Another year, another Watches & Wonders gone and by. And naturally, there are just as many opinions on it as there were attendees, so why not join in the fray myself and also offer my unwarranted rundown? Oh the joys of being a blogger.

Overall, I have to say this year’s edition was more seismic than last year’s. Significantly. I mean, come on, Grand Seiko released the long-awaited addition of micro adjustment to their bracelets, and Rolex actually did something innovative. If that’s not the seismic activity equivalent in the watch world to a Pompeii eruption, then I don’t know what is.

So with that said, here are my 7 favorites from this year, in order of my booth visits:

Hautlence Retrovision ’85

After waiting with a group of overeager attendees in the foyer of the Palexpo, the doors finally opened at 8:30am sharp on the 5th of April and the rodeo was on! Unlike the average pedestrian observer of timepieces (i.e Rolex fan), I beelined it straight for the Carré Des Horlogers composed of many smaller booths for high-end independents. First stop: H. Moser & Cie.

However, as big of a H. Moser fan I am, it wasn’t anything by those fine folks that caught my greatest whimsy, but the most ridiculous creation from their sister brand Hautlence: the Retrovision ’85.

I’ll admit, I don’t even know how to read the time on this thing. I don’t even really care about the fancy tourbillon that lay within. It’s the whole freakin’ desk-clock-to-wristwatch robot craziness that could be 2025’s most ridiculous thing in horology and I’m here for it. It’s limited to 7 pieces and I’ll never have one, but man do I feel like a complete horology enthusiast after trying on this circus of a “watch” on my wrist, and on the desk in front of me. Watches & Wonders 2025 was truly off with a bang.

Chopard L.U.C Quattro Mark IV

Rule number #16 of being a watch fan: if you can name drop, name drop. I had contacted my guy from the Zürich Chopard boutique asking if there were any slots for an appointment on the first public day of W&W, but he replied saying they were unfortunately full. But why not give it another shot in person, on the day of? And so I did at my next stop of the day, the Chopard booth. I very quickly started a conversation with one of the Chopard reps present and mentioned that I had contacted someone unsuccessfully for an appointment, despite my greatest hopes. And before I could say “Louis-Ulysse Chopard”, I found myself in a private room with an array of Chopard novelties before me.

I first tried on the pair of L.U.C Quattro Mark IVs, and the rose gold version just got me. Never mind the innovation with the 4 barrels encased within that gives it its 9-day power reserve, this thing was simply gorgeous to look at. And with a beautifully finished, Geneva-sealed caseback to boot. I’m not a dress watch guy, but this piece definitely pushed me closer to dress watch curious.

Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 XP CS Platinum

For our next contender I didn’t even have to leave the room. I didn’t even have to move my butt 2 inches, for it was already right in front of me as I put down the Quattro IV. Cue Enter Sandman, but make it a hunk of horological platinum instead: the Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 XP CS Platinum. A mouthful too.

Imagine strapping $110,500 worth of $1 dollar bills to your wrist, and you get both the impact on your wrist and the impact on your wallet simultaneously. The news here is an increased taper of the bracelet to what seems like 18mm, down from the previous 20mm, which was a commonly cited con of the Alpine Eagle line. But let us not forget about the delectable micro-rotored Calibre 96.42-L that lay within, very similar to the Calibre 96.40-L found in the salmon-dial Alpine Eagle XPS, just with a platinum rotor. With the Poinçon de Genève also feeling a tad more appropriate in precious metal and with the ridiculous finishing of the platinum bezel reflecting light like an aftermarket rear view mirror, nothing’s made me want to drop six figures of f**k you money more than this little monster did.

Rolex Oyster-Perpetual Land-Dweller

Ok yes, I hate it. But I also love it. This abomination of a dial has made no small commotion within the enthusiast community (lay people for all I know might be gobbling it up like a starving lion in a warthog enclosure), but there is absolutely no debate about the even larger commotion this new movement’s been making. The Rolex 7135 is Rolex’s take on a love-child between Abraham Louis Breguet’s natural escapement and the classic Swiss Lever escapement, and while there’s no doubt it’s innovative, the mania stems from the fact that it’s Rolex of all brands that’s done it.

Yes, Rolex, the evolution-over-revolution, play-it-safe, let’s-not-mess-with-the-formula brand of all brands has come in swinging for the fences by introducing a new escapement at huge industrial scale. Think about that for a sec. That’s like if Mercedes-Benz released a 3-wheeler that runs on the tears of BMW fanboys. And I am here. For. It. Does this signal the death of the Swiss Lever escapement? Probably not. Or maybe it does, what do I know? We shall see what comes next.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds

Next stop was Jaeger-LeCoultre. After waiting a while in line to get in, I managed to convince a rep to squeeze an appointment for me in between scheduled ones, and I got to try on this little beauty. This piece is on this list for one reason: this is far and away the best execution of a Milanese bracelet I’ve ever seen. There’s simply no contest. I don’t even know what the movement is, or what the case dimensions are, but that is irrelevant. She is beauty, she is grace. Mic drop.

Nomos Glashütte Club Sport neomatik Worldtimer

This one surprised me. I was honestly not that impressed by the press release of the Club Sport Worldtimer, but when I had the chance to stop by the Nomos booth and try it on myself, it won me over. There are two “sets” of this one, a set of six limited edition multi-color variants (including the one in the photo above), and two colorways in the non-limited lineup.

A couple things to note with this one. One, despite Nomos’s reputation of having a love affair with heinously long lugs, this 40mm piece brandishes a lug-to-lug length of only 48mm! Do you believe in miracles?! Yes!! Two, it’s 9.9mm thick. I can’t say for certain there’s a thinner worldtimer out there besides a couple of diamond-set Pateks. And three, that worldtime pusher at 2 o’clock is the most satisfying pusher I’ve ever used on a watch. Oh and four, at $4,720, there’s not a better value in existence for an in-house worldtimer, besting even Nomos’s Zürich Worldtimer stablemate. I mean, what further coaxing does one need?

Raymond Weil Freelancer Complete Calendar

The RW Freelancer Complete Calendar is the only one I didn’t get to experience in person at the fair due to my utter neglect in even thinking about stopping by the RW booth. But no matter, Raymond Weil has a reputation, and it’s a fantastic one. Meaning, I can trust that this piece is probably just as good as it looks.

I mean, look at this thing. It looks like a million bucks (but ha, is only $3650!). If you showed a non-enthusiast this piece, my bet is that they’d think it lives among the ranks of Patek Philippe and A. Lange & Söhne for goodness’ sakes. Raymond Weil represents some of the best value in watchmaking right now, and since they don’t look like they’re about to pump the brakes anytime soon, we the community are all the more winners for it.

So to the design department at Raymond Weil: please don’t stop being one of the best value players on the market. We hereby duly grant thee ascension above the tier of mall watch. Don’t let Frederique Constant outdo you now.

Watches & Wonders has come, and Watches & Wonders has gone. I genuinely don’t think there was a release this year I abhorred. A lot of brands really put their best foot forward, and though a lot of folks are gushing on about how IWC won this year with their Ingenieur releases, I’m in the camp that thinks Chopard truly took the crown for 2025. Ahem, not biased at all. What are your thoughts? Who really delivered this year? Not Chopard you say? Well pray tell then in the comments!