most memorable releases and 2025 was no different. In fact, we had to do things a little different here by not having any honorable mentions altogether just because all of these pieces really shone. And one of my favorite decisions from our editorial team came together for this story when we decided to award two watches for their awe-inspiring executions of a gold Milanese bracelet. So, without further ado, here are our favorite dress watches of 2025:
[toc-section heading="Raymond Weil Toccata Heritage"]
Raymond Weil’s Toccata Heritage Seconde/Seconde edition is the fruits of a collaboration between the independent Swiss watchmaker and designer Romaric Andre, known for his playful customization of watch dials. This latest iteration of the brand’s oval-cased dress watch — its name drawn from the world of classical music, a passion of the brand’s eponymous founder — is described as a “horological Simon Says:” its dial is divided into two different shades of anthracite gray, with Dauphine hands in the center, each inscribed with fashion-forward “dress codes” on how to wear the watch.
The right sector, with polished indexes, has vertically oriented guidelines on where the wearer’s shirt cuff should land in three different scenarios (business casual, formal, and semi-formal, plus the “sweet spot” halfway divider), while the left side’s inscription drives home the point with the advice “Dress shirt cuff should cover at least half the watch.” On the back, another engraved inscription offers André’s own watch etiquette tips while a small window offers a view of the movement’s column wheel. The retro-style 37mm x 32.5mm case is in stainless steel and contains the manually wound RW4100 caliber, which stores a 45-hour power reserve. A black calfskin leather strap with alligator-texture embossing completes the picture, and the etiquette lesson. — Mark Bernardo
[toc-section heading="Longines Conquest Heritage"]
The Longines Conquest Heritage is yet another home run from a brand that knows how to pull from its archive. Coming in two case sizes of 38mm and 40mm, this is — simply put — a gorgeous watch. There are numerous dial choices to suit your taste with vintage touches everywhere, especially in the retro indices and the handset. The gold enameled caseback medallion is a particular high point, and another reminder of Longines’ horological chops.
In typical dressy form, this is not built for deep waters but the 50 meters of water resistance is an upgrade from the dress watch-standard 30. The H-link bracelet is both handsome and superb in its execution, with the welcome addition of on-the-fly microadjust, an improvement over previous versions. The Longines caliber L888 inside boasts a competitive power reserve of 72 hours making this just as useful for a fancy night out on the town as it is for daily wear in the office. It’s hard to argue with a price that hovers right around $3k, especially considering the value and heritage that comes with it.
[toc-section heading="The Gold Milanese Bracelets"][image-grid image1="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0278/9723/3501/files/Jaeger-LeCoultre-Reverso-Monoface-Milanese.jpg" caption1="" image2="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0278/9723/3501/files/Rolex-1908-Settimo.jpg" caption2=""]
Now we’ve arrived at two watches that were impactful not just for their mechanical prowess or innovation, but for the sensitivity and attention given to the bracelet design. It’s not often that a watch bracelet sticks in your mind just as much as the watch itself, but in the case of both the rose gold JLC Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds and the Rolex 1908 on the Settimo bracelet, the bracelet is really what sticks with you. As for the first, I think we’ve all nicknamed it the Reverso Milanese (its official name is too long-winded) for how memorable the bracelet is. Not that the rose gold flipping case and the monochrome dial in matching hues are forgettable in the slightest. The slinky luxuriousness of the bracelet just makes it a home run, and, if you have the chance to try it out for yourself, makes you never want to take it off. The new yellow gold Rolex 1908 is also almost stuffily classic with its simple white dial, but the Crown’s newest bracelet, the Seven-link Settimo, makes all that conservative design feel grounded and gives the imagination something to latch onto. — Erin Wilborn
[toc-section heading="Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 6196P"]
The Calatrava has been a mainstay of Patek Philippe’s collection since 1932, the year that ushered in the maison’s longtime ownership by the Stern family, which continues to this day. Today’s Calatrava collection is vast, comprising numerous high complications, but the basic time-only dress version is still the core of the portfolio and, for many, the quintessential modern gents’ watch. The most recent addition to the Calatrava family, 2025’s Reference 6196P, arrived at Watches & Wonders 2025.
It has a 38mm platinum case, with a smooth, beveled, polished bezel and an exquisite opaline dial that Patek refers to as “rose gilt” but that many enthusiasts might call “salmon. The case is elegantly slende,r at just 9.33mm tall, has slender, tapering lugs, and resists water to a modest but acceptable 30 meters. The rose-gilt opaline dial has a charcoal-gray finish on both the white-gold, “obus” hour markers and the faceted Dauphine hands cut from the same precious metal. The 6 o’clock subdial, with its hand and markers also in a contrasting dark shade, is placed ideally above the index and below the center of the hands, allowing the dial to breathe. The movement is the manually wound Caliber 30-255 PS, with a power reserve of 65 hours and a host of high-end finishes. — Mark Bernardo
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