The Best New Watches of 2024 (So Far)

One of two special-edition watches made by Hamilton in collaboration with the blockbuster sci-fi film Dune: Part Two, the Ventura Edge Dune most closely resembles the “Desert Watch” prop that Hamilton made for the film. The limited-edition digital watch boasts a case made from black PVD stainless steel and a blue light-up feature that can be activated with the push of a button.

For Timex’s second collab with fashion brand NN.07, the two companies looked to encourage people to get off of social media and get outside with an adventurous watch — i.e., more tick tock, less TikTok. Using the Timex Expedition North Field Post 36mm as a base, this limited edition includes a stainless steel bracelet and opts for a more minimalist dial, with the 7 index and seconds hand in blue as a reference to NN.07.

This limited-edition version of Norqain’s Adventure Sport Chrono puts a colorful spin on the trademark Norqain pattern dial, coloring it a bright cerulean blue with a color-matched date wheel and adding black subdials to match the black DLC stainless steel case. The use of a Sellita-based movement in place of one of Norqain’s manufacture calibers also makes the watch more affordable than you might think.

Jack Mason’s ongoing transformation from fashion brand to enthusiast favorite continued with the release of the Ellum Manual Wind, a completely reborn dress watch model from the Texas-based brand. With an intricate woven linen dial, a nicely finished hand-wound Swiss movement and a thickness of just 9mm, the retro Ellum offers a shocking amount of style and value.

Wondering who buys TAG Heuer’s Connected watch? It’s golfers, which makes the brand’s collab with hot golf style brand Malbon the perfect match. In addition to the typical golf-specific goodies you get with TAG’s Connected Golf Edition watch, the Malbon version gets two custom dials, a pair of custom straps and special Malbon packaging.

The Zenith Defy Skyline is one of the most compelling more affordable alternatives to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, but what if you want a less expensive version of the Royal Oak Tourbillon? Well, there’s a Defy Skyline for you, too. This version of Zenith’s sharp-angled sports watch features a tourbillon at six o’clock that whizzes around its axis at 36,000 VpH thanks to the high-frequency El Primero movement.

If there were ever an NBA player who deserved a signature watch, it’s sharpshooter Damian Lillard thanks to his patented “Dame Time” celebrations where he points to his wrist after hitting a clutch shot. This collab with the league’s official timekeeper pairs a black dial patterned with Lillard’s jersey number “0” with the gold PVD version of the 40mm PRX Powermatic 80, and also features an image of Dame mid-celebration on the caseback.

For this sleek, futuristic upgrade to the Constellation, Omega has paired meteorite dials with one of its most storied watches. Featuring unique dials made from slices of the 4.5 billion-year-old Muonionalusta meteorite, the spaced-out Connies come in four sizes and myriad colors and materials. But our pick of the litter is the 41mm version in stainless steel that pairs its gray meteorite dial with a black ceramic bezel.

To celebrate its 50th year in 2024, Casio released this limited-edition, upgraded reissue of its very first watch. The reborn Casiotron features some high-end, G-Shock-esque features, including Tough Solar power, Multi-band 6 atomic timekeeping and smartphone connectivity.

One of several bright and intriguing colors in Nomos’s entry-level Club Campus line, the Endless Blue variant matches a fetching Tiffany Blue-esque dial with lumed numeral indices outlined in lavender and a bright-orange small seconds hand.

Farer’s updated version of its best-in-class worldtimer sees a number of upgrades over its predecessor. The movement now comes from Sellita and is customized specifically for Farer, with a 50 power reserve and blue custom rotor. The hands are now more contemporary and the date window has been cleaned up. And the crazy lume? Just as crazy as ever.

An even more minimalist take on Moser’s already absurdly minimalist perpetual calendar, the Smoked Salmon version adorns its tasty fumé dial with just five hands for the hours, minutes, center seconds, power reserve and a tiny hand in the middle to indicate the month. A date window appears adjacent to the crown at 4:30, and that’s it — not even a logo appears anywhere on the near-naked dial.

One of the most modern variations of GP’s ancient Bridges platform, the Free Bridge Meteorite decorates its inverted movement “dial” with two meteorite bridges, symmetrically placed on the right and left. In between them are the mainspring barrel at 12 o’clock — with the spring facing out — and the balance wheel at six, creating a visually pleasing layout that’s also readable in the dark thanks to surprisingly good lume on the hands and indices.

Coming somewhere between a dress watch and a sports watch is Baltic’s difficult-to-classify Prismic. But whatever type of watch it is, one thing is for certain: It’s beautiful. The Prismic comes on a fitted stainless steel mesh strap and has a five-part case made of stainless steel and Grade 5 titanium. But the star of the show is the dial, which features multiple finishing styles and geometric patterns.

A collab between G-Shock and Toyota Land Cruiser’s Dakar Rally team, this limited edition Mudman is as rough and ready as ever — think a mud-resistant shell and a built-in compass, altimeter/barometer and thermometer — but takes things up a notch with some stylistic references to Toyota’s off-road legend.

For this special limited version of Sinn’s U50 dive watch, the German brand paired a black PVD Tegimented German submarine steel case with a fully-lumed dial. But since this is Sinn, the dial is more over-engineered than you think. Rather than using typical luminous paint, the lume was forged into a ceramic disc which was then fused onto the metal base dial, resulting in bonkers luminosity.

After first releasing a version of the Modello Cinque as a limited edition collab with Massena Lab, Unimatic released the 36mm dive-capable field watch on its own in two colorways. But, in typical Unimatic fashion, both are still limited editions.

A modern reissue of a Tissot chronograph from 1970, the PR516 is a rare, Swiss-made, hand-wound chronograph for under $2,000. It combines retro styling with impressive water resistance, a dual-function (and dual-color) tachymeter/pulsometer bezel and pleasantly restrained dimensions of 41mm across and 13.7mm thick.

Bamford and Bremont joined forces for this striking GMT based on the latter’s Supermarine GMT. Inspired by the Northern Lights, the watch has an ethereal glow thanks to generous helpings of bright-green emitting Super-LumiNova on the hands, sandwich dial and 24-hour sapphire bezel.

The previous record holder for “best-looking Sinn ever” was the 103 Classic 12, a reverse panda chrono released as a limited edition back in 2021. But a new challenger for the crown has emerged in this new rendition of the same watch, now outfitted in a ’70s-inspired brown, cream and orange colorway as part of a collab with German watch magazine Armbanduhren.

Tornek-Rayville’s reimagining of an obscure military-issue watch from the mid-’90s swaps the original’s quartz movement for an automatic, trades the tritium lume for Super-LumiNova and upgrades the mineral crystal to sapphire, but otherwise maintains its ancestor’s utilitarian design and bulletproof build.

An ’80s icon reborn, the Polo 79 recreates Piaget’s most iconic watch with a cohesive design featuring a case, bracelet, dial, hands and indices all made of 18k yellow gold. Powering the svelte stunner is an ultrathin in-house automatic movement.

A smaller, more affordable version of Grand Seiko’s most famous watch, the Snowflake, reference SBGX355 keeps the original’s snowy textured dial, blued steel seconds hand and high-intensity case and bracelet but shrinks the size to 37mm and swaps the Spring Drive movement for a 9F high-accuracy quartz motor.

Another twist on Zenith’s bestselling Chronomaster Sport platform, this version sees the sporting chronograph get a case and bracelet made from matte titanium for a low-key and lightweight style.

For a change of pace from your average Luminor, this special version of the lightweight Due features a fetching sunburst burgundy with a gradient effect.

Powered by Yema’s in-house CMM.20 micro-rotor automatic calibre, the Superman Slim is the only affordable dive watch on the market with this movement type — making it ideal for those looking to stand out from the crowd.

In addition to displaying the time in unique rotating hour and minute “satellites” that rotate around the dial, this special version of Urwerk’s UR-100V features a display showing how long it takes light from the sun to reach each planet in our solar system.

Limited to 500 pieces, this unique iteration of Baume et Mercier’s popular integrated bracelet sports watch gets an uncommon complication capable of measuring high and low tides.

A welcome addition to Grand Seiko’s lineup of Spring Drive-powered sports GMTs, the SBGE305 combines a fiery red dial with a polished black ceramic bezel.

The third in a G-Shock/Hodinkee collaboration that saw watches customized by rockers John Mayer and Ed Sheeran, this version was helmed by Hodinkee founder Ben Clymer and features shout-outs to both Hodinkee and Casio.

Designed in collaboration with Victoria Beckham, this special-edition Chronomat is limited to 1,500 examples across both yellow gold and stainless steel variants; each with a spring/summer-inspired dial chosen by the Spice Girl.

TAG Heuer’s back catalog is filled with quirky vintage favorites from Heuer’s mid-century heyday, and we’ve already seen the brand resurrect some recently — like the Skipper — to great acclaim through the retro-modern Glassbox platform introduced last year. Now comes the Dato, which combines a Destro date window with a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock for a unique layout. The teal dial brings it all together in gorgeous fashion.

There’s crazy, there’s Hublot crazy, and then there’s this. An openworked manufacture tourbillon movement and a case crafted from purple sapphire would be more than enough to make this watch a standout, but Hublot went the extra mile and made an entire bracelet out of purple sapphire. Granted, the brand released this exact watch in blue sapphire in 2023, but with purple watches being a hot trend at the moment, the 2024 version looks even better to my eye. Wearing the watch on the sapphire bracelet is a wild experience, it’s silky and smooth and feels like water on the wrist (in a good way). The whole package is very cohesive yet undeniably crazy.

The El Primero Chronomaster Triple Calendar is back after a brief hiatus, now in the Original’s 38mm case and packing the 1/10th of a second chronograph El Primero movement. In other words, the watch is more impressive and attractive than its ever been. The triple calendar and moonphase are incorporated nicely into the three-register chronograph layout (even if some will lament the 4:30 date), and the fact that Zenith packed it all into an easy-wearing, classically-sized case is very impressive (and quite welcome). It may just be the most versatile chronograph on the market thanks to its compact size and dressy-sporty vibe.

Bulgari’s 1970s fashion icon is back, with its release perfectly coinciding with a renewed desire in the market for retro gold watches from the ’70s and ’80s. Available in both this yellow gold/black dial version and rose gold style with a white dial, the new stunner maintains the original’s boldly-branded bezel but sees a decidedly upgraded movement in the form of Bulgari’s own BVL 191 automatic.

While not as recognizable of a name as Genta, the rebirth of watchmaker Daniel Roth’s brand is also exciting for watch collectors. Need proof? Over 1,000 well-connected and wealthy prospective buyers applied to buy one of the reborn brand’s first watch, but with only 20 being made, the vast majority were turned down. The Tourbillon Subscription watch is a reimagining of the first Daniel Roth watch from the ’80s, the Tourbillon Ref. 2187/C187, which is considered the first model from independent watchmaker’s brand. It features a brand-new tourbillon caliber developed in-house at La Fabrique du Temps and a solid gold guilloché dial like the one seen on the original.

TAG Heuer’s solar-powered Aquaracer Solargraph diver has been a big hit for the brand since making its debut in 2022, and in 2024 the brand has expanded the line to be more inclusive with a 34mm version. A true unisex dive watch, the smaller size is more than a scaled-down version of the original. It has a different bezel featuring throwback rider tabs that recall some 40-year-old TAGs, along with unique dial designs like the mesmerizing textured “Polar Blue” seen here.

Hublot knows it’s a polarizing brand — in fact, it embraces that identity. But however you feel about its designs, no one can question Hublot’s ingenuity. That’s especially true with its MP (Manufacture Piece) line, where the brand gets even more experimental than usual (which is saying something). For the MP-10, Hublot reimagined how an automatic watch creates energy and came up with a rotor-free system consisting of a pair of white gold blocks vertically mounted on posts and cushioned by tiny spring shock absorbers. As the blocks move up and down on the posts as you move your wrist, the movement is wound — as indicated by the cylindrical power reserve. The design has no dial or hands, and the time is read on rotating barrels for the hour and minutes with a 35-degree tourbillon acting as a seconds counter.

The Chronomaster Sport is flashier than ever with this gem-set version. With a case and bracelet made from solid rose gold, a meteorite dial, diamond indices and a gem-set bezel fitted with a mix of diamonds, sapphires and spinels in blue, dark gray and light gray to match the iconic El Primero chronograph registers (clever), there certainly is a lot going on here — especially for a brand that’s not really known for making fancy, gem-set watches. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t all come together in a cohesive and seriously gorgeous package. It really shows how the Chronomaster Sport can be a platform for a variety of unique styles, and I can’t wait to see what Zenith cooks up next.

TAG Heuer Teal is quickly becoming a signature color for the brand, and I sure wouldn’t mind seeing it on more watches. But the most impressive application of the shade thus far has to be on the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon. Seamlessly slipping a tourbillon into the beautiful Glassbox chronograph layout (though a few mm larger than usual to accomodate the complication) and topping it all off with that alluring blue-green hue, this watch is a real head-turner.

The Octo Finissimo is Bulgari’s daring platform, where the brand expands with crazy-thin movements and interesting case materials. But sometimes, the simplest takes on the form can be the most alluring. Take for instance this stainless steel iteration with a salmon dial. On paper, it’s among the most standard offerings of the Octo, but in the metal, it’s perhaps the most striking in the entire lineup.

Hublot’s Saxem material is a cousin to sapphire — it’s just as scratch-resistant and aluminum oxide-based but a bit different chemically, with rare Earth elements utilized to create brilliant colors. Each color takes around two years to develop, but green was the original and maybe still the best. Green Saxem looks especially good when used as the case for the Big Bang Unico chronograph, thanks to Hublot putting in the extra effort to perfectly match the hands and indices to the case’s dynamic color.

To mark 70 years of the Conquest collection, Longines dug deep into its archives to recreate a unique piece from 1959 that displayed its power reserve via two rotating discs in the center of the dial. The elegant version recreates the unusual complication with a brand-new Longines-exclusive movement with an impressive 72 hours of power. The modern-retro design is as unique as the complication, thanks in part to the art deco “skyscraper” hands.

The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 Edition is a complete revamp of the original version that was released in 2018 for the 50th anniversary of the titular NASA mission. The 2024 iteration features a far more detailed image of the moon on both the front and back sides of the skeletonized movement, and the movement itself has been upgraded from the Calibre 1869 to the Calibre 3869. Both are manual wind chronographs, but the latter is a Co-Axial Master Chronometer, bringing the DSOTM more in line with other modern Omegas. Also, as a fun touch, the running seconds hand at 9 o’clock is now crafted from titanium in the shape of a Saturn V rocket like the one used on the Apollo missions.

To celebrate Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, and to pay tribute to former NFL MVP and brand ambassador Boomer Esiason, Breitling made this special edition of the Chronomat, with a portion of sales going to the Boomer Esiason Foundation. The Super Bowl’s colorful Vegas logo is emblazoned on the sapphire caseback, but otherwise, this is the same Chronomat Chronograph we know and love, with a blue anthracite dial, a textured rubber strap and a solid red gold case.

Oris loves its baseball collabs, like its Hank Aaron edition or the ever-popular Roberto Clemente version, but for this watch, the independent Swiss brand teamed up with baseball’s cousin from across the pond for a cricket-themed version. The Father Time Limited Edition is a collab with London’s Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is themed after the club’s Father Time weathervane, a fixture at MCC’s home at Lord’s Cricket Ground for nearly a century. The fully bronze watch features an image of the weathervane on the caseback and includes both a matching bronze bracelet and Cervo Volante leather strap.

Shinola continues to increasingly churn out watches that appeal not just to its core fashion-oriented customers but to watch enthusiasts as well. Take this ceramic version of the Monster Automatic, a Sellita SW200-powered dive watch featuring a steel case plated in black ceramic. It’s a similarly innovative setup to what we saw with Zodiac’s Sea Wolf Ceramic — one of our picks for the best watches of 2023 — and allows the watch to come in at a price lower than a full ceramic version would.

A good-looking, easy-wearing field watch with a lightweight titanium case, a bulletproof automatic movement from Miyota and a dive watch-esque 200m water resistance? All for under $400? This may be the best collab Timex and Huckberry have ever come up with.

Christopher Ward’s The Twelve in titanium was already arguably the best watch in the Genta-inspired integrated bracelet sports watch style under $2,000 (or even $3,000), but some fans of the brand wanted a smaller case than the standard 40mm offering. So in typical CW fashion, the brand released this 36mm version, a unisex stunner that maintains the original’s overall design and COSC-certified movement.

If the usual integrated bracelet sports watches leave you feeling blasé, then Moser’s Streamliner is for you. Its snake-like bracelet and sparse dial look like nothing else, and this version — executed in full 5N red gold with a piece of Wyoming jade stone for the dial with a hole carved out for the tourbillon — is even more unique than usual.

Bulova’s Lunar Pilot is based on a 1971 prototype from the brand that actually went to the moon, making it a great budget alternative to the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch from both a stylistic and historical perspective. This 43.5mm premium version includes upgrades in the form of a lightweight titanium case and a dial made from a slab of meteorite.

Citizen knows it has a winner on its hands with its in-house Miyota 9075/9054 “true” GMT movements, which is why the Japanese brand keeps coming out with more and more watches using the bargain-priced premium engine. The Promaster Air GMT combines Citizen’s trademark knack for creating big, functional pilot’s watches with the 9054 (the el to create a do-it-all flyer … slide-rule bezel included.

The Marlin Jet isn’t a reissue of a vintage Timex like other Marlins. Instead, it draws broad inspiration from mid-century space-age design and incorporates some interesting design quirks as a result. Most notably is the large hesalite crystal that encapsulates the entire bezel, making for a visually interesting case — especially for the price.

Seeing a Longines priced at nearly $15,000 is maybe a little shocking, but given the quality of the brand’s recent output, we all need to start getting used to the idea of Longines as a major player in the mid-level luxury market. This dress watch features a solid 18-carat yellow gold case and is powered by a Longines-exclusive “true” GMT automatic movement.

Inspired by and featured in the 2024 spy film Argylle, the Jet is based on Bremont’s U-2 pilot’s watch — a beast of a piece featuring the brand’s tough Trip-Tick case and dual-crown setup. This version also boasts black DLC coating and an argyle pattern on the dial to go along with the similarly-titled film.