25 Important New Watches That Launched in 2023
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25 Important New Watches That Launched in 2023

As 2023 draws to a close, it's a perfect time to look back at what the year brought to watch enthusiasts. As per usual, there were many noteworthy releases from many dozens of brands, far too many to cover here in one article, but below we've highlighted 25 timepieces that made their debut in 2023 and that particularly stood out for those of us that cover the always-dynamic watch industry news cycle. The list ranges from affordable to high-luxury, from elegantly simple to fascinatingly complicated, from austere to playful in their aesthetics. The one thing these timepieces have in common, we hope you'll agree, is that they generated buzz, both among the Teddy Baldassarre team and throughout the watch community in general.  

A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Chronograph

A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Chronograph

Germany’s most prestigious high-horology purveyor left no doubt as to its headliner for 2023: the new Odysseus Chronograph, outfitted with the very first self-winding chronograph movement that Lange has ever produced. Inside the 42.5mm stainless steel case is the newly developed L156.1 caliber, endowed with a number of clever mechanical innovations that are played out on the black, textured-surface dial: both chronograph counter hands (seconds and minutes) are center-mounted, allowing the designers to do away with the usual subdial counters which would otherwise displace the parallel day and date apertures that are a signature of the Odysseus line. Additionally, the 4 o’clock zero-reset button, when it’s activated after a time measurement, allows both hands to snap back to the starting position along the quickest possible path: counterclockwise if the minute hand has yet to reach 30 minutes, clockwise if the tally is past 30 minutes. The push-buttons that operate the stopwatch are also designed to be dual-function: when the crown is pulled, they can also be used to quickly set the day and date. As is typical of Lange, both the case and the movement boast an elite level of finishing. ($145,000)

Accutron Astronaut T Limited Edition

Accutron Astronaut T

The cult-classic Accutron Astronaut T model, released in 1968 by its original parent  brand, Bulova, and renowned for its historical associations with CIA flights and covert missions, was resurrected in a limited edition in 2023. The watch’s steel case measures 47mm in diameter and boasts a water resistance of 100 meters, the highest of the contemporary Accutron line. Its matte black dial features a minute track of luminous-treated applied hour markers along with the model’s distinctive luminous triangles at each half-hour position. The hallmark black-and-white “day-night” bezel can be used in concert with the central, triangle-tipped GMT hand to indicate the time in 24-hour format — a useful feature for an astronaut in space needing to keep track of what time of day it was back on Terra Firma, thus helping to keep track of how many days have passed on the mission. The original Astronaut contained the Caliber 214HN, based on the original Accutron tuning-fork Caliber 214; the modern version, limited to 300 pieces, houses an automatic Sellita caliber instead, partially revealing it behind a half-circle sapphire window in the caseback. ($3,500)

Arnold & Son Luna Magna Red Gold Meteorite

Arnold & Son Luna Magna

Named for 18th-Century British horologist and astronomy pioneer John Arnold, Arnold & Son appropriately makes the watch with the world’s biggest 3D moon-phase display. The special edition released in 2023 finds that photorealistic lunar globe floating beneath an off-centered, white lacquered subdial, centered within a starry aventurine sky. Measuring a full 12 mm in diameter, the miniature moon is positioned perfectly between two sapphire domes on the front and back of the watch, giving the 44-mm rose-gold case a not-unwieldy thickness just shy of 16 mm. The hand-wound Caliber A&S1021 that powers the watch offers an impressive 90-hour power reserve and features an indication on its back side for the age of the moon, which works in concert with the ultra-accurate setting of the moon-phase that replicates the actual lunar cycle of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds. ($61,100)

Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Patrouille de France 70th Anniversary

Bell & Ross BR01 Patrouille France

Established in 1953, the Patrouille de France is an elite unit of France’s Air and Space Force, renowned as one of the world’s leading aerobatic teams. In celebration of its 70th anniversary in 2023, Bell & Ross, the French-founded watchmaker heavily associated with all things aeronautic, released this 999-piece limited edition from the dashboard-inspired BR 03-92 collection. Its 42mm square case is forged from ultra-light high-tech ceramic with a black coating, making for a sleek contrast with the luminous blue dial, evocative of the Patrouille de France’s Alpha Jet. That aircraft, and four others from the prestigious history of the aerobatic team, are represented as engraved silhouettes on the watch’s black ceramic caseback. Circling the dial, with its special 70th anniversary emblem, is a ring with the colors of the French flag. The Sellita-based Bell & Ross Caliber BR-CAL.302 ticks inside the 100-meter water resistant case, which is mounted on either a blue calfskin leather strap or a rugged, black canvas fabric strap. ($4,100)

Breguet Classique Quantième Perpétual 7327

Breguet Classique 7327 Perpetual Calendar

Founded in 1775 by legendary watchmaker and tourbillon inventor Abraham-Louis Breguet, Montres Breguet is today a paragon of horological innovation as well as historically influenced designs that hearken back to the pocket watches created by its eponym for clients that included Napoleon Bonaparte and other crowned heads of the day. Case in point, the Classique 7327 released in 2023,, a perpetual calendar that pays tribute to Breguet’s perpetuelle timepieces from the 1780s. Its dial is adorned with a hobnail Clous de Paris pattern and features a moon-phase between 1 and 2 o’clock with a realistic, hammered-surface moon on a blue lacquer sky;  the day, date and year in a trip of overlapping subdials in the dial’s lower half; a quarter-circle indicating the months between 10 and 11 o’clock with a retrograde hand; and the secret Breguet signature, a historical anti-counterfeiting elements, subtly etched in the dial between 11 and 12 as well as between 12 and 1. The 39mm case in rose-gold or white gold contains the ultra-thin Breguet Caliber 502.3, whose four-year mechanical “memory” is based on a gearing system from the hour wheel and a large central lever that drives the entire movement daily. Composed of 294 parts and offering a 45-hour power reserve, its gold rotor is engraved with a circular barleycorn motif and its bridges are embellished with côtes de Genève. ($80,200)

Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral Perpetual Calendar

Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral Perpetual Calendar

Carl Friedrich Bucherer is one of the most significant figures in luxury watch retailing history, founding in 1888 the jewelry and watch shop that would eventually grow into today’s Bucherer Group, Europe’s largest watch seller, which has recently expanded into the U.S. The eponymous watch brand that he launched in 1919 is less well known but still boasts an impressive watchmaking pedigree — one whose profile is sure to expand now that it’s owned by Rolex. Carl F. Bucherer’s masterpiece of 2023 is the Manero Peripheral Perpetual Calendar, the first timepiece to meld all the functions of a perpetual calendar and a moon-phase display with the company’s proprietary peripheral winding system, which uses a barely-noticeable peripherally mounted oscillating mass, turning on frictionless ball bearings, to wind the movement while allowing an unobscured view into its mechanisms. The watch’s 18k rose gold case frames a complex yet elegantly arranged dial, with four subdials for the day, date, month, leap year and moon-phase, the latter display featuring hand-engraved moon disks made of rose gold on sky of aventurine. The color-matched calfskin leather straps have a “Milky Way” texture. The automatic CFB A2055 caliber, made in-house and visible behind a pane of sapphire, ensures a power reserve of 55 hours and powers a calendar mechanism that will remain accurate until 2100 before needing small adjustments. ($45,000)

Citizen Series 8 880 Mechanical GMT

Citizen Series 8 Mechanical GMTProving its current collection isn’t all about Eco-Drive, Citizen introduced the Series 8 collection in 2021, a series of watches equipped with in-house, mechanical automatic movements and targeting a more luxury-oriented segment of the market. The “8” represents the symbol for Infinity, hinting at the collection’s “infinite” possibilities. In Fall 2023, the family welcomes its first model equipped with a GMT function, which enables its wearer to view up to three time zones simultaneously. In addition to the classical bicolor 24-hour bezel and arrow-tipped GMT hand, the dial features a distinctive checkered pattern that takes its inspiration from the Tokyo skyline at night, with its grid of windows. The two-part steel case has an array of mirror-polished and brushed finishes and includes a transparent sapphire caseback to proudly display the movement, the self-winding Caliber 9054, boasting a power reserve of 50 hours and a daily accuracy of -10 to +20 seconds. ($1,695)

Doxa SUB 300 Clive Cussler Edition

Doxa SUB 300 Clive Cussler Edition

Dive-watch purveyor Doxa paid tribute to thriller author Clive Cussler, and his Doxa-watch-wearing hero, Dirk Pitt, with the 2023 release of the Doxa SUB 300T Clive Cussler Edition ($2,690). Like the standard SUB 300T, its distinctive tonneau case measures 42.5mm in diameter and 14.4mm thick, with the expected robust water resistance, screw-down crown, and dual-scale diving bezel, and the dial sports the hallmark unbalanced handset, with wide, prominent minute hand and dwarf hour hand. The elements that make this special edition stand apart from the rest of the collection can be seen in both the case and dial. The former is made of “aged” stainless steel, basically steel with a rough, gunmetal-style PVD coating further enhanced with a stone-washed finish that gives it a distressed look. The dial opts not for the brand’s usual orange but a sandy, parchment-like hue and has a vintage compass motif in the center. The case houses the automatic ETA 2824-2 caliber behind a caseback etched with the names of the 72 shipwrecks and artifacts uncovered by NUMA, the maritime non-profit founded by Cussler in 1979.The watch, mounted on a bracelet with the same “aged” finish as the case, could almost pass for some ancient undersea artifact that Dirk Pitt might discover on one of his underwater expeditions. ($2,690)

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

Glashütte Original’s Senator collection combines classically timeless Saxon design with a high level of technical sophistication befitting a 21st Century luxury brand.  The brand’s Senator Chronometer offers maritime charm in its recently released white-gold version with a sea-spray-inspired, silver-gray, galvanized dial with bright blue accents. The case is made of gleaming white gold and measures a substantial 42mm in diameter. The dial takes its inspiration from vintage marine chronometers, with a balanced layout of parallel subdials, one at 12 o’clock hosting an analog power reserve, the other larger one at 6 o’clock for the independent seconds. The two blued poire hands in the center indicate the time on Roman numerals and a railroad-style minute track, while the brand’s hallmark panorama date display dominates the 3 o’clock position. Behind the dial, behind a sapphire exhibition caseback, beats the manually wound manufacture Caliber 58-08, with a 44-hour power reserve and an assortment of high-horology finishing motifs traditionally used in Saxon watchmaking.

Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Collection Tentagraph SBGC001

Grand Seiko Tentagraph

For those of us who have been waiting for Grand Seiko to deliver an honest-to-gosh mechanical automatic chronograph — no quartz or Spring Drive — our wait is finally over with the 2023 introduction of the Tentagraph, powered by the newly developed high-beat Caliber 9SC5, with a column wheel, a vertical clutch, and a dual-impulse escapement that transfers energy indirectly through the pallet fork, and directly through the balance wheel, to the free-sprung balance. The name “Tentagraph '' derives from the model’s array of attributes: TEN beats per second, i.e., the frequency of 36,600 vph; Three days, i.e. the power reserve; and Automatic chronoGRAPH. It makes its debut in a 43.2mm case (15.3mm thick) made of Grand Seiko’s high-intensity titanium, with the same material used for the bracelet. The blue dial bears the classical tricompax chronograph arrangement — 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock, running seconds at 3 o’clock, plus a date window at 4:30 — and sports the decorative “Mount Iwate” textured pattern inspired by the natural beauty of Grand Seiko's native Japan. The tachymeter-scale bezel is made of ceramic and the sapphire exhibition caseback showcases the groundbreaking in-house movement with its elegantly openworked rotor. ($11,600)

IWC Ingenieur Automatic

IWC Ingenieur Automatic

The original IWC Ingenieur, Ref. 666, launched in 1955, was redesigned in 1976 by the legendary Gerald Genta and that version has gone on to become a collectible classic. In 2023, after many different versions of the Ingenieur in the decades following that redesign, IWC brought the model back to the spirit of the seventies. It has reworked the Ingenieur case down to the smallest detail in an effort to pay homage to Genta’s classic design, with new proportions, an emphasis on ergonomics, an array of aesthetic details and high-horology finishing and a thoroughly modern in-house movement. The round bezel sports the five visible — and functional — polygonal screws that defined the original, while the soft-iron dial (here in a very fetching aqua blue) now features an attractive, grid-like textured pattern, a structural design that balances the smooth curves of the case and recalls the original Ingenieur’s identity as a high-tech watch for scientists and technicians working around strong magnetic fields. ($11,700)

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Chronograph

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Chronograph

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s signature dress watch, the Reverso, was originally designed as a sports watch, its reversible swiveling case making it a practical timekeeper for the polo players who wore it during a match to protect the crystal from being struck by errant mallets and balls. In production since 1931, the Reverso is now available in numerous variations and sub-families, including the Reverso Tribute, which most closely replicates the classical Art Deco look of its ancestor. This year’s Reverso Tribute Chronograph sports two eye-catching dials: an elegantly understated, sunburst-blue three-hand on its front face and a complex, fully skeletonized reverse side. The latter combines a subdial revealing a second time zone that appears to float above the mechanism; a central chronograph seconds hand activated by the two side-mounted pushers on the case; and a retrograde hand with a 30-minute scale to tally chronograph minutes. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s all-new manually winding Caliber 860 — shaped, like all Reverso calibers, to fit perfectly inside the rectangular case — is the high-horology movement that makes all of this possible. ($41,230)

Longines Legend Diver 39

Longines Legend Diver 39

The Longines Legend Diver is a modern re-issue of a compressor-style dive watch that Longines produced in 1960, with a 300-meter water resistant steel case that replicates the shape and design of the original’s, including the vintage model’s two crowns — one for winding the watch, the other for operating the internal rotating divers’ bezel. The inner rotating bezel can be locked into place via its dedicated crown, helping to ensure a diver wearing the watch how long he or she has been underwater. In 2023, Longines answered the fervent pleas of vintage-obsessed collectors by releasing a version of the watch in a 39mm case, faithfully re-creating the dimensions of the original model. The dial is available in either blue or black lacquer, with rhodium-plated arrow hands and a combination of luminous-coated Arabic numerals and elongated indexes for the hour markers. Beating inside, behind a solid caseback with an engraving of a diver, is a proprietary Longines movement, automatic Caliber L888.6, endowed with a 72-hour power reserve. 

H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum

H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar

H. Moser & Cie has garnered acclaim for its highly streamlined, minimalist aesthetic as well as its impressive technical acumen; both are on display in the watch that arguably defines the brand, its Perpetual Calendar, whose subtly complex design has been adapted into several variations since its debut. The latest and most noteworthy is the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel, which offers the rare combo of a tantalum case (Moser’s first) and an “Abyss blue” fumé dial executed in enamel with an eye-catching hammered texture. “Minimalist” barely begins to describe the dial, which achieves its unique look through a Grand Feu enameling process: two leaf-shaped central hands for hour and minute, small seconds at 6 o’clock, date at 3 o’clock, and subtle analog power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock, along with a double index marker at 12 o’clock for orientation. An additional, tiny center-mounted hand keeps track of the month on the same scale as the hours. Inside,the manually wound Caliber HMC 800 stores a weeklong power reserve while tracking the hour, minute, month, day, date and leap year, the latter of which can be read on the back of the movement through the sapphire caseback. ($82,500)

Oris Hank Aaron Limited Edition

Oris Hank Aaron Limited Edition

Oris’s Big Crown Pointer Date has been in constant production for more than 80 years, since its landmark debut in 1938, and it still takes pride of place in the independent Swiss brand’s wide and versatile collection. In 2023, it provided the template for this tribute timepiece to legendary Baseball Hall of Famer and legendary humanitarian Hank Aaron. The dial’s color palette of blue, red, and white takes its cues from the uniform that Aaron wore during his record-breaking career with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves. The 40mm stainless steel timepiece, with its hallmark fluted bezel, is attached to a blue leather strap with contrast stitching reminiscent of that on a baseball glove. The solid caseback bears an engraved figure of Aaron in his classic cross-handed batting stance and protects the automatic movement inside, the Sellita-based Oris Caliber 754. The watch — which comes in a special collectors’ box with an additional color-coordinated fabric NATO strap along with a quick-change tool – is limited to 2,297 pieces, a nod to Hammerin’ Hank’s 2,297 runs batted in, a record that still stands today. 

Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante

Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Rattrapante Minute
Following up the previous year’s Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, Parmigiani Fleurier introduced another horological world-premiere in 2023, with an aesthetically similar look but a distinctly different practical application. Instead of the former model’s additional jumping hour hand that indicates a second time zone, the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante features a second jumping minute hand that essentially serves the purpose of a bezel with a graduated scale. Here’s how it works: the dial has an hour hand and two superimposed minute hands; the lower minute hand, in 18k rose gold, can be moved either in five-minute increments by a pusher at 8 ‘clock or in one-minute increments by the pusher at 10 o’clock. The second minute hand can be used in this manner as a reminder of a pre-set appointment, event, or deadline. After the upper minute hand, in rhodium-plated white gold, catches up to the lower minute hand — i.e., when real time reaches appointment time — the rose-gold hand can be returned to its concealed position with a press of the pusher in the crown, similarly to a counter hand in a split-seconds chronograph, hence the term “Rattrapante” in the model’s name. This clever and subtle function resides in the new, self-winding PF052 caliber, which beats inside a 40mm stainless steel case with the hallmark knurled platinum bezel that is emblematic of the Tonda PF, along with the pristinely simple dial, in sober sand-gray with a grain d’orge guilloché pattern. ($30,600)

Panerai Radiomir Annual Calendar Goldtech

Panerai Radiomir Annual Calendar Goldtech

Panerai trained its focus on its oldest and most historically significant collection, the Radiomir, in 2023, with the headliner of the year’s releases being the Florentine watchmaker’s first annual calendar timepiece. It’s offered in two executions, one in a case of Panerai’s proprietary Goldtech material with a gradient navy blue dial (featured here), the other an even-more-exclusive “experience” version in Platinumtech with a gradient burgundy dial.l The classic cushion-shaped Radiomir case measures 45mm and has a polished finish; the retro-style wire lugs evoke those of the earliest Panerai wristwatches. Inside, the new automatic Caliber P.9010/AC drives the watch’s array of functions, displayed on the dial: central hour and minute hands, day and date in separate windows at 3 o’clock, and the indication of the month (in abbreviated Italian, a nod to Panerai’s origins) on a rotating outer disk that lines up with a stationary arrow at 3 o’clock. Like all annual calendars, this one’s mechanism compensates for the length of every month except February, so will only need to be adjusted once per year. The Goldtech version comes on a dark blue alligator strap with a Goldtech buckle. ($39,200)

Patek Philippe Calatrava 24 Hour Display Travel Time

Patek Philippe Calatrava 24Hr Travel Time

Patek Philippe has long been known for deftly working innovative complications into watches that are definitively luxurious, and the Genevan maison did not disappoint in 2023. The Calatrava 24 Hour Display Travel Time (which made its debut, like many others on this list, at Watches & Wonders in Geneva) features a rare 24-hour dial with a hand that makes one full rotation, rather than the traditional two, around it per day. This unconventional timekeeping display is paired with Patek’s now-familiar Travel Time complication, which indicates two time zones via a patented system in which the local-time hour hand can be easily moved in  both directions by a press of the crown. The elegant simplicity of the dial, with noon represented at 12 o’clock with a “12,” and midnight at 6 o’clock with a “24,” allows Patek Philippe to dispense with the usual day-night or AM-PM indicator that one often finds on a dual-time dial. The classical, round Calatrava case measures 42mm in diameter and just under 10mm thick; beating inside it is the in-house automatic Caliber 31-260 PS FUS 24H, with a 48-hour power reserve. The navy blue dial has a variety of contrasting elegant finishes, a railway style minute track, and applied Arabic numerals and baton markers in rose gold to echo the case. The hands, including both “local” and “home” hour hands, are in the vintage syringe style emblematic of Patek’s Pilot collection and made of rose gold, except for the contrasting sword-shaped seconds hand, which is in white gold. ($57,370)

Raymond Weil Millesime Small Seconds

Raymond Weil Millesime Small SecondsA relatively young independent watchmaker, founded in 1975, Raymond Weil has established itself firmly in the “affordable luxury” category, producing well-designed watches with wide appeal that nevertheless rarely gain attention in the upper echelons of horological connoisseurship. That all changed in 2023, when the sublimely refined design of the brand’s Millesime model took the coveted Challenge award in the year’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie Genève (GPHG), the watch world’s equivalent of the Oscars. At 39.5mm in brushed and polished stainless steel with a slender profile;  a vintage-inspired sector dial with contrasting finished surfaces for the hour track, minute track, and central area; and silver-toned sword hands sweeping over a recessed small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock, the Millesime represents a throwback to a style of understatedly elegant dress watch that few seem to be making any more. The movement, visible through a clear caseback, also boasts an array of high-end embellishments as well as a signature “W”-shaped rotor, bonuses at this very accessible price point ($1,895)

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 2023 Edition

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona

In 1962, Rolex became official timekeeper of the Daytona 500, and one year later it released the Ref. 6239 Cosmograph, nicknamed the “Daytona,” its now-famous racing-inspired chronograph watch. The Daytona, named after the famous racetrack in Florida, was first launched in 1963 and has been produced in various versions ever since, forever linked to the high-performance world of motorsport and consistently one of the most coveted watch models in the world. The Daytona marked its 60th birthday in 2023 with the latest generation of the model (above), defined by subtle refinements in the case for more pronounced light reflections; new dial colorways to harmoniously accentuate the contrast between dial, subdials, and subdial rings; and a new movement, Caliber 4131, an evolution of Caliber 4130 enhanced with Rolex’s energy-saving Chronergy escapement, a host of new decorative finishes, and a yellow-gold rotor. For the first time in the series, the Daytona proudly displays this high-octane horological engine behind a sapphire exhibition caseback — a rare glimpse under the hood, if you will, of the world's pre-eminent motorsport-inspired timepiece as it races full-speed into its next half-century.

Seiko Prospex Speedtimer 42mm

Seiko Speedtimer 42mm

The original Seiko Speedtimer, released in 1969, was among the world’s first self-winding chronograph watches, equipped with the legendary Caliber 6139. When Seiko revived the Speedtimer, as part of its sport-oriented Prospex collection, it decided to eschew the automatic mechanical movement in favor a new, high-tech, solar-powered one, Caliber V192, which enhances reliability and runs up to six months on a single charge from any light source. Seiko released the first modern Speedtimers in 39mm cases in 2022 and added new colorways, and new case dimensions, in 2023. The 42mm cases (actually 41.4mm, with a lug-to-lug measurement of 45.9) are made of stainless steel, with aluminum tachymeter bezel inserts. The color options include a silver-and-black “panda,” a blue dial with red-and-blue “Pepsi” bezel, and a black dial with red-and-black “Coke” bezel. The subdials are subtly translucent, so as to allow light to penetrate and charge the solar movement inside, the same V192 that operates the 39mm Speedtimers. The three-link bracelets fasten to the wrist with a three-fold clasp.

TAG Heuer Carrera Skipper

TAG Heuer Carrera Skipper

TAG Heuer (then known only as Heuer) used its popular auto racing watch, the Carrera, as the base for the original Skipper, the company’s first modern sailor’s watch, in 1967. Fans of the vintage model have long been awaiting a modern reissue, and TAG Heuer finally delivered in 2023. The new Carrera Skipper adopts the vintage-look, bezel-less “glassbox” design of recent Carrera models for its modest, period-appropriate 39mm steel case. The circular-brushed blue dial hosts two sharply contrasting subdials, one at 9 o’clock — in a teal color inspired by the deck of the Intrepid, the yacht once sponsored by Heuer in the America’s Cup — to record 12 elapsed hours; the other at 3 o’clock for the all-important 15-minute countdown to the start of a regatta. The latter subdial is subdivided into three colorful sectors for each five-minute interval — Intrepid Teal, Lagoon Green, and vivid Regatta Orange for the final five minutes. The running seconds and a date window share the 6 o’clock position, both elements that were not present on the historical Skipper. The movement inside is TAG Heuer’s automatic TH20-06, a slightly modified version of the chronograph caliber inside the Carrera, and the navy-blue strap is made of water-resistant textile. ($6,750)

Ulysse Nardin Freak One

Ulysse Nardin Freak One

Ulysse Nardin turned the modern watch world on its ear in 2001 with the launch of its most game-changing horological invention, the Freak. The original model displayed the time without hands, dial, or crown in the traditional sense, instead using a “flying carousel” system in which a baguette-shaped movement rotates on its own axis with a bridge pointing to the minutes while a mainplate-mounted disk indicated the hours. Ulysse Nardin has subsequently expanded and updated the Freak family of timepieces with new technologies and materials, many of which have found their way into this year’s Freak One, a model intended to bring the family closer to its roots. The watch features the “no hands, no dial, no crown” design of the original, with a 44mm case in rose gold and black-DLC titanium; the case's heavily notched locking bezel is used in place of a crown to set the time, which is revealed by the black sunray-engraved barrel cover that rotates as an hour disk along with the bridge assembly with carousel flying tourbillon that tracks the minutes. The open gear train of the dial-side movement evokes 2013’s Freak Cruiser, while the black and gold aesthetic recalls 2022’s Freak S. The movement features the silicon components pioneered by its predecessor as well as a DiamonSil (synthetic diamonds grown on silicon) treatment on the escapement; it’s also equipped with the proprietary “Grinder” winding system, whose four-bladed rotor gathers energy from the slightest motions of the wearer’s wrist. Quite Freaky indeed. ($68,600)

Vacheron Constantin Overseas Panda

Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph PandaTracing its aesthetic roots to a fondly remembered sport-luxury watch that Vacheron Constantin released in the 1970s, the 222, the Overseas collection has become a versatile and popular cornerstone of the centuries-old Genevan manufacture’s current lineup. In early 2023, the first version of the Overseas Chronograph with the increasingly popular “panda-dial” execution made its debut, with a silver sunburst dial, black velvet-finished subdials, and a black minute track on the dial’s periphery. The 42.5mm steel case is topped by the hallmark six-sided bezel of the Overseas family, inspired by Vacheron’s Maltese Cross emblem, and mounted on either a rubber strap or a steel case with the same Maltese cross motif defining its shaped links. The in-house, self-winding Caliber 5200 powers the watch; its solid gold rotor, visible through a sapphire caseback, features a relief engraving of a wind rose, a nod to the model’s nautical inspiration. ($32,400)

Zenith Chronomaster Sport Aaron Rodgers Limited Edition

Zenith Chronomaster Sport Aaron Rodgers Edition

Zenith cemented its partnership with New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers with the launch of this special edition, the first Chronomaster Sport with a crowd-pleasing green-dominant colorway. The bezel, with its 1/10-second scale, is made of green ceramic, and its deep green dial is distinctive from those of previous Chronomaster Sports in its use of applied, luminous-coated Arabic numerals, rather than rectangular indexes, at the hour positions. (The latter element was a design contribution by Rodgers, who wanted hour numerals that resemble the numbers on an NFL player’s jersey.) The color scheme of the three subdials has also been reworked to harmonize more ideally with the emerald color of the main dial, with shades of anthracite, light gray, and silver replacing the light gray-anthracite-blue configuration of its predecessors. The watch’s sapphire display caseback, offering a glimpse of the El Primero Caliber 3600 inside, is etched with Rodgers’ own “AR” logo. The high-frequency El Primero caliber inside the watch drives a central seconds hand that makes a complete rotation around the three-register dial in a lightning-fast 10 seconds rather than the usual 60 seconds. This enables the wearer to read elapsed times to 1/10-second, using the hand and the ultra-legible bezel, which is graduated to 1/10-second increments. ($12,800)

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Paul C.

Not a Raymond Weil fan but the resonance of the Millesime with Longines Sectir Dial samples is uncanny. Beautiful piece.

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