Editors' Picks: Our Top All-New Watches Of 2025

Today we keep our post-Watches & Wonders 2025 recaps going with our takes on the best all-new watches of the show. We know there are a lot of line and color extensions released every year but what stood out to us from all the truly new watches? Well, to nobody’s surprise, there is now a watch release that has appeared on all three of three Editors’ Picks we have published so far. Also some smaller brands had big releases we loved this year, so let’s get into them.

Mark Bernardo: Ulysse Nardin Diver [AIR]

As always when a gaggle of nerdy watch writers share opinions and ideas, there was a bit of discussion prior to this article as to what constitutes a “new” watch. Does a new case size count, or a new movement or complication in an existing model, or a model from the past that has been radically redesigned but carries the same name? Hopefully I have deftly evaded these eternal (but fascinating) debates by submitting the “newest” and most groundbreaking timepiece I encountered this year. It has to be “new” if it sets a new world record, right? In the case of the Ulysse Nardin Diver [AIR], the milestone in question is debuting as the lightest mechanical dive watch ever made — just 52 grams in total, including the strap.

The watch is an evolution of 2021’s Diver X Skeleton, which itself emerged from the mainstream (non-skeleton) Diver series, but takes that model’s extreme openworked structure to another level; according to the brand, the inside of the 44mm case is 80 percent air, 20 percent movement parts — hence the odd, bracketed name. How Ulysse Nardin accomplished this feat is detailed in this article: suffice it to say that lots of avant-garde materials were involved, including upcycled titanium from the biomedical industry and carbon-based materials drawn from discarded fishing nets, as well as painstaking, architectural-inspired design choices. Most impressively, at 200 meters of water resistance, automatic winding, and a functional unidirectional bezel, it’s built to be a watch one can actually dive with.

D.C. Hannay: Eberhard & Co. Contodat Automatic

Since these Editors’ Picks are pure opinion pieces, I generally avoid watches that follow the consensus of objective importance, and focus on something that really speaks to me personally. And with that in mind, my Top New Watch is the Eberhard & Co. Contodat Automatic. Eberhard is a name that doesn’t get a ton of attention, but the historic Swiss marque has its ardent fans, especially in Italy, where its vintage references are highly sought after. For 2025, Eberhard has a pair of models based on its ‘70s-era integrated-look Contograf chrono. The new Contodat Chronographe follows the formula of the vintage Contograf, a dashing, manually-wound column-wheel chrono from that period when Swiss watchmaking was in a state of flux. The new Contodat Chronographe is an automatic model, but retains the handsome verve of the original Contograf. However, since the Chronographe is a reboot, I’ve opted for the time-only Contodat Automatic, a watch that evokes the same design language as the vintage Contograf, but offers it in a previously nonexistent format. 

Anyone who knows me knows that my tastes skew toward the vintage and vintage-inspired, so the Contodat Automatic is parked right in the driveway of my wheelhouse. The 39mm stainless steel case integrates nicely into a three-link bracelet with polished centers, and the case height is a proportional 11.3mm, making for a comfortable package. The five tasty dial choices include silver, black, blue, gray, and what I suspect will be the crowd favorite, a bright sunray teal, all with pops of vivid red-orange punctuating the running seconds hand at 9 o'clock. The framed trapezoidal date window at 3 o'clock is a vintage-correct callback, and the rectangular applied indices feature a lumed center, matching the visual language of the baton handset. A Sellita SW290-1 automatic movement provides the power, with 41 hours of reserve, a 4 Hertz frequency, and 31 jewels. A screw-down crown and screwed-in solid caseback offer 100 meters of water resistance, rounding out a capable and handsome everyday timepiece. 

And while the Contodat Automatic may not offer the most flashy appearance or most technically dazzling complications, this is a watch I would be more than happy to live with as part of my regular rotation. And all its attributes add up to the measure of what I find most appealing in a watch: it’s a new model, but with the charm of a piece that throws it back to what I consider to be the most attractive era of watch design. It’s not bold or brash, but just a confident execution of a sporty, well-sized companion that could have been liberated from a time capsule from those days before the term “vintage watch” existed.

Danny Milton: Rolex Land-Dweller

Look, I have already talked about this ad nauseam, but that’s not going to stop me now. This is a brand-new watch from a brand that doesn’t make brand-new watches often (enough repetition of the word brand in one sentence?). The Land-Dweller represents  a watershed moment for Rolex, with all of the newness on the outside, but specifically the 5Hz caliber and silicon escapement (Dynapulse) on the inside. All future Rolex watches will likely be tied back to this release in some ways, and that’s why it has to be my choice.

Blake Buettner: Nomos Club Sport Worldtimer

Nomos has been staunchly consistent in recent years, for better or worse. The German watchmaker stays in its lane, but hasn’t really delivered anything groundbreaking in the same spirit that we used to see from the brand. That changed this year with the release of a vibrant new Worldtimer collection in the Club Sport family. The new watches deliver a colorful design that embraces the very best of Nomos's enigmatic style, all while building on its most innovative complication. This is exactly what I’ve been waiting to see from Nomos, and it’s my favorite new release of the show. 

To be clear, this is built on an existing concept that we first saw in 2011, but it’s been reworked in a new movement within a collection that it’s never appeared in before, so I think it qualifies here. Nomos is at its best when expressing the fun parts of its visual identity, and that’s exactly what it hasd done with the Club Sport Worldtimer. The interesting and thoughtful color pairings are set within an exceptionally trim package with a price tag under $5k. It’s a clear winner and it’s something that I hope to see the brand build on in years to come. 

Erin Wilborn: Piaget Sixtie Collection

While I typically associate Piaget with an unrestrained, almost eccentric, take on luxury and boldness, its new women’s Sixtie line surprised me in its restraint. Harkening to the brand’s late-1960s series, funnily enough named the 21st-Century collection, Piaget is bringing back the sensuous curves and quirky trapezoidal case in a new, relatively simple package. Horologically speaking, the Sixtie line is no mechanical revolution – I mean, it's not even mechanical; we’re working within the bounds of jewelry-oriented, quartz-dominated territory here. I guess you could say I’m picking for more intellectual reasons. I’m interested in tracking how different watchmakers contend with the growing question of how to successfully capture the attention – and wallets – of women. 

The small 29mm × 25.3mm case (which is only 6.5mm thick, thank you, quartz) is quirky, for sure, and reminiscent of the brand’s larger Andy Warhol line, but with an asymmetrical twist, and pairing that with a five-link bracelet was a smart move. It adds something a little sporty — and a little unexpected, given that the vintage line that inspired it was paired largely with leather straps and bullet-style bracelets. The steel options are where I think the brand is most blatantly trying to turn the heads of Cartier’s target audience, and I think the brand could have gone a bit further in that effort by offering an all-steel model without diamonds at a more competitive price point (the Sixtie line starts at $11,500). Time will tell if the Sixtie catches on and if its combination of relative minimalism with unexpected geometry will lead to its success. 

Jonathan McWhorter: Angelus Chronographe Télémètre

This year at Watches & Wonders, there was a lot to choose from when it came to new watches, but one that stood out to me was the Chronographe Télémètre from Angelus. A historic name when it comes to chronographs, Angelus has seen a revival of late (read: the past ~15 years) after its acquisition by La Joux-Perret. This piece struck me simply due to its clear exercise of restraint. There is a tendency when it comes to reviving legacy watchmakers to produce Fresh, New, Exciting pieces through a spiritual connection to what the Brand had originally made its name on. Angelus is no exception, the Chronodate models are a rare successful execution of this, in my mind. But here with the Chronographe Télémètre, Angelus is showing a more deft hand at creating a piece that hits the sweet spot for a modern execution on a classic format.

I’m a sucker for proportions and the CT has it nailed: 37mm x 9.25mm thick for a manually wound chronograph is right on the money. We’re bordering on dress watch sizing and comfort with complicated watchmaking underneath. The movement is finished beautifully and on display as it should be. However, the dial is really where this watch sings. The layout is both fresh and familiar, with the subdials tucked ever-just-so towards the center and not majorly overlapping any other dial elements; a welcomed element. And while there is a lot of information in the form of minute tracks and telemeter scales, the dial doesn’t feel too crowded nor unusable for its intended purpose. 

Bilal Khan: Grand Seiko Ultra Fine Accuracy (UFA)

Grand Seiko’s new Spring Drive Ultra Fine Accuracy is a big deal for the brand and for good reason. Accurate to a truly mind-boggling +-20 seconds/year, the UFA is an extension of the 9RA5 and 9RA2 calibers. By going from two barrels to one, Grand Seiko throttled down the power reserve to three days, but the resulting movement is more compact than ever. The debut SLGB003 comes in a 37mm wide and 11.4mm thick case that also presents the brand’s first micro-adjust clasp. It’ll be interesting to see the UFA proliferate into more watches and collections — and I have a feeling we are going to like what we see.