It’s been an intriguing first half of the year for the watch industry, with the business environment having to adapt to a new normal, that is, one that is far from predictable and stable. Brands of all sizes and aspirations have been challenged by shifting demands from watch enthusiasts and a global economic environment that has drawn consumer attention away from luxury items. It’s under this umbrella that Watches & Wonders Geneva took place in April this year, being now the largest gathering for the industry, in its traditional location at Geneva’s Palexpo exhibition centre.

The fair itself continues to evolve, and certainly seems to be much more cohesive with each iteration; W&W in previous years have felt like a combination of the previous Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), and the now-defunct Baselworld. W&W would group them under one roof, but there were two distinct sides, one grouping many of the SIHH brands, whilst the other hosted the Baselworld participants, complete with the very same booths – I use that term quite loosely, as these are miniature buildings, some with several floors, complete with independent catering facilities. Connecting them would be a corridor where the smaller independent brands would be grouped in two halls, the Carré des Horlogers and La Place; it felt, on occasion, like you were going through a time tunnel between Geneva and Basel.

This year, the Carré des Horlogers and La Place were moved to a different location, to allow for more brands to join W&W, for a total of 60 – a far cry from SIHH’s 16 or so maisons. Brands such as Tag Heuer, Hublot, and Bulgari were given larger spaces along the corridor joining the two large halls of the Palexpo, giving the fair a much more cohesive layout, which attendees generally seemed to appreciate.

In the course of the week, news broke about the tariffs that would be imposed on all Swiss imports into the United States, and while there was some talk around a few coffees about it, it did not dominate the discussions in subsequent days; this was, as always, a time to discover all the new watches that clients could look forward to in the course of the following months, and the business implications would be worked out in the weeks after the fair.

As to those new watches, the growing number of participating brands does make it challenging to give them all their due in the course of an article. Here are a few highlights, and we will certainly continue to present more over the course of the coming weeks.

Van Cleef & Arpels – Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux

Van Cleef and Arpels continue in their story-telling tradition with a new automaton called Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux. It may bear a resemblance to the iconic Pont des Amoureux, featuring a couple on a Parisian landscape, this time at a festive “guinguette”, the animation showing them dancing and coming closer for a brief kiss at noon and at midnight, or on demand. The time is shown with the two retrograde stars in the background. As always, the master artisans at VCA render the scene beautifully, with little revealed about the technical know-how required to bring the animation to life.

IWC Schaffhausen – Ingenieur Automatic 40 Green

Fully endorsing their role as the timekeeping sponsor for the fictional APXGP F1 team featured in the F1 movie, IWC have released a version of its latest Ingenieur in steel, this time with an interesting metallic green dial. It’s inspired by the custom-made green-dialed Ingenieur worn by Brad Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, throughout the movie.

Hermès – Arceau Rocabar de Rire

This falls squarely in the category of watches whose raison d’être is primarily to make you smile. Hermès’ Arceau Rocabar de Rire features a miniature painting of a horse, which is, of course, beautifully crafted with horsehair marquetry in the background, and it may seem innocuous enough until you’re drawn to use the pusher at 9 o’clock, whose only function is to make the horse stick out its tongue. An unexpected “complication”, yet one that is a breath of fresh air in today’s horology.

Chopard – Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF

Chopard shows the versatility of its Alpine Eagle line by using ceramicised titanium, not only for the case, but also the crown, dial and movement. The result is Chopard’s lightest-ever timepiece. Equipped with the high frequency 8Hz Chopard calibre 01.14-C, another of Chopard’s specialisations, it has a modern, dark aesthetic with just a touch of orange for the logo, minute track and seconds hand.

Montblanc – Iced Sea 0 Oxygen Deep 4810

This one is intriguing because its impressive water resistance rating of 4,810m is not a specific underwater benchmark, but rather the height of the Mont Blanc mountain. The Montblanc Deep 4810 also features its zero oxygen construction, which replaces the air inside with an inert gas, which not only prevents fogging but virtually eliminates oxidisation within the case, and therefore improves the longevity of the movement. Although the watch was originally introduced last year, for 2025 there is a new version with a full titanium bracelet.

Jaeger-LeCoultre – Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s legendary Reverso has certainly evolved through the decades. The double-sided case gives watchmakers a different kind of canvas on which to express their technical skill. Whilst the Reverso has been produced as a minute repeater before, this year’s shows off the collection’s twin personalities to great effect, with the first dial side being executed in a beautiful enamelled guilloche in teal blue, the reverse showing off the new calibre 953, which features seven existing patents developed to enhance the quality of the chime, now incorporated into the rectangular movement.

A. Lange & Söhne –  Odysseus Honeygold

After steel, white gold, and titanium, A. Lange & Söhne introduces its sports elegance Odysseus in its honey gold alloy. The full honey gold case and bracelet are particularly well-matched with the brown dial, especially given the darker hue of the alloy compared with traditional gold alloys. Unfortunately, given that this is a limited series of 100 pieces only, most are very likely spoken for already.

Rolex – GMT-Master II Tiger Iron

It’s interesting to read the conjecture about what Rolex will release at the fair each year; to memory, very few of these rumours have been accurate. No one that I know of predicted one of this year’s most intriguing new Rolex watches, the GMT-Master II with a dial made from a stone called “tiger iron”, which is contains jasper, hematite and tiger’s eye. It gives the dial a striated pattern which will make each watch somewhat unique, with colours that are very well-matched with the Everose gold case and bracelet.

Patek Philippe – Calatrava ref. 5328G-001

I’ve always been fond of blue dials, so this Patek Philippe Calatrava reference 5328G-001 certainly caught my attention. It’s presented in a 41mm white gold case with a textured dial in a beautiful dark blue hue. The manually-wound calibre 31-505 8J PS IRM CI J features instantaneously jumping date and day indications and an 8-day power reserve, all laid out in a very legible fashion.