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The Best Watches of 2024
The year is almost over and so this seems the perfect time to take a look back over the last 12-months at what exactly the watch industry served up.
As always in such a competitive landscape, the one thing we were not short of was choice. All the big players stuffed 2024 full of new models; or, at the very least, new variations on some old favorites.
The horology world is one which, for all of its grand traditions and fondness for heritage, is in a constant state of flux. So, below, we list our picks for some of the year’s very best. And in the next few weeks, we will be looking forward to what 2025 might bring.
The Best From Rolex
Rolex did its usual thing this year of adding new models to some of its most popular collections; namely the Day-Date and Datejust line. We were treated to a hatful of updated dial options and metal combinations therein, with the brand continuing their drive to produce a watch that appeals to absolutely everybody.
But away from those two stalwarts, several other lines in the portfolio also got new versions, and they even introduced a new range altogether.
The GMT-Master II was granted the ‘Bruce Wayne’, the closest the series has gotten to an all-black bezel reference since the ref. 116710LN was retired in 2019. This, the ref. 126710GRNR, looks at first glance like it too has a one color surround but, on closer inspection, you can see the lower portion (representing the daylight hours) is actually a subtle dark grey. The Oystersteel piece carries over the green GMT hand first seen on the aforementioned LN example and the model comes on either a Jubilee or Oyster bracelet, bringing the total number of the watches in the lineup to 14.
Elsewhere, the enormous Deepsea got an all-yellow gold companion piece for some reason, for those desperate to take Fort Knox for a swim; and the glorious white gold Daytona Le Mans was discontinued (don’t worry, you can still buy them preowned no problem; well, no problem so long as you have $200K kicking about) and was replaced by a yellow gold alternative.
But perhaps the biggest news was the arrival of the all-new 1908 collection. This substitute for the Cellini series features an assortment of 39mm dress watches with either white or yellow gold cases each with black or white dials, or platinum examples with ice blue faces. All have a small seconds sub dial, a unique handset and a Calatrava-esque double bezel.
The Best From Omega
Omega were not messing around this year and released a mass of new models, with some premiering in the final few weeks of 2024.
Firstly to the Speedmaster. The brand’s all-conquering chronograph received a host of fresh additions. There were two new Bi-Color pieces featuring a mix of steel and gold; one Moonshine (yellow) and the other Sedna (rose), with the former faced with a silvery dial and the latter with a harmonizing reddish dial.
We also got two pairs of twin-register Chronoscope watches—two in steel and the other two in Moonshine—on either bracelets or leather straps to celebrate the 2024 Paris Olympics. All came with silvery white opaline dials. And there were eight new variants added to the Speedmaster 38 ladies collection, each swamped with diamonds around the bezel and totalizer rings.
But the greatest buzz surrounded the classics. The legendary Moonwatch range was supplemented with a glorious white-dialed version which immediately rocketed to the top of every fan’s wish list, while the hardcore vintage enthusiasts were also well catered for with the return of the FOIS, the First Omega in Space. All of the retro necessities were back, including the 39.7mm diameter, the Dot Over Ninety tachy scale and the tricompax layout, but the model arrived with a beautiful blue/grey dial which elevated it to another level entirely.
And Omega had one last surprise in store for Christmas with the Speedmaster Pilot, a two-register, flight qualified piece once available exclusively to U.S. pilots of the Lockheed U2 spy plane.
As for the Seamaster collection, that too was not short on updates.
We got a bunch of new no-date Diver 300M watches in some fancy materials; a nicely coordinated titanium and bronze gold example with green dial and bezel, and a subtly monochrome steel model with titanium bezel and grey brushed dial.
There were also two new pieces based on the America’s Cup sailing extravaganza. The white-faced 300M America’s Cup features regatta countdown markings on its blue ceramic bezel, while the quartz-powered hybrid analog/digital Regatta America’s Cup, clocking in at a substantial 46.75mm, is the professional ‘sailor’s instrument’, both released to coincide with the 37th running of the annual oceangoing event.
The Planet Ocean 600M series also received a total of six new Boutique Editions, in beige, green and grey, and the Aqua Terra range was extended significantly with examples in a whole spectrum of fresh colorways.
The Best of the Rest
Tudor Black Bay Chrono
The Rolex sister company came out with some belters this year, with two of the most talked about starring in the Black Bay Chrono series. The ‘safest’ of the two was the ‘Blue’ Boutique edition, with a perfectly judged shade of blue to the dial and bezel. But there was a more controversial piece, released to commemorate the brand becoming the official timekeeper of MLS team Inter Miami, with a shocking pink dial. With its black totalizers and surround it does bear a passing resemblance to a Liquorice Allsort, but it is a bold reimagining of a superb watch and I for one am here for it.
TAG Heuer Carrera Glassbox
TAG Heuer cast their minds back to their glory days this year with another model to slot into their Carrera collection.
The brand released two pieces in 2023 which reintroduced the wonderfully nostalgic domed crystal dial covering of the original Carrera gentleman’s racing chronographs of the 1960s, one with a blue dial, the other with black.
For 2024, they brought us the Panda setup of the classic Heuer 7753 SN, featuring a sunray silver face, black totalizers and red chrono hands.
The concave dial slopes upwards to compensate for the distorting effect of the crystal, meeting the encircling black tachymeter scale around the edge. Of the three models, this year’s is arguably the most successful overall, and its period correct 39mm dimensions lend it a dressy to casual versatility.
Blancpain X Swatch ‘Ocean of Storms’
Following on from the outrageous 2022 triumph that was the Omega MoonSwatch, Blancpain decided to get in on the act with a number of Bioceramic versions of its legendary Fifty Fathoms dive watch last year. The five-strong collection had a model to represent each of the world’s oceans and, while the queues weren’t quite as around the block as they were for the Omega, the ‘Blancpain X Swatch’ collaboration was popular enough to warrant another addition this year.
The sexy, stealthy all-black ‘Ocean of Storms’ debuted in January and, having run out of Earth oceans, this one is inspired by the Oceanus Procellarum, a lunar mare (volcanic plain) on the western edge of the light side of the moon.
Of the now six pieces in the range, this is the most serious and grown up and is no less the watch for that. Measuring 42.3mm wide and 14.4mm tall, it is a bulky model, and a strong one; water resistance is an impressive 91m—or, fifty fathoms! It also boasts a 90-hour power reserve in its Swatch Sistem51 automatic caliber but, caveat emptor, the movement is unserviceable.
Noah x Timex
Timex hit an unqualified homerun in June with their first teamup with funky NYC menswear clothing brand Noah when they released their Cartier Tank-inspired Sun and Moon watch, a quartz-powered $198 Art Deco model which sold out its initial run of 200 in under a minute.
Well, unsurprisingly, they returned with a sequel in November, this one featuring a more traditional moonphase display.
The gold-plated 37mm x 25mm case is a little chunkier than the all-time icon on which it is so clearly based, but there is no denying it is a fun piece. The elongated Roman numerals and Chemin De Fer minute track will both look familiar to enthusiasts, although there is no cabochon crown, and a brown leather strap is your only choice of fastening.
All in all however, you will struggle to identify a better value for money find from 2024.
Featured Photo: BeckerTime’s Archive.
