The Ones to Watch from Watches and Wonders Part Two
Words by
Lisa Barnard
16th July 2025
Tick tock, we're back for Watches and Wonders Part Two as Lisa Barnard shares her top horological picks from the world-renowned Swiss Salon. Clean-cut designs and complications galore. In case you missed it, head back and read Part One here.
Credit: Joel Von Allmen
A playful twist on Hermès’ storied equestrian roots, this limited-edition timepiece features a mischievous horse on the watch face. It’s brought to life with a 9 o’clock pusher that activates an irresistible “on-demand impulse” animation, where the cheeky horse sticks out its tongue. The miniature painting on the dial is based on the Rocabar de Rire scarf, by Hermès scarf artist Dimitri Rybaltchenko. True to the Hermès ethos, the production is intricate. Engraved by hand with traditional burins, the horse is hand-painted in kiln-fired micro-layers. Horsehair marquetry, chosen by colour and cut, and placed strand by strand, forms the dial’s Rocabar-inspired weave, a nod to the striped, woollen saddle blankets of yesteryear. Housed in a 41mm white gold Arceau case, with asymmetrical stirrup-shaped lugs, the watch is powered by the in-house H1837 movement. With only 12 pieces, it’s horology with an equine sense of humour, reminding us that the finest craftsmanship can elicit a smile and get the bit between the teeth.
PATEK PHILIPPE 8-DAY CALATRAVA
It’s all about power reserve at Patek Philippe this year. This significant addition to its Calatrava collection, the Patek Philippe 8-Day Calatrava, is the epitome of technical subtlety. Housed in a white gold case with the brand’s iconic hobnail guilloché (braided band), it discreetly conceals a manually wound movement that runs for eight full days — no mean feat. A red marker pops up on the ninth day, not as an alarm, but as a polite reminder: it’s time to wind. The instantaneous day and date indications snap into place at 6 o’clock, while the power reserve arcs neatly at 12. The gradient blue dial, darker at the edges, anchors luminous white gold numerals and hands with crisp clarity. A product underpinned by the deep research Patek is famed for, its operation is fully accurate until the clock strikes 9 (days).
MONTBLANC 1858 GEOSPHERE 0 OXYGEN MOUNT VINSON
Montblanc 1858 celebrates explorers and mountaineers, and this year it has reached yet another peak. Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Vinson honours the highest summit in Antarctica and Reinhold Messner’s 1986 ascent, the first to climb the Seven Summits without supplemental oxygen. The 43.5mm titanium case includes a zerooxygen gasket to prevent fogging and oxidation, ideal for high altitude. The case is made from a composite blend of quartz fibres, aluminised basalt fibres and carbon carbonate. The distinctive blue, together with the gratté-boisé dial, conjures up the patterns and textures of ancient glaciers. The dial features two rotating hemispheres for world time, a dual-time function and date. An engraved luminous silhouette of Mount Vinson features on the caseside, while the caseback reveals a 3D laser-etched rendering of the summit. The anodised aluminum bezel includes luminescent blue cardinal points, and the blue-green rope-textured rubber strap with an adjustable system adds a functional, alpine-ready finish. It’s a watch built not just for telling time, but for enduring it.
BULGARI WHITE GOLD DIAMOND SERPENTI AETERNA
Bulgari arrived at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2025 with aplomb, and the Bulgari Serpenti Aeterna made a striking entrance. It’s the boldest reimagining of the House’s Serpenti (Serpenti Aeternita), encapsulating its transformation since 1948. With its eye-catching, sculptural design, Aeterna is a white gold, diamond-set serpentine bangle that coils gracefully around the wrist. For those with an aversion to snakes, such as myself, it has little of the snakey about it, shedding the cliché serpent details such as the scales and snake eyes. Instead, it has subtle hexagonal etchings on the inner surface, which might suggest scales but are pleasingly geometric. The design is minimalist and, as Bulgari is famed for, exquisitely elegant. Adorned with pavé diamonds and crowned by an arrowheadshaped dial nestled at the serpent’s head, it has a concealed clasp, creating a fluid silhouette. This is the Year of the Snake, but snake lover or not, the Serpenti Aeterna is truly covetable.
IWC BIG PILOT’S WATCH SHOCK ABSORBER TOURBILLON SKELETON XPL
XPL is the watch that bounces back. IWC introduced Big Pilot a couple of years ago, a mechanism to protect the movement from extreme shocks. This year, it releases IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL, which combines an advanced shock absorbing system with an intricate tourbillon complication. The system protects the movement against g-forces, something pilots in supersonic jets need to consider. The SPRIN-g PROTECT® system, a patented shock-absorbing mechanism developed over eight years, uses a cantilever spring made from Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) and an amorphous material useful for its elasticity and resilience. When external shock occurs, the XPL springs into action. The spring suspends the delicate movement, cushioning it against impacts and ensuring the delicate flying minute tourbillon remains unscathed. The spring design has been reconfigured, with each of its eight arms tailored to the 56-part tourbillon’s dimensions and weight. Aesthetically, the XPL has a futuristic and minimalist design, with a skeletonised movement that reduces mass, also giving an opportunity to admire its complex mechanics (on the ground). Don’t wing it — this is the watch for the serious pilot.
HUBLOT BIG BANG 20TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION: MASTER OF SAPPHIRE
Hublot is no wallflower in the watch world. For two decades, Hublot’s Big Bang has challenged watchmaking conventions — through colour, transparency, skeletonisation and high-tech materials. The innovative brand has been on the move, perfecting coloured synthetic sapphire and pushing boundaries on the science and the spectacle. To mark the model’s 20th anniversary, Hublot has released a dazzling five-piece set, which showcases its chromatic expertise and its penchant for crazy colours: Transparent, Water Blue, Deep Blue, Purple and Neon Yellow. Producing such bold hues from an unforgiving material requires precision chemistry and technical finesse, especially in light of the Big Bang’s complex layered construction. Each 44mm case is matched with a colour-coordinated translucent strap and dial accents, creating vivid continuity throughout. For the first time, the MECA-10 movement is housed in fully transparent cases, offering an unfiltered view of its architectural layout. In a world of hidden mechanics, fearless Hublot allows time to show its hand.
Lange & Sohne Minute Repeater Perpetual
Built as a horological challenge which strikes the balance between tradition and innovation, the new Minute Repeater Perpetual from Lange & Sohne chimes true to form and cannot fail to impress. Despite its elaborate miniature design, the Minute Repeater Perpetual is complete with Lange & Sohne’s classically striking, piano-timbred mechanism, and has a crystal-clear cut sound. The classically lucid, reverberant noise is assured by hand-tuned gongs which harmonise perfectly with the acoustic characteristics of the watch’s striking platinum case. The miniature Repeater Perpetual boasts a black enamel dial in a rare platinum edition, limited to an exclusive 50 pieces, and carefully expertly crafted by a Lange master watchmaker. But Lange & Sohne go further in their superior technical expertise and craftsmanship, reminding us it’s not all about the aesthetics; by incorporating the uniquely ambitious aim of the Repeater with a perpetual calendar, this watch has a transformed acoustic quality which requires acute hearing and extreme dexterity.
Ulysse Nardin Diver AIR
True to its adventurous name with its ancient connotations of a great journey, Ulysse Nardin has taken a deep-dive into the unexpected, and pushed further than what has previously been explored. The result is their latest edition of the new Diver AIR, aka the lightest mechanical dive watch ever made. Offering a ground-breaking combination of high horology, high technology, and high performance, Ulysse Nardin has partnered with market leaders and start-ups to replace the typical titanium and carbon fibres with innovative materials unique to the Diver AIR project. For the perfect dive, arching aesthetics play a part, and with two interchangeable straps - each weighing less than 6 grams - the Diver AIR combines style with substance, specifically engineered with custom developed technology to match its unique design and performance-driven spirit. Helpfully versatile, this is a watch every adventurer would choose to wear; weighing just 52g with the strap, material may have been removed from the Diver X Skeleton’s calibre but technicians have worked hard to ensure the watch has lost none of its reliability. Its performance has certainly remained uncompromised.
The Roger Dubuis EXCALIBUR GRANDE COMPLICATION
Mr Roger Dubuis is renowned for taking great joy in the complexity of his designs, thriving off spending time on the mechanism’s intricate craftsmanship. The most recent addition to the Dubuis watch family was born in 2025, and made its world debut at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025. A detailed update of their celebrated Grande Complication calibre, the Excalibur Grande Complication includes three of the most prestigious complications in matchmaking, making it in every way as impressive as its forebear. The complex design means the Calibre RD118 delivers 60 hours of power reserve - one of the many levels of detail which has ensured that the timepiece meets the esteemed Poinçon de Genève certification. Featuring a perpetual calendar, a minute repeater, and a flying tourbillon double micro-rotor, the 45mm pink gold case is set on an interchangeable 3D brown calf-skin leather strap. With every surface of the 684 components meticulously hand-decorated, this Dubuis masterpiece is testament to the enduring ethos of Roger Dubuis’s 30 years in the industry.
The TUDOR BLACK BAY 58 Burgundy
Committing to its infamous ‘Born to Dare’ mantra, TUDOR chose Watches and Wonders 2025 to unveil multiple new timepieces. Perhaps the most bold and daring of these, and one which particularly struck a chord, was the new edition of their classic Black Bay 58, now presented in a burgundy colourway. In a hue which was straight off the autumn/winter runway, the new design retains all the essential elements of TUDOR watches throughout the ages, with additional aesthetic notes inspired by a prototype TUDOR Submariner red. 79190 developed in the 90s. Far from being locked in a previous decade, the watch’s burgundy sunray brushed dial and matching glossy bezel insert is a retro staple which never saw production. With a slimmer case (now a svelte 39mm) and an all-new 5-link bracelet with a T-Fit clasp, this brand-new version of the Black Bay 58 is COSC and METAS certified, and firmly in 2025.
