The watch world gathered in Geneva last month for the Coachella of watches (or Woodstock, if you prefer): the Watches And Wonders industry tradeshow. In recent years, it has become the center of gravity for the horological community, with brands inside and outside the walls of the Palexpo convention center launching new timepieces. It makes for a month of competing headlines as brands vie for attention — good news for the watch public! While in April it was all eyes on Geneva, the ABTW team kept our antennae up for news elsewhere with contributions from Omega and Bulova making the cut, as well as an unexpected guest appearance with Air Jordan. Read on!
The aBlogtoWatch Team Picks The 10 Best Releases From Watches And Wonders 2024
A roundup within a roundup? It’s the only way to digest the deluge of watches announced during this year’s Watches And Wonders event. With hundreds of brands and thousands of people converging on Geneva during the first and second weeks of April, it was a marathon parade of great releases. Reporting from Geneva, the ABTW team carefully picked the top 10 watches that got our pulses going for watchmaking in 2024. Show favorites from Tudor, Zenith, and Hermes received popular acclaim, while Patek, Rolex, and Parmigiani flexed their muscles with platinum, guilloché, and blinding bling.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Rare Birds: The Most Unusual, Delightful, and Unexpected Timepieces from Watches and Wonders 2024
As a perfect counterpoint to our roundup of the most significant watches from Geneva this year, the folks over at Watchonista have gathered eight of the oddest watches to debut this year. From Cartier’s Santos-Dumont Rewind that cheekily runs backward to a HAUTLENCE Retrovision ‘47 that looks like it’s straight out of Amazon’s new Fallout series, these are the watches that will either leave you applauding for more… or scratching your head.
Source: Watchonista
List Of Rolex Watches Discontinued At Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024 Including Every Yacht-Master II
Although the hundreds of novelties announced at Geneva’s annual industry hullabaloo grab all the headlines, very little ink is spilled discussing the pieces that have been sacrificed to make room for the new stuff. Fortunately, our very own David Bredan took inventory of Rolex’s catalog and laid out exactly which pieces are going the way of the dodo in 2024. Axing the entire Yacht-Master II collection was certainly a surprise, but the decision to banish the Daytona Le Mans 126529LN (only available for one year) almost guarantees it’ll be one of the most highly collectible Rolexes in recent memory.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Omega Announces The Laboratoire De Précision: Advancing Chronometric Testing
In a month in which all the air was sucked up by the Watches And Wonders show, Omega (a non-participant in the event) made its own headlines. In an advancement to one of the more esoteric areas of watchmaking, Omega’s new “Laboratoire De Précision” testing facilities in Bienne and Villeret promise to be independent centers for movement analysis. It’s a canny business move by Omega: it gives the brand an in-house caliber testing option where its watches go straight to the front of the line for certification while simultaneously generating revenues by charging other brands to use the facility. While it may prove a smart commercial play, we hope it doesn’t lead to more confusing jargon. It’s tricky enough keeping COSC, METAS, and Superlative Chronometer requirements straight.
Source: Time and Watches
Hands-On: Cartier Santos-Dumont Rewind Watch
The aforementioned Santos-Dumont Rewind deserves a closer look and gets a special shout-out from ABTW’s Mike Razak. Continuing the bonanza of platinum watch releases seen at this year’s Watches And Wonders show, the backward-running Rewind is a diminutively sized watch that at first glance, belies its rarity. With just 200 pieces made, every aspect of the watch seems like it was designed to be understated and maybe a little bit sly. From the dial that requires eagle eyes to notice, to the signed caseback that almost nobody will ever see, the Rewind is full of details intended to be overlooked.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
First Look The Raymond Weil Millesime Automatic Chronograph
One of the more surprising watches of the past twelve months, the Millesime came out of seemingly nowhere to win the GPHG Challenge prize in 2023. Predictably (and probably wisely) Raymond Weil has chosen to build on that success by introducing new models to the collection. In a clue that the brand was just as surprised by the Millesime’s success as everyone else, RW’s contribution at the Watches And Wonders show consisted mostly of press releases announcing these new iterations without much in the way of metal. Now, the automatic chronograph has emerged, first seen by Monochrome.
Source: Monochrome
Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Line Reemerges with Authority
To mix sports metaphors, there’s coming out swinging, and there’s coming out swinging for the fences. The re-launched Duometre line from JLC does the latter. One of the more profound releases in April, the collection offers gorgeous movements and even more impressive dials in several luxury flavors including a moonphase, moonphase chronograph, and the show-stopping Heliotourbillon that looks like a Da Vinci fever dream. Dual barrels carry 50 hours of power reserve… each.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Michael Jordan’s £1.2 Million Watch Is An Ultra-Rare Slam Dunk
While we’ve covered Purnell watches on the aBlogtoWatch, it’s fair to say the brand is far from a household name. So it was with mild surprise this week when we noticed Purnell pop up in a somewhat unexpected place: on Michael Jordan’s wrist as he celebrated his NASCAR team’s win at the GEICO 500. While Occam’s Razor tells us it’s nothing more than a dime-a-dozen paid partnership, it’s striking that a figure of Jordan’s profile would choose to forgo one of the heavy-hitting brands like Richard Mille or Rolex. Whatever the nature of the Purnell-Jordan relationship, the blue sapphire double tourbillon is a flex befitting His Airness.
Source: GQ
Bulova Brings Its Precisionist Movement To The Marine Star
Looking ahead by looking back? The Marine Star has been around for a while. So has Bulova’s “Precisionist” movement. In April, Bulova announced it was bringing its high-accuracy, high-frequency quartz caliber to its diver lineup and while this news mostly flew under the radar, we perked up. Lunar Pilot and Jet Star notwithstanding, the Precisionist movement has languished inside watches whose designs, frankly, are not befitting of its capabilities. With its spring drive-like sweeping seconds hand and no-fuss quartz functionality, putting the Precisionist into more watches is a step in the right direction.
Source: Worn & Wound