Watches and Wonders 2025: A preview of the 2025 novelties

From 1 to 7 April 2025, the Geneva watch fair Watches and Wonders opens its doors. While the first days of the fair are reserved for trade visitors, the general public will also have the opportunity to marvel at the watch industry's latest novelties from 5 April onwards. We are taking this annual event as an occasion to look at the innovations and new releases of 2024 and 2025 from the most successful brands that will also be represented in Geneva.

Alpina – new Alpiner and Seastrong models delight fair visitors

The Swiss watch brand Alpina, whose roots go back to the 1880s, is one of around 60 brands that have registered to take part in Watches and Wonders 2025. Last year, the manufacture used the fair as a stage to present new models from no fewer than two collections. The popular Alpiner Extreme line gained a new addition in the form of a ladies' timepiece with a reduced 36-millimetre diameter. The series was also expanded with a unisex model that has a special feature: For the first time, Alpina fitted a quartz movement in an Alpiner Extreme watch. Since 2024, the quartz timepiece has been available in four fresh designs with a dial in ice blue, lime green, powder pink or cream.

Just like the new Alpiner additions, the brand-new Seastrong versions were met with enthusiasm. The Alpina Seastrong Diver Extreme Automatic houses the proven Extreme movement with automatic winding – an unprecedented combination full of power. These dive watches, water-resistant to 300 metres, are modern three-hand models with a date, available with a rubber strap and a navy blue dial, or with a vivid orange strap and matching highlights.

Naturally, we do not know what surprises Alpina will have in store at Watches and Wonders this year. Given last year's presentations, however, we have good reason to hope for one or two eye-catching sports watches.

Baume & Mercier – a limited edition to start the new year

Baume & Mercier ushered in 2025 with a strictly limited Riviera reference. The Riviera 10785 takes the snake as its theme, and the design draws on it in a remarkably aesthetic way. The background: Following the tradition of the Chinese zodiac, this year is the year of the Wood Snake, which is associated with wisdom, sharp-wittedness and excellent intuition. Baume & Mercier captures these associations in a smoky grey sapphire dial, in whose lively texture a graceful snake takes shape. Together with the serpentine seconds hand, the gilded details and the satin-finished steel case, the snake design comes visually to life and undoubtedly captivates the beholder.

With the Riviera 10785, Baume & Mercier gives us a foretaste of the new releases we hope to see at Watches and Wonders 2025. After all, the brand already stood out there in 2024 with numerous exciting product launches. No fewer than four collections – Riviera, Classima, Clifton and Hampton – received new references. The Riviera Squelette with its semi-skeletonised automatic movement certainly deserves a special mention, outshone only by the Riviera Tideograph with tide indicator, limited to 500 pieces.

Cartier – jewel-like mini models and fresh colours

The jewellery and watch house Cartier has been at home at Watches and Wonders for many years and made headlines last year with, among other things, the reissue of the historic Cartier Tortue. The limited reinterpretation features a mechanical movement with reversed manual winding that makes the hands run backwards. Those who prefer a watch whose hands move clockwise should take a closer look at the Santos-Dumont variants in bold colours, also presented in 2024. On these colourful models, the leather strap and dial impress with their vibrancy in emerald green, turquoise and light silver grey.

What revelations Cartier will use to put a smile on our faces at Watches and Wonders 2025 is still written in the stars. The luxury brand has, however, already set the pace with several jewel-like pieces that have recently become available. These include several mini models, i.e. smaller versions of famous Cartier watches. Additions to the range include, for example, a 28 x 15.2 millimetre Tank Américaine on a blue leather strap and a yellow gold Baignoire Watch just 7.2 millimetres thin.

Chopard – L.U.C timepieces with interchangeable straps

Chopard recently set the hearts of luxury-loving watch enthusiasts racing by expanding its L.U.C collection. With their Bassiné case, the two "late arrivals" with hand-guilloché dials recall the pocket watches once conceived by Louis-Ulysse Chopard – who, incidentally, gave the collection its name. The finely crafted dials display an astronomically precise moon phase, made possible by the state-of-the-art Calibre 96.36-L movement with flying tourbillon. Thanks to a redesigned strap system, the straps of the new L.U.C models can be changed easily in just a few steps – without any special tools.

At Watches and Wonders 2024, Chopard impressed with a whole series of interesting novelties that we would not want to leave unmentioned here:

• L.U.C Qualité Fleurier in Lucent Steel with redesigned lugs
• Happy Sport Limited Edition embellished with aquamarines and diamonds
• L'Heure du Diamant in ethical gold
• L.U.C XPS in Forest Green with a new sector dial
• Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph JX7 Limited Edition, developed in cooperation with racing driver Jacky Ickx
• Alpine Eagle 41 XP Frozen Summit in an iced-out design
• Ultra-thin, partially skeletonised Alpine Eagle 41 XP Tech Titanium

Whether Chopard will surpass itself in terms of innovative spirit in 2025 remains to be seen.

Frédérique Constant – mix-and-match ladies' watches and limited Classic Tourbillon Manufacture references

Frédérique Constant is a traditional Geneva watch company that has been run by Peter Stas since its founding in 1988. In 2025, the manufacture released a very special masterpiece limited to 150 pieces: A Classic Tourbillon Manufacture luxury watch dressed in rich green. The high-performance timepiece has a 39-millimetre steel case housing an FC-980 manufacture calibre with a 60-second tourbillon. With its harmonious colour scheme and numerous visual and technical highlights, the new Classic Tourbillon Manufacture reference confidently follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, released in 2023.

When developing new products, Frédérique Constant has recently also had women in mind. The Highlife Ladies Quartz collection comprises elegant ladies' watches with a date in a wonderfully diverse selection. Stainless steel or bicolour cases, richly coloured or mother-of-pearl dials, diamond highlights or simple baton indices – here, the style-conscious watch lover is spoilt for choice. Conveniently, the straps are easy to change thanks to a mix-and-match system, so you can switch at will from the precisely crafted link bracelet to an everyday rubber strap.

Hublot – a wide range of materials for the new Big Bang Meca-10 watches

Anyone who has followed the Watches and Wonders fairs of recent years knows that Hublot is a regular guest there. This time, the brand unveiled an impressive novelty even before the big event. We are referring to the recently presented references of the Big Bang Meca-10 line, inspired by construction-kit systems, with elaborate skeletonisation and a reduced 42-millimetre case. Besides the spectacular look, the materials chosen for this watch also deserve particular attention. Depending on the model, the cases are made of titanium, a platinum-containing alloy called "King Gold", carbon or polished Saxem.

With innovative materials and a complex design, the new Big Bang Meca-10 watches join the long list of spectacular creations from recent years. Only in 2024, Hublot drew the attention of the public and trade visitors at Watches and Wonders with various Big Bang new releases, such as the pink Big Bang Unico in a sapphire crystal case, the square Big Bang Unico Magic Gold and the sporty, understated Big Bang Integrated Time Only with a 28-millimetre diameter. Fans of the brand can therefore rightly look forward to seeing which new models Hublot will bring to the 2025 fair.

IWC – Ingenieur Automatic 40 unites past and future

The traditional Swiss brand IWC Schaffhausen closed 2024 with a model release that many watch lovers had surely been eagerly awaiting. The Ingenieur family, redesigned in the 1970s by legendary designer Gérald Genta, gained a new member in the Ingenieur Automatic 40. With this model, IWC succeeds in interpreting the characteristic features of the Ingenieur in a thoroughly modern, contemporary way. In this sporty luxury watch, the classic visible screws on the bezel, a reliable calibre 32111 automatic movement and a soft-iron inner case for protection against magnetic fields meet an extravagant dial with a "grid" structure and luminous hands. Together, these elements result in a fashionable, high-performance watch with a distinct "Genta influence".

At last year's Watches and Wonders, however, a completely different IWC collection took centre stage: The Portugieser. At the time, no fewer than six new models of the popular IWC classic were released, which for the first time was also available with a secular calendar – called the "Eternal Calendar" at IWC.

Jaeger-LeCoultre – two masterpieces unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2024

If one had to predict which watch brand is guaranteed to impress at Watches and Wonders 2025 with novelties of the highest craftsmanship, Jaeger-LeCoultre would be an obvious choice. The reason: The Swiss manufacture, part of the Richemont Group, amazed the audience at the 2024 watch event with two true masterpieces.

On the one hand, fair visitors witnessed the announcement of the revised Master Ultra Thin collection. The reinterpreted Perpetual Calendar, available in four designs, offers even greater wearing comfort thanks to extended lugs and ensures optimum legibility with clearly designed sub-dials. This technically sophisticated gem draws its energy from a calibre 868 movement with a new escapement and a 70-hour power reserve.

On the other hand, Jaeger-LeCoultre ventured a new case for the Duometre line and introduced it with three new models. These luxury watches differ from their predecessors in their elegantly rounded bezel, a new crown design and a more strongly domed crystal. Particularly noteworthy is the redesigned Duometre Quantieme Lunaire, the first moon phase model to join the range in a stainless steel case.

Patek Philippe – launch of the Cubitus collection

Towards the end of last year, the renowned watchmaker Patek Philippe shared a brand-new collection with the watch world: The Cubitus Collection. Instantly recognisable by their distinctive square case, these timepieces with horizontally embossed dials are highly recognisable and have a memorable personality all their own. The Cubitus is available in platinum with a blue strap and dial, in a classic stainless steel look with a green dial, or as a stylish bicolour version in stainless steel and rose gold. The latter version is equipped not only with an oversized date, but also with a moon phase, small seconds and a day-of-the-week display.

Apart from the Cubitus collection, Patek Philippe had further novelties up its sleeve in 2024, of which the following celebrated their debut at Watches and Wonders:

• Three Grandes Complications models (Ref. 5520RG-001, Ref. 5160/500R-001 and Ref. 5236P-010)
• White gold model from the "Complications" range with dial and leather strap in deep midnight blue
• Nautilus in white gold with a denim-look strap
• Dove blue Aquanaut in white gold and rose gold
• Iced-out Aquanaut with a pavé of baguette diamonds and sapphires and a diamond-set hour circle
• Rose gold Golden Ellipse with a matte black dial
• Rose gold Twenty-4 with a rectangular case, burgundy dial and diamond-set case flanks

Rolex – familiar models in a new guise

Unlike what one is used to from the undisputed king of the Swiss watch industry, Rolex completely refrained from new collections and movements at last year's Watches and Wonders event. Nevertheless, there was plenty to admire, as various well-known Rolex watches were launched in new colour and material combinations. The timepieces released included the following:

• GMT-Master II with a black and grey bezel
• Daytona with a diamond-set bezel and mother-of-pearl dial
• Daytona Le Mans in yellow gold with a black dial and "Paul Newman" counters
• Yellow gold Deepsea with a blue bezel and dial
• Platinum Perpetual 1908 with rice-grain guilloché

Will Rolex enrich the upcoming Watches and Wonders fair with watches that are not merely redesigned but created entirely from scratch? We are keeping our fingers crossed.

TAG Heuer – novelties full of sportiness and elegance

TAG Heuer has already set a rapid pace this year when it comes to novelties. The watch brand, which belongs to the luxury goods group LVMH, has, for example, given the Formula 1 Chronograph a fresh look. This racing-inspired, high-precision timekeeping instrument for the wrist has recently become available in the TAG Heuer shop in a sporty titanium case on a rubber strap. Design elements in bright green, blue or red, a small date and prominently placed sub-dials further emphasise the dynamic performance of this distinctive sports watch.

While the Formula 1 Chronograph is bursting with sportiness, TAG Heuer focuses entirely on elegance with another novelty. The Carrera Chronograph for women is equipped with plenty of technical features, yet looks thoroughly refined, almost graceful. The two new references on leather straps catch the eye with diamond-framed dials in delicate rosé or mystical dark blue, perfectly matching the diamond indices and the highly polished stainless steel case. With its 2025 new releases, TAG Heuer once again demonstrates its versatility. Sporty or elegant – those who buy from the Swiss manufacture do not necessarily have to choose.

Tudor – Rolex's sister brand shows its colours with the Daring Watches Collection

As the sister brand of the giant Rolex, Tudor has always been closely watched by critics and has occasionally been dismissed by sharp tongues as a "poor man's Rolex". Tudor watches are indeed more affordable than Rolex timepieces, but they still belong firmly to the luxury segment, so the brand is by no means out of place at Watches and Wonders.

With the recently released Daring Watches Collection, Tudor shows that the brand has plenty of courage, design strength and character. The vibrantly colourful collection breaks with convention and comprises three extravagantly designed Black Bay references. The models with dials in hot pink, royal blue and cool turquoise are definitely not for watch fans who prefer not to stand out. Rather, they appeal to those who enjoy standing out, setting themselves apart from the crowd and hiding none of their facets. The Daring Watches selection is thus a promising start to 2025 and makes us curious about what Tudor will offer us at the upcoming Watches and Wonders.

U-Boat – a newcomer showing potential

While most of the watch brands represented at Watches and Wonders look back on company histories spanning decades or even centuries, U-Boat was only founded in 2000, making it a genuine newcomer. However, this is a newcomer that has quickly made a name for itself in the watch industry and clearly has the potential to play in the "top league".

The expansion of the Classico collection recently attracted great interest. This is a line of comparatively affordable chronographs with an unmistakable design. The new models with date and 24-hour indicator are made of titanium and are distinguished by oversized numerals, overlapping sub-dials and a coarse waffle texture on the dial. The rubber-and-leather straps also serve as an eye-catcher, as they too feature an unusual texture of raised lines running criss-cross.

As a young brand that is not yet as firmly established on the market as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega and the like have long been, U-Boat will in all likelihood have come up with one or two special surprises for Watches and Wonders – we are excited to see them.

Ulysse Nardin – extravagance on the rise

Anyone looking for a watch that departs completely from the status quo and attracts attention through its unconventional look alone should not miss the new additions to the Ulysse Nardin range. Connoisseurs of the brand can probably already guess: We are referring to the Blast Amoureuxpeintre. No component of this watch, limited to 29 pieces, is merely ordinary. The case is made of titanium and PVD and frames an almost bare sapphire crystal dial, which has been given a breathtaking "frost effect" through laser and metallisation techniques. Two finely crafted hands with integrated luminous elements move across this seemingly blurred dial. Add to this a strap made of rough Alcantara, which suits the extravagant overall concept perfectly.

No less self-assured is the new Freak x Enamel Seddiqi, of which 30 pieces were made. The timepiece with flying tourbillon, the result of a collaboration between Ulysse Nardin and Ahmed Seddiqi and Sons, is recognisable by its finely guilloché, petrol-coloured dial, the 'no hands and no dial' construction typical of Freak watches and the robust rubber strap with decorative stitching. The prospect of similarly unusual creations definitely heightens the anticipation for Watches and Wonders 2025.

Vacheron Constantin – an anniversary model for its 270th year

Vacheron Constantin celebrates the 270th anniversary of the company in 2025 and, to mark the occasion, reissued one of the brand's most memorable timepieces at the very beginning of the year. We are talking about the 222, one of the best-known watches from Vacheron Constantin. With the new Historiques 222, the watchmaker revives its historic legend, which should delight lovers of the brand beyond measure. After all, anyone who manages to secure one of these luxury watches with the Maltese cross on the stainless steel or yellow gold case holds a piece of company history in their hands.

The information the manufacturer provides on its website about the anniversary suggests that several more "special models" will be released this year. Perhaps we will get to see one of them at Watches and Wonders 2025.

Zenith – DEFY Skyline C.X special edition reaches for the stars

The Swiss watchmaker Zenith, whose company history now spans around 200 years, will also be taking part in Watches and Wonders 2025. However, the brand is reaching for the stars even before the big event, with the release of the DEFY Skyline C.X special edition. The chronograph is the product of a collaboration with Collective Horology, a watch retailer focused on cooperating with renowned watch houses. This special DEFY Skyline model has plenty of retro charm and is equipped with the high-frequency El Primero 3620 SK calibre, known for its outstanding precision. The engraved star pattern on the dial, the dodecagonal bezel and the refined partial skeletonisation make the DEFY Skyline C.X with stop-seconds function, limited to 200 pieces, a coveted collector's item.

With the current Limited Edition, Zenith builds on the successful series of DEFY Skyline timepieces, some of which were brought into the spotlight at Watches and Wonders last year. At the time, Zenith presented, among others, the DEFY Revival A3648 Divers Watch, a chronograph not unlike the DEFY Skyline C.X model, and the DEFY Extreme Diver dive watch.

Watches and Wonders 2025: Experience innovation in the watch industry up close

From Alpina, Cartier, IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre to Rolex and Zenith, Watches and Wonders 2025 once again expects distinguished guests. The watch enthusiasts the event attracts year after year can therefore look forward to a few inspiring days full of impressive innovations, novelties and exclusive luxury watches.