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When you’re in the business of covering watches, so many cool timepieces wash across your desk that it can be difficult to keep up. From relatively common stainless steel divers to sub-$1,000 “microbrand” chronographs to the hottest Rolex models on the planet, we’re lucky enough to see it all—but it’s easy, too, for a great watch or two to slip through the cracks.
Every so often, though, we see a watch that truly takes our breath away. Whether it’s the innovative materials, a to-die-for dial, or an absurdly complicated movement, these are the watches that keep us coming back to this esoteric hobby that we all love. They tend to be, ahem, not entry-level fare—read: wildly expensive—but that’s okay. One thing you learn quickly in the watch game is that you needn’t own something in order to appreciate it. Sometimes, merely checking out a picture or holding a watch in your hand is enough. (Though if you have the means and inclination to actually cop one of these rare grails for yourself, more power to you.!)
Watches at this level tend to trickle out throughout the year, rather than drop every week—indeed, they can be so complicated to produce, or require so much darn gold, that they’re reserved for special anniversaries, allocated to serious collectors, or only produced in limited runs. Here are four such pieces that caught our attention lately, spanning divers, dress watches, chronographs, and complicated calendar watches.
Unveiled in Cannes back in September, the new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act III celebrates seven decades of the Swiss brand’s famed dive watch. Upon its release in 1953, the original steel version arrived just as scuba diving was establishing itself as a recreational sport; these days, however, most divers use dive computers, and the automatic dive watch has become a mere accessory. Though it’s a fairly simple, time-only piece, the new Act III reimagines the Fifty Fathoms as an unabashed luxury item, housing it in 9K Bronze Gold, a special alloy containing 37.5 percent gold, 50 percent copper, and 12.5 percent silver, palladium, and gallium. Water resistant to a whopping 300m and featuring a 100-hour power reserve, it can still be used as a genuine tool, however—which should help justify a price of $32,000.
You can think of the Cintrée, released in 1921, as the cuff version of the small, elegant Tank—elongated and relatively large in proportion, its thin size allows it to comfortably hug the wrist. Back in 2021, Cartier released a special, 100th-anniversary model in gold; this year, the maison dropped an even fancier version, dressed in platinum and featuring a ruby cabochon crown, as part of its Les Rééditions series ($38,500). Measuring 23mm by 46mm, you might think its dimensions are distinctly un-Cartier—however, a thickness of just 6.03, complete with an ultra-thin movement from fellow Richemont brand Jaeger-LeCoultre, means that it’ll wear like a charm. In fact, with its incredible eggshell dial, Breguet hands, and vintage typeface, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a century-old original.
Mouthful of a name aside, this new collab between Montblanc and watch collector group Collective Horology ($34,500) has to be one of the best-looking, most compelling releases of the year. Based upon vintage stopwatches from Minverva—a marque owned by Montblanc—it combines a hand-finished, beautifully decorated monopusher chronograph movement with
a stunning white dial featuring multiple timing scales, which are in turn flanked by a white gold, fluted bezel. Limited to just 30 examples and paired to a black textile strap, it’s an elegant combination of tool watch history with modern materials, resulting in a timepiece that smacks as much of fine art as it does fine watchmaking.
Though the perpetual calendar-equipped version of the German marque’s Lange 1 already exists in white and pink gold, as far as we’re concerned, the new platinum-cased version with a rarer black dial (price upon request) reigns supreme. Housing the absurdly beautiful Calibre L021.3 automatic movement, it’s a fine example of Lange’s propensity to reimagine classic complications in new and innovative ways. (To wit, the months are arrayed in a rotating disc around the dial periphery, while the date is displayed in a “digital” counter at roughly 11 o’clock.) Giving the watch a black dial only adds to its appeal; typically researched for all-business tool watches, it’s almost a wink and a nod from a brand that would never churn out a simple tool.
