Watch fairs like Watches and Wonders Geneva (WWG) are built around a measure of secrecy that can be difficult to understand, but this year was a little different. Since there was an unprecedented leak from Rolex on most of its novelties, including the deeply consequential Oyster Perpetual Land-Dweller (see elsewhere this issue), plans for grand reveals went up like smoke, minus the fireworks. Brands flooded everyone’s inboxes with their news by midnight on day one of WWG 2025, with only a few holding their hands, notably Patek Philippe and Bulgari. We are not sure about the value of preserving mystique and the like, but one of the joys of a show like WWG is discovering watches for the first time on day one. It can even influence decisions on which brands to see first next time. On that note, the top dog of this fair was Rolex, leaks notwithstanding.

It is certainly a rare vintage year for the jolly green giant of Geneva watchmaking, with not only new models and new dials but also two new bracelets–just one of those would have been remarkable enough. Needless to say, when you throw the new calibre 7135 into the mix, this spells domination (in our opinion). With the Land-Dweller, Rolex has the most important watch of 2025. Yes, that means the entire year and includes all brands, not just Swiss ones and not just the 60 or so brands exhibiting within the Palexpo. The only brand that could challenge Rolex is Rolex, and that would indeed be something.

With the world as it is, we are lucky in watchmaking that the most powerful force is indeed a force for good. This sort of total domination means that we can easily move on to other news in watchmaking, and also, we have the aforementioned story about the Land-Dweller somewhat ahead of this story, so do give that one a read for our initial thoughts. For a little more, turn to Tick Talk, the newly rebadged Conversation, elsewhere in this issue. That discussion between all the editors of WOW is mainly about the WWG. Yes, that means if you are looking for news outside of WWG, this is the place for it, although we only manage brief mentions here.

Read More: The Rolex Land-Dweller Turns Rumour to Revelation

Good Cheer

This story is our special focus on the Geneva shows and thus we remain formal in our tone here. This also allows us to avoid the thorny issue of addressing favourites and such. It is not always the case that important or notable watches will be personal favourites, for example. Again, Tick Talk includes most of that, as well as our pet peeves, so we can keep this story relatively clean. On that note, we have appended some notable watches here, both before and after this main piece, so do keep an eye out for that. Your favourites, of which you no doubt have some, might well be there.

Overall, the WWG fair was abuzz with good cheer from A. Lange & Söhne, Bulgari, Vacheron Constantin, Zenith and Patek Philippe. Since Rolex leads elsewhere, we turn to Patek Philippe to drive this story. Of course, we noted the new sizes for the Cubitus on social media, but this is hardly the real story at the great Geneva brand. Instead, what seems to have grabbed the most attention is Ref. 6196P, which is a successor of sorts to the discontinued Ref. 5196. For anyone who appreciates the Calatrava, this new model will be essential. The brand’s continuing commitment to good timekeeping principles is evident in the calibre 30-255 PS (new for this reference but introduced in 2021).

For something more complicated, there is a new split-seconds chronograph built into an existing calibre in ref. 5308G, which features two special features. The first is an anti-backlash wheel to tackle friction when the chronograph mechanism engages with the seconds wheel; the second is an isolation system that prevents energy consumption when the split seconds mechanism is stopped.

If that sounds prosaic, that is because these are functional improvements that will not be immediately evident. In any case, ref. 5308G is a quadruple complication, with minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph and instantaneous perpetual calendar, so it is hardly prosaic. For those in search of only the most complex, this is the very summit of Patek Philippe’s complication peak. One reason that the new technical features will make themselves felt here is that the split-seconds chronograph is new – it was previously a mere chronograph.

Before moving right along, Patek Philippe deserves special attention here for one reference that got unexpected ‘likes’ both in social media and in the physical world, where it exists. This is the new Twenty~4 model, ref. 7340/1R, the first high complication to grace the collection. Introduced without diamonds, it should have surprised no one that men found much to like in both versions, with the $174,100 price tag comparing favourably with existing Patek Philippe perpetual calendars. With a precious metal bracelet, there is only a Nautilus competitor, ref. 5740/1G, and that is comfortably stratospheric at $233,600. Incidentally, all these perpetual calendars share the same automatic calibre 240 Q.

Read More: An Azure Evolution of Patek Philippe’s Ladies’ Nautilus 7010/1G-013

Complexity And Complications

For cynics and realists alike, there is every chance that Patek Philippe is saving something for later in the year. This does not matter that much for this story because there are plenty of great watches fighting for your very valuable attention at WWG. Key amongst those will be the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication, which now has the honour of being the world’s most complicated watch (by number of functions at 41, if not the 1,521-component count) as well as the first grand complication to crown itself with the ‘ultra’ designation. We especially like that the watch manages to cram all of this horological excellence into a case clocking in at just 14.99mm thick (it is 45mm in diameter and has two faces, but this is irrelevant).

Interestingly, the Solaria Ultra was made by just one master watchmaker, whose identity has not been disclosed, much as the old standards had it. Unusually, this watchmaker worked with the designer on the case; normally, aesthetics are a domain that does not concern the movement developer and thus we wonder if there is a secret signature somewhere here that points to the identity of the maker, just as was the case for Jean-Marc Vacheron back in the day. Yes, the Solaria Ultra might be the most sought-after yet completely inaccessible watch of its kind. It certainly helps that Vacheron Constantin is making just one of this model, although we fully expect that it will be hugely consequential for releases in the coming years. For evidence, just look at the 250th anniversary watch and what happened there.

From the supremely complicated, we move to a simple expression of precision with the Zenith GFJ. Another anniversary we are paying attention to is over at Zenith, which celebrates its 160th birthday this year with the aforementioned new GFJ model. Just as the Skyline was at its debut, this is now the only full collection that exists with pure time-only properties. Collectors will no doubt hanker for a chronograph, and it may already be on the way (we hope not), but for now, we get to enjoy this new collection as a pure tribute to precision timekeeping.

Calling attention to itself with a massive balance wheel, the reissue of the manual-winding Calibre 135 looks like a straight recreation, but it is anything but. The unique brick-style decoration on the movement plates indicates that much, and it will only be in play for this anniversary edition. A key technical feature of the GFJ is its 72-hour power reserve, which is highly contemporary (and an improvement over the original’s 40-hour or so rating). What is the accuracy of this tribute to on-point timekeeping, then? The brand says it is chronometer-level, meaning +/-2 seconds per day.

Anniversaries And Trepidation

Looking at broader trends and the like, it is probably best to wait a few months to digest all the information; we initially wrote that a few weeks would suffice, but we have revised that to take the ongoing chaos of our times into account. For those who insist on gleaning whatever they can, we will simply say that case sizes continue to become more demure even as dials embrace all manner of novel decorations, materials and colours. If you thought we hit peak colour with the bold Rolex Oyster Perpetuals of a few years ago, well, think again. Even Chanel is joining in, with its advertising reading “It’s not black; it’s not white. It’s Bleu.” We will be bringing you more on this front, and the remarkable J12 Bleu was already the subject of our new Vision issue (out on newsstands alongside this Summer issue), but we must return to those broad strokes we mentioned, including some highlights outside the Palexpo.

If you did not know, Watches and Wonders is a citywide event and thus involves outside exhibitions all over the place. Right next to the Palexpo, though not affiliated with WWG, was Time to Watches, a showcase of smaller brands, including the likes of Awake, Airain, Ba111od, Ming and Formex. In a nutshell, this is where one goes to find watches that are only about craft, but at levels suitable for mere mortals. That means our favourites such as Paulin, Denisson, Code41, SpaceOne and Sinn were also accounted for.

Over at Watchland, Franck Muller held court, as usual, with its show where the brand revealed the Vanguard Bauxite (see our materials special this issue) while Bovet, Jacob & Co and Maurice Lacroix presented their new wares at various prominent Geneva hotels. By way of contrast, Swatch Group brands continued to be conspicuous by their absence, which is reinforced by the fact that they are in no way absent from Geneva. To avoid ending on a sour note, we will sneak in a reference now to the ongoing tariff wars, which, of course, impact watchmaking too.

To be blunt, there are many more important consequences to the tariffs than will be felt in Swiss watchmaking at all levels. The US is an important market for Swiss watches – the number one market in fact – so there are likely to be shocks, but it is the wild west out there and no one knows how this will pan out.

Uncertainty is the new normal as the stock market presents the cash-rich youth with opportunities to build wealth like their parents did. This should read ‘stock markets’ because there is hardly one that has not taken a dive (and rise, and repeat). Once the industry, the Swiss in particular, calibrates for the extra orders from the US to avoid the tariffs, we expect some grimness. The continuing slump in China and Hong Kong will also make things worse.

We will end, for now, with a note about the watch industry’s commitment to making every shape possible, so long as those shapes are round. Watches and Wonders Geneva this year did not reveal any changes here, nor did it indicate that brands were in the mood to experiment with forms. The most exciting form watches this year are still from brands with established legitimacy here, including Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Bulgari, which is a fresh entrant in the Palexpo. Of the bold bunch, led as always by Hublot, things were quiet as far as new developments go, but there is optimism aplenty in the messaging. For the 20th anniversary of the Big Bang, there are a lot of special editions to choose from, and every indication that the brand is holding back on a surprise or two.

Gaining Favour

We reserve a broad mention here for the apparent rise of stone dials, as accurately noted by our team (see Tick Talk this issue). Even if we called it, it is still a surprise to see brands enthusiastically embracing this kind of dial; note that the Zenith GFJ model also sports such a dial, with a lapis lazuli central segment. This watch reminds us to remain only cautiously optimistic about stone dials. All such models might fall into the broad category of “thrilling to surprise,” as many CEOs have mentioned over the years. If so, perhaps these watches will end up as true novelties for this year, as brands lean into other directions in search of delivering that thrill.

The aforementioned Zenith and H. Moser & Cie models (see the Vision issue) are certainly in this novelty category, but this might not be the case at Piaget, which has a tradition of making such watches. Ditto for Rolex, which has been demonstrating its proficiency here for some years now. Yes, we may yet have to ascribe another powerful aesthetic change in watchmaking to the behemoth, at least in part, after all.

Whatever surprises succeed in both gaining and retaining the attention of the broader buying public will surely find favour with the relevant brands. This goes for every oddity or quirky watch from WWG and beyond. On that note, how about that H. Moser & Cie smartwatch! It did not debut at the big show in Geneva, but that was truly surprising so good job, Mr. Meylan (the CEO of H. Moser & Cie). Finally, as noted above, keep Patek Philippe in mind when thinking about reveals later this year. And that, we predict, is all we can expect from the world of watches in the second half of 2025: surprises.

By The Numbers

While we thought Watches and Wonders Geneva seemed more restrained this year, the official data says otherwise. Once again, the numbers speak of new records, and here they are, in full. More than 55,000 visited the fair throughout the week, which is an approximately 12% improvement over last year’s attendance. Also improving, year-on-year, were the number of retailers swarming the Palexpo (+5% at approximately 6,000); journalists chasing stories (+7% at approximately 1,600); and Joe Public too (+21% with 23,000 tickets sold for the public days of WWG). Interestingly, the Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation, the organiser of WWG, also noted that hotel room nights booked rose by 17% to 43,000 and retail meetings surged by 21% to 12,000.

For our part, we can add that everything worked like clockwork, even with this reported surge, mostly. Things creaked a bit when multiple events were held after the fair, making it a little harder to leave than usual. On the other hand, things were managed well, given that we did not notice the surge evident in the data. For our proper critique, please see TickTalk on this issue, but we will close this out with a few words from Cyrille Vigneron, President of the Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation.

“Watches and Wonders has established itself not only as a must-attend inter-professional event, but also as a platform for expression for the watchmaking Maisons. The event allows each of them to visually express their universe, to see and wear beautiful creations, and to share a common passion. Media, medium and mediator.”

This story was first seen as part of the WOW #79 Summer 2025 Issue

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