Five Watches That Defined 2024
And why design is now everything despite always being so.
Throughout 2024, I've regularly found myself checking in on the state of the industry here. Firstly, it was in my post-Watches & Wonders article, followed by my chat with some industry folks. Then there were two stories along the same lines for Geneva Watch Days, and now I'm here. Just like I kicked off my Geneva Watch Days piece (this one), 2024 has felt like quite an odd one for watches. To generalise for a moment, we've seen more considered releases at increased prices, contrasted by fewer new SKUs. There have been shifts in taste with collectors valuing design, stones, and shapes, and with that has come a whole host of unexpected moments. Many speculators and 'investors' moved on for new pastures, leaving room for brands to talk more about creativity and propriety offerings instead of fighting over the same slice of steel sports watch wrist time.
A positive of this is how it almost forced brands to consider how they stand out in the industry, rather than being able to rely on an integrated bracelet or an aqua blue dial to keep the lights on. For some, that's been a hard truth, but for the state of the industry, it's a lesson that needs teaching. As we close out 2024, I want to pull together a handful of the most pivotal releases of the year and discuss what they taught us about where we are culturally in watches at the moment. Sounds good?
The Piaget Polo '79

We cannot talk 2024 and not mention the Polo. Easily the watch that defined the start of the year, Piaget kicked off their 150th-anniversary celebrations with a golden revival of a 1980s staple of luxury. The scaled-up 38mm chunk of 18k yellow gold featured those oh-so-lovely polished gadroons set within a sea of horizontal brushing and complemented by a bold dauphine handset. Instead of the 80s en vogue quartz movement, the Polo '79 has an ultra-thin calibre 1200P1 powered by a micro-rotor, making this staple of luxe living more relevant than ever. In November, the watch rightfully won the GPHG within the 'Iconic' category, something I would have bet everything I own on happening. The '79 encapsulates the transition we're seeing from aggressively sporty and similar-looking integrated bracelet watches into pieces that are more considered and traditionally luxe; just as Yves Piaget envisioned.
Remember when I said earlier how 2024 made brands focus wholly on what they offer and what makes them, them? Exhibit A. For multiple generations, including those who didn't live through the original birth of the watch, the Polo is a major part of Piaget's identity, with the Polo 79 providing everything Piaget stands for today: ultra-thin watchmaking, artistry, and a celebration of luxury lifestyles, sitting at the intersection of function, art, and personal expression.
The Polo '79 also tells us that in 2024, people still care about reissues a lot. In fact, I think we can now say we're at a stage where reissuing designs and models isn't going anywhere in watchmaking. After all, with much of the industry's appeal centred around tradition and nostalgia, reissuing and reimagining will always have their place.
The '79 is also totally unisex. It might be one of the ultimate unisex watches ever produced. That's a bold statement, but if nothing else, it's certainly in a very exclusive '100% unisex club', which leads perfectly into the next watch moment of 2024 – it's like I've planned this.
The Hermès Cut

Fast forward a few months from the Polo to April, Geneva, Watches & Wonders, and Hermès. Something I do at watch shows is try to ignore social media and all of those early wrist shots and first thoughts on watches before I have my own hands-on time with them. Much easier said than done, the idea here is to attempt to let the brand's communication on the new models be the first time I learn about the watch. Alas, the Hermès Cut was one I simply couldn't avoid. Introduced as an entirely new range, the Cut is a 36mm sports chic time-only piece produced with the women's market in mind. While a diamond bezel option is available, Hermes has kept the quintessential/cliché 'women's' watch features to a minimum, instead pouring tangible effort into its unique pebble-like design featuring the namesake 'cut' into the mid-case. Powered by an automatic H1912 Hermès movement, which sees the crown at an unusual 1:30 position, and an array of colourful rubber straps, all fitted with the quickest of quick-release systems (as is the bracelet).
Hermès is one of the best at understanding the importance of proprietary design, with the Cut nailing the balance between convention and unconventionality. This mastery of dichotomy is key to its unisex appeal, as while the watch is aimed at women's wrists, I know plenty of male collectors (myself included) who are still obsessed with the Cut nearly twelve months later.
The H-08 is the men's sports watch from Hermès while the Cut is the women's, but I see this denotation simply for categoric sake: both watches excel so much in design that anyone could wear them. And this is in line with what we're seeing in the industry at scale. The lines are blurring more and more between who can wear certain types of watches. For many years now, women have been wearing mens watches, but the field is being levelled with men wearing women's watches, and with pieces like the Cut, the market of people receptive to this idea opens up hugely.
While the Polo taught us that people still care deeply about heritage, the Cut demonstrates that contemporary, fresh, and novelty – when executed thoughtfully – can still be thrilling. Design is the name of the game with the Cut, from the hybrid round but also square case, the crisp dial with beautifully rounded numerals to how the bracelet shape continues and doesn't interrupt the case. While design has always been one of the most influential factors in watchmaking, in 2024, its importance has shot up in significance.
The Berneron Mirage

Sylvain Berneron was most certainly ahead of the curve with his vision for Berneron, starting the ambitious project of forming a brand and creating a completely handmade watch just two years ago. Even more ambition when you learn that he was the creative director at Breitling at the time, so he wasn't exactly flush with spare time. Nevertheless, that didn't stop Sylvain from going on to design one of the most compelling pieces of individual watch design we've seen in a very long time.
Called the Mirage as it takes "all the 'don'ts' of the watch industry grouped into one piece that'll exist on its own, almost an illusion", the watch takes asymmetry to a whole new level as it's designed around an asymmetrical movement produced in gold. On the dial side, nothing is ordinary, with an all-gold construction from the whimsically melted style dial and hands all the way to the spring bar. These pieces quickly sold out for many years. In the best way possible, I can't help but feel the appetite for a complete design like this is something the industry would have had a very different reception to even 3-4 years ago, making Sylvain's vision all the more impressive.
Not only are we at a stage where design is leading the conversation, but we're also seeing that the brands that demonstrate a singular vision and artistic expression are the ones that resonate the most. Perhaps this level of appreciation has always been there, but it's undoubtedly en vogue, especially with the younger generation. Combine this with a spec sheet that continues to impress the more you read, and its undeniable the Mirage is one of the major 2024 winners.
The Anoma A1

A new homegrown model that was released in 2024 was the A1, by the newly founding watch brand Anoma. From the mind of Matteo Violet-Vianello, Anoma is an individually formed watch with a blue two-tone dial featuring leaf hands, a crosshair, extended cardinal markers, and a signature at six, all set within a polished triangular stainless steel case.
Inspired by a 1950s table design by Charlotte Perriand, the A1 is less about being a shaped watch and more about being a sculptural one. With a sense of depth and a tangible form, the case design shifts from a two-dimensional plain to a three-dimensional one. Vintage watch folks will recognise some watch world inspirations from the likes of Gilbert Albert's work for Patek, but crucially, these are not direct inspirations but instead more inspired by their principles and approaches to design. In fact, the A1 and Anoma excel because the brand doesn't look inward towards the watch industry for direct inspiration in its product or approach; everything comes from outside our world. Nature, architecture, art – Matteo is focused on bringing disciplines from outside watches to our world. The Sellita SW100 powers the A1, and while this Swiss calibre is a smart addition, it's not really about the movement here. Best of all, the watch sold for £1,300, stripping away the perception that great design is reserved for the deepest pockets.
The A1 is quite possibly the most design-led watch of 2024, and with nothing like it in the market, it's no surprise that the watch sold out, leading to buzz around the brand soaring high.
The Patek Philippe Cubitus

Remember in this Geneva Watch Days article when I said, "There hasn't been that one poster child release (yet)"? Well, spoilers, there now has been, and it comes from Patek Philippe in the form of the Cubitus.
You'll almost certainly already be familiar with the Cubitus story, but for those who aren't aware, here's how it goes. The Aquanaut was the last major collection released by Patek back in 1997. It was a watch that delivered a design language that derived from the original Patek sports watch from the 1970s, the Nautilus, but it played with every element of the watch in such a way that made it its own collection. The dial and hands were different, more bold, and sporty. The case dropped the hinged flanks, and the watch was available on rubber straps. Interestingly, the first Aquanaut reference was marketed as 'joining the Nautilus collection' before evolving into its own one some years later.
The Cubitus, on the other hand, is entirely its own collection from day one, debuting with two steel models, one two-tone, and a platinum reference 5822P with a grande date, day, and moonphase complication.
I say you'll already be familiar with the Cubitus because about a week before launch, a magazine shared its latest issue digitally, including an advertisement for the watch, thus leaking the tight-lipped release a week too early. Naturally, this got just about every single person talking about it online. Combined with the president of Patek Philippe, Thierry Stern, saying post-launch when commenting on the 'varied' response that "The haters are mostly people who have never had a Patek and never will. So that doesn't bother me", the Cubitus has dominated the final moments of 2024.
The Cubitus teaches us that while much of the talk nowadays is centred around independent watchmakers, those legacy manufacturers still have the power to shock. Whether the chat is good or bad, everyone has talked about the Cubitus since its introduction, and for those powerhouse brands, that's important when every year, more new voices are established and grab the attention (and money) of collectors – even more so when the industry is going through a period of turbulence. It's also shown us that there is still an audience for 45mm square watches, and based on the promises of smaller Cubitus models soon, it could be too early to count out the Cubitus.
Honourable mentions in the form of value-driven winners

Two final noteworthy releases in the last few months of 2024 were watches that fully address the smaller and dressier wave of attention we're seeing recently from the Frederique Constant Moneta and Dennison. The former is a quartz-powered moonphase dress watch at a perfectly sized 37mm width in three fantastic dial options for less than £1,000. That's a sentence that is difficult to beat, especially from a brand like Frederique Constant, one that's known for consistently delivering on its designs.

And then we have Dennison, a historical name responsible for the production of many major brand's watch cases we know today who in October it stepped into the spotlight with the introduction of the A. L. D. Collection. With prices starting at £400 (approx) for sunburst dials and up to £550 (approx) for a tiger eye, malachite, lapis, or aventurine dial, these new models have been the talk of the town recently. Powered by quartz but beautifully designed and of fantastic quality, it's very tough to beat their democratisation of the stone dial, especially in this dress-watch-loving era the market is in right now.
Photography by Tim Vaux.