Best Watches of 2024: The Top Timepiece Launches of the Year

Watches & Wonders, the annual watchmaking extravaganza in Geneva, has quickly taken over the role of Baselworld as the world’s leading watch fair, providing the launchpad for many of the new designs you see below. Alongside, independent disruptors are taking on the big hitters of the watch world, injecting some welcome playfulness into the traditionally strait-laced world of timepieces. Here’s our pick of the best watches of 2024, including pieces by Chopard, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bvlgari…

Best High Jewellery Watch: Chopard Laguna High Jewellery Secret Watch

Never has a watch induced such a strong feeling of wanderlust as Chopard’s Laguna high jewellery secret watch. A one-of-a-kind creation, this underwater-inspired masterpiece conceals its pink sapphire and topaz dial beneath a protective seashell, with the opening mechanism activated by pressing a natural pearl. Made up of a mosaic of tiny seashells, crafted in ethical rose gold, the cuff bracelet alone is an extraordinary feat of craftsmanship. Involving over 1,000 hours of workmanship and winner of the GPHG award for best jewellery watch, the Laguna secret watch is our favourite high jewellery timepiece of 2024.

Best Innovation: Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC

Watchmakers are a competitive bunch, and never more so when there is a title to be regained. The maker of the world’s thinnest mechanical watch has been hotly contested for years, with Bvlgari holding the record with the Octo Finissimo Ultra for a matter of months in 2022, after which Richard Mille swooped in and stole the title with the ultrathin 1.75mm RM UP-01 Ferrari. In 2024, Bvlgari won back the accolade of world’s thinnest watchmaker when it debuted the Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC. Shaving 0.05mm off Richard Mille’s record, this astonishingly thin timepiece, measuring just 1.7mm, is also COSC certified. This means that it is not only the thinnest watch ever made, but also the thinnest chronometer-certified watch ever made. Crafted in sandblasted titanium and about as wide as a strand of spaghetti, the Finissimo Ultra was completely reengineered to create the new Finissimo Ultra COSC, earning it our award for innovation for 2024.

Best Unisex Watch: Chanel 12 White Star Couture

It’s not unusual to see a woman wearing a man’s watch, but what is unusual is when a watch originally designed for women is coveted by men. This is precisely what happened at Watches & Wonders this year when Chanel unveiled the 12 White Star Couture timepiece. Limited to 12 pieces, the design codes are pure Chanel, from the classic black-and-white colour palette beloved by Coco Chanel to the faceted ceramic “stones” decorating the dial, bezel and strap that sparkle discreetly, just as gems would. Mirroring the sleekness of the ceramic, the sides of the case and strap feature a diamond trim, courtesy of 55 baguette cut diamonds totalling 3.58 carats. The baguette cut is such an elegant diamond cut, and it is this brilliantly understated detail that, I believe, ultimately won over the guys. The 12 White Star Couture is a lesson in quiet luxury, and one that Chanel does so well.

Best Diamond Watch: Vacheron Constantin Grand Lady Kalla Watch

Winner of the prestigious Golden Needle Trophy at the inaugural edition of the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in 2001, from the moment of its launch in 1980, Vacheron Constantin’s Lady Kalla set the standard for jewellery watches. Celebrating the ongoing tradition of haute joaillerie in watchmaking cultivated by the Maison through the decades, this year Vacheron Constantin has revisited the original Lady Kalla. Unmistakably Art Deco in style, the Grand Lady Kalla is convertible, with both the watch case and jewel element interchangeable on the necklace and bracelet. Transforming from a timekeeper to a diamond bracelet to a pendant watch to a diamond necklace, a total of 268 emerald cut diamonds, weighing more than 45 carats, decorate the watch/bracelet. Accompanied by a long sautoir alternating onyx beads with Akoya pearls, the Grand Lady Kalla is the pinnacle of diamond watchmaking expertise, earning it our award for best diamond watch of 2024.

The “It” watch: Cartier Mini Baignoire Watch

Launched last year, Cartier’s Baignoire watch sold out immediately and, until recently, was almost impossible to get hold of. Fast forward to 2024 and there is another, smaller Baignoire to covet: a mini version of one of Cartier’s greatest recent success stories. Named after a bathtub because of its distinctive oval shape, the Bagnoire’s elegant lines originate from an earlier design dating from 1958 called the Ovale cintré watch, which was rechristened the Baignoire in 1973. Available in five different iterations, the Mini Baignoire’s “It” watch status was secured when Paul Mescal, star of Gladiator II and the style icon of the moment, was snapped at the film’s premiere in Australia in October 2024 wearing the yellow gold model on a black leather strap.

Berneron’s 2024 launch was the unisex Mirage 34, a smaller—by 4mm—iteration of its flagship Mirage model, suitable for couples to share. Available in two variants, one in white gold with a lapis lazuli dial, the other yellow gold and tiger’s eye, the dials, with the original numerals removed, are a minimalist work of art and the asymmetry is fascinating. With the first batch of Mirage 34 watches sold out, the ecstatic reception to this thoughtful, conceptual indie watchmaker is very well deserved.

There’s so much to enjoy in our pick of the best watches of 2024. Each has its own story to tell, whether that’s focused on playful gem-setting, ultra-thin precision, or nuanced complications. We wait with bated breath to see what wonders will be unveiled in 2025, including what emerging brand Berneron does next!