Every spring, Geneva plays host to horology’s most anticipated event: Watches and Wonders, a gathering of the industry’s power players and its rising stars under one enormous roof. The fair’s clout shows no signs of waning. In 2024, it pulled in 49,000 visitors. This year? Over 55,000. Retailers, collectors, and journalists flew in from all around the world.
Sixty brands showed up, including newcomers Bvlgari and six independents, upping the ante and the noise. The headliners were hard to miss. Vacheron Constantin marked its 270th anniversary with the world’s most complicated wristwatch, while Zenith celebrated 160 years, Roger Dubuis turned 30, and Hublot commemorated 20 years of the Big Bang. Swiss brands sure love round numbers.
Rolex made waves with its bold Oyster Perpetual Land-Dweller, featuring the Dynapulse escapement, while Cartier garnered attention by reissuing the Tank a Guichet—not exactly unexpected, but it received enthusiastic applause nonetheless.
Elsewhere, trends emerged. Blue dials, never out of style, returned with renewed purpose. Several houses debuted signature house shades as if to say: our blue is bluer than yours. Gold watches, from cases to bracelets, shone brightly. Ornamental stone dials made a strong showing—each one unique, thanks to nature’s insistence on not repeating itself.
New records were also set, and statements were made. If the fair proved anything, it was that watchmaking may be steeped in tradition, but it is never stuck in time.
spotlight on gold watches
Gold watches never disappeared, but for some time, they slipped into a quieter corner of the market because of their ties to ageing or vintage tastes. Now, they’re back in full force—especially yellow gold—driven by a potent mix of nostalgia and a reassuring view of gold as wearable insurance for uncertain times.
Rolex leans into the moment with a new Perpetual 1908 model, debuting its freshly minted Settimo bracelet—a seven-link construction in yellow gold, contoured and polished to reflect light from every angle.
A. Lange & Söhne reimagines its Odysseus luxury sports watch in proprietary Honeygold. Twice as hard as standard gold and trickier to machine, this exclusive alloy glows with a distinctive warm lustre, thanks to a precise blend of palladium, copper, zinc, and silicon.
Bvlgari, never one to follow the pack, has incorporated sandblasted rose gold throughout its Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, from case to dial to bracelet, giving it an almost tactile matte finish that tempers its opulence.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s interpretation is quieter, but no less refined. In a first for the current collection, the Reverso comes with a pink gold Milanese mesh bracelet in addition to its swivelling case. Its warm tone complements the dial’s delicately stamped texture, adding tactile depth to the watch’s austere elegance.
With its new 35-mm size, IWC offers the Genta-designed Ingenieur in steel, naturally, but also in striking 5N gold. For the first time, the Ingenieur’s grid-patterned dial, sculptural case, and integrated bracelet are all finished in gold.
Parmigiani Fleurier’s new Toric Quantieme Perpetuel pushes the tone-on-tone look further. In this case, rose gold extends from the case to the dial and the movement. With their pure geometric layout, the bridges feature the brand’s distinctive Côtes de Fleurier decoration, adding just enough texture to the sandblasted mainplate.
Cartier, the jeweller of kings and king of jewellers, unveils a trove of gold creations this year, but two stand out because of their gold-on-gold aesthetic: the Tank Louis Cartier, with just the hour and minutes hands and a clean sunray finish dial, and the Santos-Dumont XL, with gold hands and numerals on a wood-inspired dial.
