Omega Seamaster 300m
Any time a new Seamaster is eluded to or begins to pop on celebrity and endorsee wrists before any official unveiling, the horology press will take notice.
Daniel Craig, who helped increase the brand’s Bond-linked branding during his time wearing a tux, was spotted wearing an unreleased non-date Seamaster.
If you’re going clean and simple, then a no-date is the way to go. This new reference was unveiled a few weeks later, in two variants.
Taking many cues from the titanium ‘No Time to Die’ Bond Seamaster, although sporting a more traditional stainless steel case, the latest references include a more subtle aluminium dial in black, and a brushed PVD-treated stainless steel in silver.
Inside beats the Omega calibre 8806, Master Chronometer-certified movement with a Co-Axial escapement, and options on either rubber strap or stainless steel mesh bracelet. Both are likely to prove popular when they hit the boutiques and stores.
Patek Philippe 5236P
While the somewhat controversial Cubitus received the most attention in 2024 – Patek’s first new sports watch in some 25 years – there were some complication variants which particularly drew my eye.
The 5236P is a grand complication perpetual calendar. However, the piece’s party trick is packing in all those extra jewels and additional components under the service to keep, what’s otherwise a normally busy dial, clean.
It first came in a striking blue dial, but Patek released a new dial reference. It’s stunning – this time in opaline rose-gilt with charcoal baton hands in white gold.
Tudor Black Bay Chronograph Blue
While Tudor has been producing its Black Bay Chronograph for a number of years, the latest ‘boutique only’ blue reference might be the brand’s purest expression of the model to date.
Coming in at 41m, it wears its size, if not a little more, due to the fact it’s a chronograph.
But the new five-link bracelet – which we can unofficially refer to as a ‘jubilee’ on this occasion – makes it a very flush and tidy experience on wrist.
And it all feels very balanced. I’ve worn chronographs with slightly bigger cases but case depths which make everything feel extremely top heavy and unbalanced
Turning to that bracelet – which is a mixture of brushed outer links and polished inner links – it all helps lift the piece, with sizeable tapering making it a comfortable fit, whether you’re wearing a little loose or tighter to the wrist.
The blue reference feels like Tudor making its own mark on the market here. This sits at that sweet spot for a chronograph – working with smaller wrists and those who may have gravitated to something considerably chunkier.
IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar
This is Swiss brand IWC flexing its horological muscles. It’s the first secular perpetual calendar from IWC Schaffhausen and automatically considers the Gregorian calendar’s leap-year exceptions. In addition, it also features a moon phase display with a mathematical accuracy of 45 million years.
It’s an extremely beautiful and complicated piece, coming in at 44.5mm housed in a platinum case, and is priced upon request.
MD Watches Supernatural
This is something of a leftfield option from an Irish microbrand. It piqued my interest thanks to my time spent watching horology content on YouTube.
Martin Iglody’s company is based in Cork, and he hails from Slovakia. Previous models I’d looked had did little for me – too busy and lacking any really interesting design cues.
But the Supernatural is a different beast. It’s a regulator watch, which sees an entirely different dial array – a large blued minute hand on the main dial, alongside small subdials for the hours and seconds.
The silver option on a rather striking ‘cracked’ black and white leather strap evokes dial design cues from the likes of boutique such as Glashutte, FP Journe and a touch of A Lange & Sohne, and certainly offers a talking point for such an affordable piece. It obviously doesn’t have the handcrafted nature of said watches, or the complications – sporting a standard Japanese automatic Miyota movement inside – but it’s particularly interesting nonetheless.
Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT
It’s the second Tudor making the list, and for good reason.
Tudor perfected the 39mm Black Bay 58 when it was a released a few years back. It’s in many ways the perfect watch for all occasions. An in-house movement, well-built and finished, punchy, clean, date-free dial and with dimensions which make it suitable for most wrists.
There had been rumblings that a GMT could follow, and when it hit earlier in 2024 it was picked up with great reverie.
The black and red aluminium bezel is clean and maintains a little of that vintage look of some of the older Rolex GMTs – many of which exchange hands for significant cash these days, among collectors.
Tudor’s T-Fit adjustable clasp is also there in both rubber and steel bracelet variants, and it arguably looks every better on the black rubber strap – balanced and clean, but still with enough character to make it a talking point. It’s very much a one watch collection. ■