With the dust from the first day of Watches and Wonders settling, we can finally step back and take a look at this year’s novelties to try and wrap our heads around a handful of certain watchmakers’ releases. With some controversial novelties like the Land-Dweller scooping up the headlines, it is important to look away from the hysteria and look at what other brands have brought to the table.
Tudor Focuses on the Black Bay
The Black Bay 58 is easily one of Tudor’s most popular watches, as is the entire Black Bay collection and all of its various sub-collections like the Pro, Chronograph, One, and so on. However, the 58 has been the collection’s champion, and Tudor has just expanded it with a red variant.
Offered on either a 5-link bracelet (Tudor’s answer to the Jubilee bracelet) or on Tudor’s faux-rivet Oyster-style bracelet, this watch comes in the collection’s standard 39mm diameter case with a nice and thin 11.7mm profile. Taking the Black Bay 41’s red bezel from 2023 and taking the idea to another level, this has to be one of the most stylish releases from Tudor in a while, and as someone who loves the coral dial Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41, this might just be added to my ‘to buy’ list.
In addition to the new Black Bay 58, Tudor has also released an enlarged Black Bay 68 that comes in at a new 43mm in diameter, with either a blue or silver dial – both with black bezels. Additionally, the Black Bay Pro collection has seen the addition of a silver dial to its line-up, which previously only had a black dial. The Black Bay Chronograph is also now offered on a 5-link bracelet, and the Pelagos collection has had a totally new model added to it, with the Pelagos Ultra. Sporting an upgraded 43mm diameter titanium case with blue accents on its black dial, and an upgraded water resistance of 1000 meters (from 500 meters), this is Tudor’s most robust dive watch yet.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Expands on the Reverso
As is often the case for novelty season, brands will typically spread their focus across several of their collections so as to keep their entire catalogue fresh and up-to-date. Some brands, like Tudor this year, will focus on one collection like the Black Bay, but still give some attention to other parts of their offerings. Jaeger-LeCoultre, on the other hand, has only expanded upon their iconic Reverso collection. Adding 15 new variants to the line-up, this year’s novelties see JLC acknowledge that the Reverso is key to reversing (pun intended, I couldn’t help myself) the brand’s fortunes as they seek to make up lost market share.
Starting things off, we have three new gem-set Reverso One variants for the ladies, with two of them being in pink gold and one in white gold. Boasting colorful arrays of gem settings across their cases, these are certainly rather opulent. Furthermore, JLC has released a collection of four limited-edition 45.6mm x 27.4mm white gold Reverso Tribute models that specifically pay homage to polo’s supposed Persian roots through their grand feu enamel dials and elaborate enamel paintings on their casebacks. These four works of art, all created within Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Métiers Rares atelier, are limited to just 10 pieces each.
Taking a more ordinary approach to the Reverso, JLC has also released Duoface Small Seconds Reverso variants with understated sunburst black and blue dials that feature silver secondary dials on their reverse. Made of stainless steel and coming in at 47mm x 28.3mm, these are the Reverso at its most traditional.
While JLC has also created a handful of terrifically complicated Reverso variants such as the Hybris Artistica, a Minute Repeater, and a handful of others that I don’t have the word count to give sufficient attention to, the one watch that I am most excited to see is the Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds in 18kt pink gold. Offered on a stunning 18kt pink gold Milanese mesh bracelet with a gorgeous golden grained dial, this watch is simply breathtaking, and a serious sign that JLC intends to expand the Reverso into new territory over the coming years. Priced at €44,800, it is an expensive piece of kit, but hard to say it’s not gorgeous.
Vacheron Constantin Celebrates 270 Years in Style
It’s not often a watchmaker turns 270 years of age—only a handful have managed it, and even fewer have managed to get there without needing to be revived at some point during the course of their history. As a means to mark the occasion, Vacheron Constantin has gone to great lengths to ensure their 2025 novelties are as you would expect.
Kicking off Vacheron’s celebrations is their Traditionnelle and Patrimony 270th Anniversary editions. Including six limited edition variants across two collections—two Traditionnelle variants and four Patrimony models split across the Patrimony Moon Phase Retrograde Date and Patrimony Self-Winding collections (split 3/1 respectively)—Vacheron has started 2025 with a bang. Limited to either 370 or 270 pieces, depending on the specific variant, these six watches all feature silver dials with the same Maltese cross pattern that was designed specifically for this anniversary.
In addition to the new 270th anniversary Traditionnelle and Patrimony models, Vacheron has also released a trio of “openfaced” Traditionnelle models – each limited to 370 pieces. A complete calendar, a perpetual calendar retrograde date, and a tourbillon retrograde date—these three timepieces all share the same 41mm diameter platinum cases, but with slight deviations in their thicknesses. Boasting “openfaced” dials whereby their inner workings are on display, with the rest of the silver dials using the same Maltese cross-decorated engraved design, this trio of timepieces is incredibly impressive.
Finally, for Vacheron, we have two complications: one impressive and one jaw-droppingly impressive. Starting with the more normal of the two, we have the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar. Limited to 127 pieces and using a new cal. 2162 QP/270 movement, this 42mm platinum timepiece is only 11.1mm tall, meaning its larger diameter is nicely balanced on the wrist. Featuring the same silver Maltese cross dial as mentioned before, this is an impressive exploration of Vacheron’s watchmaking talents—but it hasn’t a scratch on the next watch.
Debuting as a one-of-one, the Les Cabinotiers ‘Solaria Ultra Grand Complication’ is the most complicated wristwatch ever made. Featuring 41 complications, the Solaria comes just one year after Vacheron debuted the Les Cabinotiers ‘Berkley Grand Complication,’ a pocket watch with 63 complications. An incredibly impressive wristwatch that took eight years for a single watchmaker to craft, this watch’s list of complications could merit an article in and of themselves. Sized at just 45mm x 15mm, this dual-dialed beauty is a showcase of unrivaled technical mastery that well and truly reminds us of the exact reason why Vacheron Constantin is in the holy trinity. While the watch is currently a one-of-one, orders are open for clients to get their hands on their own—but the watches will be customized to keep them all unique.
Final Thoughts
It’s difficult to wrap your head around everything that has been released so far. After today, I still feel that I have only scratched the surface of what brands have launched, and that can only be a good thing. With the most complicated wristwatch ever devised, a beautiful pink gold Reverso on a Milanese bracelet, and a red Black Bay 58, I feel that this year is already living up to the hype. And on that note, I am terribly excited to continue digging through what has been launched to see what other treasures await.
