The hotshots of Watches and Wonders 2024

Rolex Perpetual 1908

The Perpetual 1908 was a surprise launch for Rolex at last year’s Watches and Wonders Geneva that led to a renewed interest in the brand’s dress watches. The collection – like the Cellini before it – paid tribute to Rolex’s heritage in elegant timepieces. The Perpetual 1908 line continues to grow in 2024, this time with a new model in platinum for the first time. Not only that, it also comes with an ice-blue dial that features a rice-grain guilloché motif. This pattern is a rarity on Rolex dials in modern times but it was actually used for some high-end Day-Date models in the 1950s.

Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT

The popular and much-loved Tudor Black Bay 58 line gets two new additions. The first is an 18-ct yellow gold with an open case back, Manufacture Calibre and solid gold bracelet. The second is a watch which Tudor fans have been asking for: a smaller-sized Black Bay GMT. So here it is: a 39mm Black Bay 58 GMT that even goes full retro with its Coke bezel and gilt accents. Vintage as it looks, the watch’s technical specs are 100 per cent modern because powering it is the brand new METAS-certified Master Chronometer MT 5450-U. Also, the bracelet has a T-fit clasp that allows the wearer to extend it without the use of any tools.

Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse Ref 5738/1R-001

Vintage enthusiasts were over the moon when Patek Philippe brought out a new Golden Ellipse at Watches and Wonders 2024. The model was first introduced in 1968 and the watch’s bold and instantly recognisable elongated case design made heads turn. The 2024 novelty features a subtle but significant update to this Patek Philippe icon – this is the first time it has appeared with a bracelet.

Just like the elliptical case, the pink gold chain itself is a work of art. So slinky that it just wraps around the wrist, the chain-style band is painstakingly assembled with over 300 hand-mounted links. A sun-burst ebony black dial completes the vintage chic aesthetics of this cult classic.

IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar

The IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar is not only a stunner when you look at it but it is also an engineering feat and haute horology at its best. At first glance, it might resemble a perpetual calendar from a distance. Look closer at the sub-dials though and you will realise this is not your average calendar watch because the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar has a 400-year gear that navigates around the complexities of the Gregorian calendar and can skip three leap years over four centuries. It doesn’t end there because the moon phase also has an accuracy of 45 million years. Yes, you read that correctly. (Or as IWC says, “You will just have to take our word for it.”)

Cartier Tortue

There are plenty of classic Cartier watches from its archives which collectors would love to see the Maison revive and those hoping for a return of the Tortue (French for ‘tortoise’) had their prayers answered this year. The Tortue’s history can be traced back to 1912 when Louis Cartier designed a watch inspired by the shell of a tortoise because he admired it for its protective form and resilience. It not only made a bold statement with its distinctive case shape but the watch was also actually known to be very comfortable on the wrist, making it popular with royalties and celebrities alike. The 2024 editions come in platinum and yellow gold; and are available as either a monopusher chronograph or time-only watch. While the design of the iconic case stays the same, the watches have new Tortue-shaped movements which can be viewed from the open caseback. Its profile is also now slimmer so this updated classic wears even better than before.

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Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers: The Berkley Grand Complication

You could say that Vacheron Constantin has outdone itself with the world’s most complicated watch, Les Cabinotiers: The Berkley Grand Complication. With 63 horological complications spanning across three categories (timekeeping, calendar functions, and chiming mechanisms), it smashes the prior record, also held by the Maison. The main innovation is the world’s first integrated Chinese perpetual calendar. Despite its complexities and irregularities, the in-house calibre 3752 is correct through to the year 2200.  

TAG Heuer Split-Seconds Monaco

The Split-Seconds Monaco marks TAG Heuer’s return to complex complications. The in-house split-seconds chronograph movement – developed with Vaucher – is the lightest it has ever made. Crafted entirely from Grade 5 titanium, it weighs a mere 30g, making the watch light and comfortable.

The Split-Seconds Monaco’s racing DNA is put on display in the two colours that the watch comes in: Original Blue pays tribute to the classic Monaco design, while Racing Red is reminiscent of Steve McQueen’s Le Mans watch.

A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold “Lumen”

A. Lange & Söhne celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Datograph with two new novelties: the Datograph Up/Down with blue dial and Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold “Lumen”. The latter stands out slightly more because it not only combines three complications (a flyback chronograph, a perpetual calendar, and a one-minute tourbillon with stop seconds) but the use of a semi-transparent dial and luminous coating makes the watch glow like a torch for up to five hours in the dark, allowing the wearer to read the time even in low lighting conditions.