The Best Releases of Watches and Wonders 2025

In terms of the number of exhibitors (60), 2025 was the biggest year yet for Watches and Wonders Geneva, the industry-defining annual luxury watch fair. But as usual, Rolex got a huge share of the attention, as did a lot of the other usual suspects. Three important world records were set: world’s thinnest tourbillon watch, world’s lightest dive watch, and world’s most complicated wristwatch. Here’s our breakdown of the best releases of Watches and Wonders 2025.

Smaller Patek Philippe Cubitus

The Patek Philippe Cubitus was a controversial release in 2024, with a 45mm case and a polarizing square case shape. I expect the 40mm version of the Cubitus released at Watches and Wonders 2025 will soften the hate from some of the naysayers. The new smaller Cubitus is a time-and-date model, offered in rose gold or white gold for $75,590.

Other 2025 Patek Philippe releases include the clean and crowd-pleasing Calatrava 6196P, which in my opinion definitely looks cooler than the outgoing 5196P, as well as a new reference in the Grand Complications family. 5308G is a white gold quadruple complication with a price tag exceeding $1.2 million.

A. Lange & Sohne Odysseus in Honeygold

A new flagship A. Lange & Sohne sports model was unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2025: the Odysseus in Honeygold, a proprietary gold alloy that Lange claims is “harder than other gold alloys” because of its “special ratio of pure gold, copper and zinc.” A white gold version of the Odysseus already existed, but only on a strap. This Honeygold Odysseus is the first Lange sports watch to ever come on a full gold bracelet.

The rich brown dial is impeccably executed as you would expect from Lange. All of the 2025 A. Lange & Sohne releases were excellent, including an incredible minute repeater perpetual calendar. But I expect this Odysseus to get a lot of love.

Tudor Black Bay 58 Burgundy

Tudor released a two brand new models–the Pelagos Ultra and the Black Bay 68–at Watches and Wonders 2025. But the best (or at least most crowd-pleasing) 2025 Tudor release looks to be a new iteration of the Black Bay 58, this time in a slightly slimmer case (11.7mm) with a Master Chronometer movement and a shimmery burgundy dial. It’s offered on a rubber strap, Oyster-like three-link bracelet, or Jubilee-like five-link bracelet, all with Tudor’s quick-adjust T-Fit Clasp.

This dial will probably be quite popular, especially because despite the METAS certification and improved power reserve (65 hours), the price tag is still well under $5,000. The rubber strap version is $4,275, while the three-link costs $4,500 and the five-link is $4,600.

Best Retro-Inspired Release from Watches and Wonders 2025: Cartier Tank à Guichets

The Cartier Tank has been a hot-selling line in recent years, and I’ve talked to several collectors who were hoping for a re-release of the beloved but rare Tank à Guichets. Well, that’s exactly what Cartier has delivered, and it looks to be their best release of Watches and Wonders 2025.

The Cartier Tank à Guichets revives a 1928 design. This mechanical digital watch, known for its minimalist aesthetic, features a solid gold or platinum case with apertures that display jumping hours and dragging minutes. Four new versions have been introduced: three faithful to the original design with apertures at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock, available in yellow gold, rose gold, and platinum, and a limited edition of 200 pieces in platinum with apertures positioned diagonally at 10 o’clock and 4 o’clock for a unique, driver-style layout. All models measure 37.6mm x 24.8mm with an ultra-slim profile of just 6mm and are powered by the hand-wound caliber 9755 MC movement. Prices start around $43,000.

Best Slept-on Release from Watches and Wonders 2025: Ulysse Nardin Diver [AIR]

Ulysse Nardin doesn’t get a ton of respect in the market (we’ll sell you one for half off of MSRP, because that’s what they go for) but they’re one of the most underrated luxury watch brands in the business, especially in terms of pure horological innovation. I think their polarizing designs often overshadow the amount of technical innovation they do. While Rolex has only recently introduced silicon hairsprings to their men’s lineup, for instance, UN has been using them since 2001.

And now Ulysse Nardin holds the title of “world’s lightest dive watch,” thanks to the Diver [AIR] released of Watches and Wonders 2025. It’s their best release of the year, weighing in at only 52 grams on a strap despite a sizable 44mm diameter. It manages to look at bit less crazy than some other Ulysse Nardin models without losing the brand’s DNA. Its $38,000 price tag is substantial, but it’s still far cheaper than the Omega Aqua Terra Ultra-Light, which is heavier and lacks a rotating bezel.

Bulgari Makes the World’s Thinnest Tourbillon

Another world record came from Bulgari’s 2025 releases at Watches and Wonders. Bulgari and Piaget often go back and forth when it comes to records for the thinnest watches in the world. Bulgari already held the title for the world’s thinnest mechanical production watch (1.70mm), but Piaget held the title for thinnest tourbillon (2.00mm) until now. The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon comes in at an incredible 1.85mm in height, thanks in part to the use of tungsten carbide. Sure, the price tag is $678,000, but it’s an incredible achievement at any price.

Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication

The most impressive world record-shattering watch of all at Watches and Wonders 2025 came from Vacheron Constantin. The Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication is the most complex wristwatch ever created, celebrating VC’s 270th anniversary. This one-of-one masterpiece houses 41 complications within a 45mm, 18k white gold case that is just 14.99mm thick, powered by the newly developed Caliber 3655. The movement, comprising 1,521 components and protected by 13 patent applications, features three distinct timekeeping modes (civil, solar, and sidereal), a Gregorian perpetual calendar, and five groundbreaking astronomical functions, including a world-first celestial tracker (it indicates how long until a selected star enters your field of view).

The watch also boasts a Westminster minute repeater (that means it chimes the “Big Ben tune”) with four gongs and hammers, split-seconds chronograph functionality, and surprisingly good legibility across its double-sided display. Franck Muller‘s Aeternitas Mega, which debuted in 2010 with 36 complications, has been officially dethroned. The other Vacheron Constantin 2025 releases also included some beautiful openworked models and some tasteful dress watches, but the Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication is surely the most historically significant.

Best Release of Watches and Wonders 2025: Rolex Land-Dweller

If the Rolex Land-Dweller isn’t the best release of Watches and Wonders 2025, it’s certainly the most hyped. In my opinion, deservedly so. It’s not just about the integrated bracelet, deep-dish rehaut and cool angular 1970’s throwback aesthetic (it resembles the vintage Rolex ref. 1630). This is Rolex’s first high-beat movement–10 ticks per second instead of 8–and the real story is the DynaPulse escapement inside (SJX explains it well).

Instead of one balance spring and a traditional Swiss lever escapement, the Dynapulse has a dual silicon escape wheel system delivering indirect impulses via a tangential lever. Although it has similarities to direct-impulse architectures like Breguet’s natural escapement, it’s its own thing, and Rolex’s patents for this technology date back to 2010. The slim profile of the Land-Dweller–only 9.7mm thick–is also turning heads.

It makes sense that Rolex would want to show off this new movement, so the entire Land-Dweller lineup (available in stainless steel, rose gold, or platinum) gets exhibition casebacks. Available in 36mm or 40mm, prices range from $13,900 for the smaller steel version (well, Rolex calls it “white Rolesor” because the bezel is white gold) all the way up to $116,900 for the larger diamond-bezel platinum option. Despite the many other integrated bracelet luxury watches on the market, this one is sure to sell well.

Grand Seiko Tokyo Lion Tentagraph SLGC009

Some people think it’s funny that Rolex has seemingly begun to compete with Audemars Piguet and numerous other top luxury watch brands in the competitive integrated bracelet space with their Land-Dweller. The case and bracelet do somewhat resemble an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, but I’m always quick to point out that the integrated-bracelet Rolex Texano came before the Royal Oak. Anyway, guess who else low-key entered the over-$15,000 integrated-bracelet luxury-sports-watch-with-octagonal-overtones market?

None other than Grand Seiko. They’ve used a similar case shape before in 44.5mm, but the case on the Tokyo Lion Tentagraph SLGC009 is slightly shrunken (43mm) and more octagonal.

The 2025 Grand Seiko releases also include a new tier of Spring Drive watches with “Ultra Fine Accuracy” movements that keep time within ±20 seconds per year, and that’s getting a lot of attention–rightfully so. But the SLGC009 Tokyo Lion Tentagraph isn’t getting a ton of attention yet. I love the brown “lion’s mane in the wind” dial texture, deep rehaut and reddish-orange accents. With this crazy angular case shape, Grand Seiko’s Zaratsu polishing really shines. The 15.6mm case thickness and $16,400 price tag are the only downsides to me. But, given the Brilliant Hard Titanium case (the more advanced/expensive type of Grand Seiko titanium), the top-notch finishing all-around, and the way prices are going in general, that doesn’t seem too crazy. Go ahead and go after that Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore market, Grand Seiko!

Best New Dials of Watches and Wonders 2025: H. Moser & Cie Pop Collection

H. Moser & Cie. is known for their minimalist dials, but minimalist doesn’t always mean conservative. For 2025 Moser has departed from their traditionally monochromatic aesthetic a bit, embracing bright gemstone dials. Spanning three models–Endeavour Small Seconds Concept, Endeavour Tourbillon Concept, and the singular Endeavour Minute Repeater Tourbillon Concept–this limited series includes six stone dial options for each, totaling 18 colorful models. The dial choices are Burmese jade, turquoise, coral, pink opal, lapis lazuli, or lemon chrysoprase.

Each dial is free of logos and indices, as we’ve come to expect with Moser. With production limited to 28 pieces per color for the Small Seconds models, eight each for the Tourbillon models, and only one of each minute repeater colorway, every Pop Collection watch will be highly sought after.

Angelus Chronographe Télémètre

The Angelus brand name was revived in 2011 by La Joux-Perret, a Swiss mechanical movement specialist, after lying dormant for over three decades due to the quartz crisis of the 1970s. La Joux-Perret was bought by Citizen the next year, so Angelus is a Citizen brand. Although Citizen is best known for mass-market watches, they’ve been increasingly investing in high-end companies, and Angelus is certainly one of them. They only make a few hundred watches per year, mostly with clean classic aesthetics but sometimes more modern.

Angelus’s 2025 release, the Chronographe Télémètre, is definitely on the classic side. Widely regarded as one of the best releases at Watches and Wonders 2025 from a small-volume brand, the Chronographe Télémètre looks simply correct.

With a no-frills case shape sized just right at 37mm, this manual-wind two-register monopusher chronograph is priced at CHF 17,900 in stainless steel (rose or grey dial) or 32,300 in yellow gold. Only 65 will be made, total. Although the telemeter function was very useful during World War I for calculating the distance of mortar fire, it’s not regarded as a particularly practical function today. Still, the telemeter track looks awesome, and the stamped grained dial texture is a nice touch.

Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon 11

Angelus’s upscale sister company, Arnold & Son, also had an impressive Watches and Wonders 2025 release. The beautifully finished Calibre A&S5219 inside the Constant Force Tourbillon 11 is derived from the 2016 A&S5119, retaining core elements like twin series-mounted barrels (100-hour power reserve) and a constant force mechanism.

Also impressive is the dead-beat seconds display via a flame-blued anchor bridge, mimicking marine chronometers’ precise jumps. The convex hour-and-minute subdial and visible constant force mechanism look striking against the white Grand Feu enamel backdrop. Only 11 examples will be made, all with 41.5mm yellow gold cases and $135,000 price tags.

Best Watches Under $2,000 at Watches and Wonders 2025: Tag Heuer Formula 1 Solargraph

TAG Heuer must have liked the response they got from their fun 2024 Kith collaboration, because they just released a batch of 10 colorful 38mm dive watches with solar-charged Citizen-based quartz movements. Some have bioplastic cases, while others are are steel (either DLC or plain).

The price is $1,800 with a rubber strap or $1,900 with a steel bracelet, and I expect the F1 Solargraph to sell well at this price point despite the cheap movement. The black/yellow one seems to be getting the most initial hype.

Best Technical Innovation of Watches and Wonders 2025: IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL

IWC has joined the exclusive tourbillon-that-withstands-over-10,000G’s club with an $185,000 watch known as the Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL. That’s expensive, but much cheaper than the Richard Mille Bubba Watson watches that can handle those impacts. This immense shock resistance is thanks to IWC’s SPRIN-g PROTECT® technology, which originally debuted in 2021, but this is its first time on a tourbillon watch. You know it’s good stuff when it’s all capitalized except for one letter in the middle.

SPRIN-g PROTECT® involves a cantilever spring made from bulk metallic glass (BMG), a material with an amorphous structure that gives it remarkable elasticity and strength. The movement is not rigidly fixed to the case but is instead “floating,” supported by this cantiliver spring. But it took a lot of engineering to adapt it for a tourbillon movement. The plates, bridges and rotor are all skeletonized, so the IWC Caliber 82915 movement inside looks awesome. And the lightweight but scratch-resistant Ceratanium case (titanium with a heat-treated ceramized surface) is also a plus.

Personally I would’ve loved to see some light accents on the hands to improve legibility, but I guess they’re going for the black monochromatic thing. I can’t remember the last time a watch with the black-on-black aesthetic was a hit, but companies seem to keep trying it. Very impressive technology nonetheless. I think extreme shock resistance is an underappreciated aspect of high horology and it’s cool to see IWC go after Richard Mille. There were also some noteworthy expansions to the IWC Ingenieur lineup at Watches and Wonders 2025, including a perpetual calendar.

All in all, I think 2025 was a pretty cool year for Watches and Wonders releases. To me it looks to be the year of the Rolex Land-Dweller, but we’ll certainly keep you posted whenever top luxury watch brands release interesting new stuff.