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The Best New Watches of 2024
From Rolex to Gucci, these noteworthy timepieces should be on your radar
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What’s going on in the world of watches right now?
Thanks for asking!
The biggest of the industry’s trade shows took place just before the summer issue of Esquire went to press. It’s called Watches and Wonders and it happens in Switzerland every spring. Inside an exhibition hall attached to Geneva airport, dozens of the world’s fanciest brands unveil literally hundreds of watches — some, but not all, of their key releases for the next 12 months. Then the attendant journalists, bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, and yours truly, scratch our heads and try to make sense of what we’ve just seen. To flag up key trends in watch colours and shapes and sizes much like fashion reporters do, having seen the cut of the clothes on the catwalks.
Except watches are not really like clothes. Or, at least, they shouldn’t be — you don’t really want to spend a month’s wages on a wristwatch only to be told six months later that it has “gone out of fashion”.
On the other hand, trends in watches do exist. And they come from somewhere. You might have heard, for example, that watches for men are getting smaller. That green dials are “a thing”. Or that stainless-steel sports watches, once the default Bloke Watch Style, now have serious competition from flashier gold models or timepieces that comes with dials made from precious stones.
You will find examples of all these ideas here, highlighting the nicest and the most noteworthy new watches to come from Watches and Wonders, and beyond.
But you will also find watches that are none of those things — feats of mini mechanical engineering designed to travel to the bottom of the ocean or survive 10m falls, or just to exist as objects of desire in their own rights.
Watch trends come and watch trends go, but the watches themselves stick around. Because, unlike fashion, there really are no wrong choices. You like what you like. And the watch world is big enough to cater to all tastes, at all times.
So, that is what’s going on in the world of watches right now.
Which one’s your favourite? And while you're here, take the opportunity to sign up to About Time, Esquire’s free weekly newsletter devoted to the world of watches.
Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope “Paris 2024” Special Edition
The countdown to Paris starts here. This Metas-certified chronometer features a silvery-white opaline dial, blackened sub-dials and a case from the one material every athlete dreams of.
£48,500; omegawatches.com
Rolex GMT-Master II
Some of The Crown’s watches like to make a big noise; others whisper. The muted colour contrast of this grey and black GMT-Master is said to signal night and day. The green pop of the second hand? Iykyk.
£9,350; rolex.com
Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT
Refresh yourself with the brand’s best-selling diver, now available in classic “Coke” red and black. The GMT hand is there to let you know it’s five o’clock somewhere.
£3,960; tudorwatch.com
Hublot Big Bang Integrated Black Ceramic
A stealthy black-on-black number from the Swiss masters of materials, in its unique, satin-finished ceramic case and bezel featuring six tell-tale H-shaped titanium screws.
£13,100; hublot.com
Bremont Terra Nova 40.5 Date
A new line from the refreshed British brand, this automatic field watch nods to a military past. The geometric case and bracelet remain certifiably 21st-century.
£2,950; bremont.com
Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic x England Cricket
Released in partnership with the English Cricket Board. The monobloc case is offset by the clever geometry of the skeletonised movement. Super-Luminova hands mean bad light never halts play.
£4,150; rado.com
Bell & Ross BR Skeleton Black Lum Ceramic
Harder than steel but more lightweight, ceramic makes watches scratch-proof and timeless. Green-glowing hands and indices, though, bring the futuristic pizzazz.
£8,500; bellross.com
Cartier Santos de Cartier
This latest Santos from scorching-hot Cartier comes with an anthracite-grey dial, a gold-plated steel case and the guarantee of a lifetime’s respect from your peers.
£11,200; cartier.com
IWC Portugieser Automatic 42
The shimmer of the dial is down to a double box-glass sapphire crystal, and the application of 15 layers of transparent lacquer beneath.
£23,500; iwc.com
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Automatique 42mm
A new redux size for the watch deemed the world’s first diver, meaning you no longer need Meg-sized wrists to pull it off. Blue-on-blue is the combo to choose, for “the full Cousteau”.
£15,000; blancpain.com
Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph JX7
The seventh (!) collab between motor-sport royalty Jacky Ickx and Chopard co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. This one is inspired by the former’s blue racing helmets.
£9,280; chopard.com
Panerai Radiomir Quaranta
Downsized to a mere 40mm, this Radiomir has been called “the most wearable Panerai ever”. Green and gold is a combination that’s hard not to love.
£15,700; panerai.com
Ball Watch Company Engineer Hydrocarbon EOD Titanium
The “world’s most shockproof watch” was built for the elite US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal, with a movement that survives 10m falls and neon gas-tube markers visible underwater.
£2,760; shop.ballwatch.ch
Louis Vuitton Tambour
Proving that fashion brands can also make exquisite timepieces, this mechanical masterpiece comes Geneva Chronometric Observatory-certified.
£17,500; uk.louis.vuitton.com
Grand Seiko The “Shubun” Spring Cherry Blossom Spring Drive
The latest wonder from nature enthusiasts Grand Seiko is inspired by the fleeting cherry-blossom season, when “flower rafts” (or hanaikada) form on water. Beats a Snoopy on the dial.
£6,200; grandseikoboutique.co.uk
Gucci G-Timeless
The clue is in the name. Gucci’s revamped line emphasises sleekness and modernity, in 40mm of silver and black.
£1,750; gucci.com
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph
One of a pair of eye-popping Royal Oaks AP has dropped for 2024. A Selfwinding 37mm in yellow frosted gold and this, a Selfwinding Chronograph 41mm in yellow gold.
£67,900; audemarspiguet.com
Longines HydroConquest GMT
Inspired by the world of water sports, this watch is water-resistant to an impressive 300m, and comes with a striking gradient dial.
£2,800; longines.com
Montblanc 1858 Iced Sea Automatic Date
The debut sports diving watch from Montblanc, whose standout feature is the dial texture, marked with wood to create a pattern inspired by the main glacier of the Mont Blanc massif.
£2,785; montblanc.com
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