Billed as the largest watchmaking salon ever held in Geneva, this year’s Watches and Wonders was yet again the perfect timely opportunity for leading brands to showcase their latest novelties for watch enthusiasts to purr over. Some high-end watchmakers took the opportunity to release completely new models with bold new designs, while many latched onto the glare of publicity generated by the Geneva gathering to introduce iconic signature models with stylish new twists and technical upgrades.  

Hublot used the grand stage of Watches and Wonders 2025 to honour the 20th anniversary of its revolutionary Big Bang collection via five new limited-edition 43mm chronographs. This exceptional quintet are crafted from materials closely associated with the pedigree of the Big Bang range, and highlight the innovative techniques required to achieve their harmonious fusion.

The Big Bang 20th Anniversary Red Magic pays homage to the red ceramic model first released in 2018 and features a carbon chequerboard-patterned dial that provides striking juxtaposition with the vividly coloured high-tech material of the case and bezel. All the models retain the distinctive Big Bang silhouette with signature pinched lugs and a knurled bezel edge, while special enhancements include a gold oscillating weight and the Hublot 20th anniversary logo engraved on the crown.    

Tag Heuer unveiled six additions to its Carrera Day-Date line, which is synonymous with motor sports, showcasing bold colours, elevated aesthetics and a three-dimensional dial design to improve legibility. It also released nine new iterations of its fabled Formula 1 driver’s watch, first conceived and released in the 1980s as a bright, colourful version of a diver’s watch that would appeal to a trendy, sophisticated clientele.

The new Formula 1 Solargraph models retain the design features of the original, albeit with slight modifications. They are now housed in 38mm cases that have been restructured to improve comfort and adopt the manufacture’s Solargraph movement that can harness the power of the sun to recharge itself.

Last month’s Geneva jamboree also saw Parmigiani Fleurier roll out many new additions, including a Slate Green version of the Tonda PF Skeleton. Encased in stainless steel, its luminous slate-green sandblasted and satin-finished openworked dial traps the light, illuminating the intricate calibre PF 777 movement in a magical dance of watchmaking artistry.  Meanwhile, the dial of the Tonda PF Chronograph No Date 40mm in Mineral Blue is blessed with a grain d’orge hand-guilloche pattern that underscores its soothing colour palette.

Patek Philippe ushered in a plethora of novelties including a new rose-gold version of its patented Annual Calendar, a wondrous mechanism revealed in 1996 that automatically adjusts the calendar indication for months of 30 or 31 days. Measuring 38mm in diameter, the Annual Calendar Moon Phases Ref. 4946R sees the warm tones of the gold complement a chestnut-coloured dial embossed with a vertical and horizontal satin-brushed finish in the shantung style. Rose-gold applied numerals and leaf-shaped hands with white luminescent coating impart extra finesse to the display. Days and months are indicated by hands, while moon phases and date are discerned through apertures.

Vacheron Constantin has embellished its Traditionnelle collection with three watches in 950 platinum. The Traditionnelle Openface trio – Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Retrograde Date, Tourbillon Retrograde Date and Complete Calendar – reveal fresh takes on the line’s signature openworked dial, a style which allows wearers to glimpse the sophistication of the movement within. The openwork embraces 18-carat gold intricately inserted with sapphire, and a hand-guilloché pattern motif inspired by the Maltese cross to mark the watchmaker’s 270th anniversary. The uniqueness of these individually numbered models is guaranteed by expert human craftsmanship that necessitates 10th-of-a-millimetre accuracy.

IWC Schaffhausen released 10 new models at Watches and Wonders, including an iteration of the Ingenieur Automatic 40 that will have motorsports and movie fans’ hearts racing – one with a signature green dial as sported by Brad Pitt’s character in the upcoming movie, F1. A new Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon ‘Le Petit Prince’, limited to 100 pieces and dedicated to the French aviator and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, also debuted as part of an ongoing homage to the book of the same name. The blue ceramic case is matched by a blue dial and the calibre 51950 movement features a rotor in the form of the Little Prince atop his asteroid.

Montblanc’s new 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition watch takes its inspiration, and its robustness and durability, from a military monopusher from the 1930s. This fetching 100-piece, 44mm stainless-steel model features a dark-burgundy-hued sunray face with black counters. The dial is encircled by a tachymeter scale and a white-gold fluted bezel, while white luminescent Arabic numerals act to enhance legibility. The 1858 The Unveiled Minerva Chronograph in steel enhanced by a yellow-gold bezel is another attractive limited-edition newcomer. It is powered by the Montblanc Manufacture MB M17.26 movement, which has been flipped over and constructed upon pillars to reveal the full glory of its inner workings though the sapphire-crystal dial.

Another watch that seems to merge dial and movement into a single entity is Armin Strom’s Dual Time GMT Resonance Manufacture Black Edition, released precisely in time for Watches and Wonders. Building on last year’s white gold model, its ARF22 movement with clearly visible hand-decorated components has a patented mechanism that ensures greater accuracy through two independent regulating systems connected by a resonance clutch spring.  The 39mm steel case highlights the black beauty of the dial and mainplate.  

Bremont debuted a trio of pilot watches to embellish its Altitude collection, with pride of place going to the MB Meteor, an upgraded iteration of the MB model. Specifically engineered to withstand the potentially huge pressure that occurs when testing an aircraft’s ejector-seat mechanism, its 42mm titanium case reduces weight and enhances durability, while the three-part Trip-Tick design offers a slimmer profile and trims the lug-to-lug distance to improve wearability.