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While much has been made about the cooling of the luxury watch market given global economic uncertainty and a slowdown in consumer spending, you wouldn’t know it given the dizzying pace of fresh releases from watchmakers large and small. Attendance at trade shows reached record numbers in 2025, and red carpets have been full of fascinating pieces chosen for their spectacular designs, compelling history and the way they’ve permeated the zeitgeist.
In the lull between Thanksgiving and New Year’s eve, maisons such as TAG Heuer and Ressence have been hard at work, dropping collaborative pieces with important artists and designers that are sure to excite collectors. Looking for something a bit more down to earth? Huckberry’s latest offering is just $249, and this despite calling to mind a watch that retails for five figures. In short, there was plenty to be excited about this December, and in case the following watches don’t appeal to your taste, remember: LVMH Watch Week is just around the corner.
For many, the Lange 1 is one of the most beautiful watches of the post-quartz era — one whose highly idiosyncratic design, informed by classical watchmaking ideals, is lovely in virtually any configuration. Some collectors, however, still prefer an automatic movement, and for them, the Daymatic is the ideal Lange 1. A new version in the manufacture’s special 750 honey gold with a brown dial over a sterling silver base is sure to excite fans of the Glashütte maker, especially as it’s limited to just 250 pieces. With its unique colorway and its “inverted” configuration featuring the main time-telling display on the right-hand side, it’s one of the year’s handsomest dress watches.
Diameter: 39.5mm Movement: A. Lange & Söhne cal. L02.1 automatic Water Resistance: 30m
One of the original crop of professional-grade dive watches from the 1950s, the Breitling Superocean continues to capture horological mindshare with its distinctive mid-century aesthetics and robust set of specs. A new edition with Swiss retailer Bucherer is perfect for collectors: Outfitted with Breitling’s manufacture cal. B31 automatic movement, it’s both slimmer than earlier executions and features a shorter lug-to-lug width for a more comfortable wearing experience. Meanwhile, its handsome blue dial, black ceramic elapsed-time bezel, and black textured rubber strap give it a refined look that plays well both in and out of the water.
For those excited by the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 — the world’s first commercially available all-black watch — but less so by the price, there’s the Huckberry x Timex 1979 Black Max. A time-only model in a black 41mm stainless steel case with a cool matching bracelet, it features a metallic silver tachymeter scale ringing a black dial with prominent Arabic and rectangular hour indices, a 1/5th-seconds track in white, and a luminous sword handset with a bright orange seconds hand. Provided with a mineral crystal and a quartz movement, it’s significantly more affordable than its late-’70s inspiration — though that shouldn’t keep you from strapping it on when ripping down Ventura Boulevard in your vintage 911.
Diameter: 41mm Movement: Quartz Water Resistance: 100m
Frequent travelers to Switzerland will no doubt be familiar with Mondaine’s Official Swiss Railways Clock, a Bauhaus-inspired, ultra-precise fixture of every Swiss train station. For those wishing to capture some of its modernist, Helvetian spirit in their home, there’s the new Mondaine Globe Table Clock. Measuring 60mm in diameter (with a 49.5mm dial) in white, black or red silicone, it will sit perched on a desk or other flat surface, faithfully offering up the time on its removable watch head, which features a distinctive minimalist dial complete with an idiosyncratic red seconds hand. Simple and handsome, it’s a fine — and highly stylish — alternative to checking one’s phone every few minutes.
Diameter: 49.5mm Movement: Ronda cal. 513 quartz Water Resistance: 30m
Ressence’s futuristic time-telling system has utterly captivated the watch world since its debut in 2010. For its latest release, founder Benoit Mintiens teamed up with Australian industrial designer Marc Newson on a special version of the brand’s Type 3. Augmenting the more monochromatic Black, White, Eucalyptus and Black Black 2 references, the MN version combines a grey dial with with an outer black timing scale, black subdials, and bright pops of yellow and mint within the handset. The distinctive aesthetic — which uses Ressence’s unique ROCS display system for time-telling — speaks to Newson’s inventive, modernist design language.
Diameter: 44mm Movement: Ressence ROCS system (ETA 2824-2 base) automatic Water Resistance: 10m
Just 25 years old, Biel/Bienne-based Formex has made enormous strides since its inception in 2000. Case in point? The new Essence Ceramica Dark Matter. Housed in a 41mm fully ceramic case with a matching ceramic bracelet — plus the world’s first fully micro-adjustable ceramic clasp — it features a solid meteorite dial darkened with a nickel treatment that emphasizes its natural “Widmanstätten” striations. Powering the watch is the Soprod Newton cal. P092, a COSC-certified automatic movement making its debut within the Dark Matter. Built with parts sourced from sister companies Dezel and Cadranor, the Dark Matter is a compelling piece for someone seeking an unusual three-hander.
Diameter: 41mm Movement: Soprod Newton cal. P092 automatic Water Resistance: 100m
Inspired by the original 1995 Master Control — which took its name from the maison’s rigorous “1,000-Hour Control” test — the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Classic offers mid-century dress watch looks powered by a modern movement in the form of the JLC cal. 899 automatic with 70 hours of power reserve. Measuring 36mm in stainless steel, it features a simple silvered dial with luminous hour plots, dart-shaped applied indices, a luminous dauphine handset and a framed date window at 3 o’clock. At just 8.15mm in height, it positively disappears on the wrist, while an interchangeable brown ostrich leather strap finishes the elegant package.
Diameter: 36mm Movement: Jaeger-LeCoultre cal. 899 automatic Water Resistance: 50m
Though the Armoury has worked with numerous watchmakers on special-edition pieces over the years, Temporal Works is the Hong Kong-founded menswear shop’s new in-house watch collection. Designed in collaboration with watch designer and photographer Elliot Hammer, the first piece — called the Series A — marries mid-century influences with Zaratsu-polished cases and eye-popping dial designs. Available in a classic sector-dial configuration in black or blue, or a minimalist design in a bright red “Fortune” color, each features the collection’s specially designed “Nib” handset inspired by fountain pen nibs. Powered by a Swiss automatic movement from Sellita, the Temporal Works Series A should be on any self-respecting menswear aficionado’s shortlist.
Diameter: 37mm Movement: Sellita cal. SW210-1 b D4 automatic Water Resistance: 50m
The catch with this supremely cool offering from H. Moser & Cie is that you need to be an owner of the Genesis 1 in order to buy one. Even if you don’t count yourself among these lucky few, you can still admire this beautiful watch from afar. Housed in the Streamliner’s signature cushion case in stainless steel and paired to its matching integrated bracelet, it features a Vantablack dial that absorbs some 99.9% of visible light, with Globolight-filled hands providing time-telling duties and offsetting the monochromatic look. Meanwhile, a tactile, 3D-printed titanium crown riffs on the Endeavour Centre Seconds Genesis’s pixelated look, while the brand’s cal. HMC 203 automatic provides 72 hours of reliable power reserve.
Diameter: 40mm Movement: H. Moser & Cie. cal. HMC 203 automatic Water Resistance: 120m
Looking to go hyper-niche in your collecting? Well, MoonSwatches are one thing; “Mission to Earthphase” MoonSwatches with Earthphase indicators are another; and Moonshine Gold-equipped versions — which feature the brand’s proprietary gold alloy and are only sold for limited periods of time — are quite another. When you combine all three, what you get is the Mission to Earthphase – Moonshine Gold, a white Bioceramic chronograph with a special Moonshine Gold moonphase disc and a colorful Earthphase display. Be ready to pounce — they’re only available at Swatch locations when it’s snowing in Switzerland!
Diameter: 42mm Movement: Quartz Water Resistance: 30m
Partnering for the third time with Japanese designer Hiroshi Fujiwara, TAG Heuer created one of the year’s most compelling chronographs: the minimalist, largely monochromatic Carrera Chronograph x Fragment. Using the “Glassbox” case introduced in early 2023, it features an outer white tachymeter scale surrounding a black dial with matching chronograph totalizers, plus a subtle date wheel beneath 12 o’clock. Recalling vintage 1960s-era Carreras such as the ref. 2447N, it appeals both to collectors as well as streetwear aficionados familiar with Fujiwara’s seminal brand, Fragment.
Diameter: 39mm Movement: TAG Heuer cal. TH20-00 automatic Water Resistance: 100m
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