WATCHES & STYLE
Heroes of Horology: 5 Standout Watches from Watches and Wonders 2025
by Charmian Leong
08 May 2025
08 May 2025
As 60 brands descended upon the halls of Palexpo in Geneva in April, the question wasn’t who could make a beautiful watch (pretty much all of them can), but who would push the very limits of mechanical mastery. This year, we spotlight the horological heavyweights that decided subtlety wasn’t going on the menu.
- FOUR TO SCORE
- MORE IS MORE
- A GRAND RETURN
- ECHOES OF EXPERTISE
- A PERFECT PAIRING
Though not technically a brand new watch, the return of the Patek Philippe Quadruple Complication and its insertion into the regular catalog is still big news for fans. The first of its kind appeared in a platinum chassis with a rose-gilt dial at 2023’s Watch Art Grand Exhibition Tokyo, and was sadly limited to that event. The Ref. 5308 is the ice blue-dialed successor in white gold that is finally available to everyone (with means, anyway).
Like the legendary Ref. 5208 from 2011, the 5308P features a perpetual calendar, chronograph, and minute repeater. But here, a split-seconds chronograph joins the party, requiring a complete redesign of the 5208’s movement to accommodate the extra complexity. The result: Optimised energy distribution, improved torque, greater winding efficiency via a platinum micro-rotor, and two patented enhancements – an anti-backlash wheel to reduce friction at the clutch, and an isolation mechanism that cuts power drain from the split-seconds function when not in use.
Intuitive design has long been a Patek Philippe hallmark, and here, it manifests in calendar displays that all jump instantaneously at midnight, easy-to-read apertures for the day, date, and month, and two tiny indicators within the subdials for day/night and leap year. At 42mm by 17.71mm, it’s not exactly slight – but when a watch is this impressive, does it really need to be?
- FOUR TO SCORE
- MORE IS MORE
- A GRAND RETURN
- ECHOES OF EXPERTISE
- A PERFECT PAIRING
More is More
Vacheron Constantin’s biggest release this year has a name so bombastic, it makes you wonder if it comes with its own footman to announce its arrival. But as the maison celebrates its 270th anniversary, it seems only fitting to unveil something as monumental as the Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication – La Premiere.
In traditional watchmaking, a grand complication refers to a timepiece that houses at least three additional functions – typically a calendar, chronograph, and chiming mechanism. But what, exactly, constitutes an “ultra” grand complication? In this case, it means cramming an eye-watering 41 complications into a case measuring just 45mm across and 14.99mm thick, earning the Solaria the title of the world’s most complicated wristwatch.
And it’s not just about quantity – several of the complications are genuinely novel. The Solaria features five astronomical complications never before combined in a watch: The position, height, culmination, and declination of the sun, along with the temporal tracking of celestial objects. The latter is a world-first, merging a split-seconds chronograph with a star map to let the wearer calculate when a specific star or constellation will enter their field of view.
The result of eight years of development, the Solaria also holds 13 patents – seven of which relate to its Westminster chime minute repeater. These innovations contribute not only to the watch’s relative slimness (there are less complicated watches that are bulkier), but also to improved sound quality and the option to choose between two chiming modes: Traditional (hours, quarters, minutes) or simplified (just hours).
Combined with last year’s Berkley Grand Complication, a pocket watch with 63 complications, Vacheron Constantin is making it clear that while it is a master of discreet refinement, it’s not above flexing with the horological equivalent of a mic drop.
- FOUR TO SCORE
- MORE IS MORE
- A GRAND RETURN
- ECHOES OF EXPERTISE
- A PERFECT PAIRING
A Grand Return
Marking a far younger, but no less significant anniversary is Roger Dubuis, which turns 30 this year and makes its presence felt with a technical stunt of its own: The Excalibur Grande Complication.
The maison’s first in-house grand complication debuted in 2009, featuring a perpetual calendar, minute repeater, and flying tourbillon. This year’s sequel reprises the same functions but delivers them with extra flair – most notably through a bi-retrograde display that replaces the original’s more restrained in-line calendar. The bi-retrograde layout, a mechanism patented in the 1980s by Roger Dubuis himself in collaboration with Jean-Marc Wiederrecht of Agenhor, returns here to indicate the day of the week on the left and the date on the right.
The minute repeater uses a tritone interval chime – infamously known as the “devil’s chord” for its unsettling dissonance – and features a safety mechanism that requires the pusher to be fully depressed, preventing accidental activation that could damage the movement. And of course, there’s a flying tourbillon between 5 and 6 o’clock – because while not every Roger Dubuis watch has one, the brand rarely misses an opportunity to remind you that it can.
All 684 components of this 45mm by 17.45mm pink gold powerhouse are hand-finished, earning the RD118 calibre the prestigious Poincon de Geneve. Only eight pieces will be made.
(Related: Seconds to spare - The season's most anticipated watch launches)
- FOUR TO SCORE
- MORE IS MORE
- A GRAND RETURN
- ECHOES OF EXPERTISE
- A PERFECT PAIRING
Echoes of Expertise
Saying a minute repeater is tricky to make is like saying Everest is a bit of a hike. Now imagine the challenge Jaeger-LeCoultre faced in 1994, when it had to fit one into a rectangular case with barely enough real estate for a sound box. Yet it did – launching the first Reverso Minute Repeater and making history in the process.
Three decades on, the brand has distilled all that accumulated expertise into a new integrated movement: The Calibre 953, which ticks and sings within the Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater. The watch incorporates seven existing patents, including crystal gongs (2005), which are attached directly to the sapphire crystal for a clearer, louder chime; trebuchet hammers (2009), which deliver better sound using less energy; and a mechanism that eliminates the awkward pauses when no quarter-hours need to be struck (2021).
Naturally, the watch is a visual triumph. On one side of the pink gold case sits a hand-guilloche dial with a barley-seed motif, coated in a lustrous teal enamel created at the maison’s Metiers Rares atelier. The guillochage alone takes four hours, the enamelling another eight. Flip it over, and the Calibre 953 is revealed in full open-worked splendour – hand-bevelled bridges, brushed and grained finishes, and a blue lacquer-coated bridge adding the final touch of theatricality.
- FOUR TO SCORE
- MORE IS MORE
- A GRAND RETURN
- ECHOES OF EXPERTISE
- A PERFECT PAIRING
A Perfect Pairing
It’s almost surprising that a watch brand as sophisticated as A. Lange & Sohne has never offered a minute repeater–perpetual calendar combination – until now. But better late than never, and the tuxedo-ready Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar proves that some things are well worth the wait.
The new L122.2 manual-winding movement unites the brand’s refined chiming mechanism with one of the most legible and elegantly balanced perpetual calendars on the market. On the chiming front, it features pause elimination, a safety mechanism that ensures the minute repeater cannot be activated while the crown is pulled (and vice versa), and a patented hammer blocker. The latter holds the hammers briefly in their home position after striking to prevent any unwanted rebound – avoiding both sound distortion and mechanical stress. A centrifugal governor, mounted in an overhung position, also keeps things whisper-quiet during operation, eliminating the usual whirring sound that plagues lesser repeaters.
The perpetual calendar includes the brand’s beloved outsize date, an ultra-precise moon phase that deviates by only one day every 122.6 years, and user-friendly functionality – thanks to a single corrector that advances all calendar indications in sync.
Tying everything together is a 40.5mm by 12.1mm platinum case paired with a gold dial coated in glossy black enamel. Flip the watch over and the view is no less compelling: Through the exhibition case back, you’ll find the three-quarter plate in untreated German silver with a frosted finish, black-rhodiumed engravings, black-polished hammers, and a balance cock engraved by hand. Limited to just 50 pieces and available exclusively at select A. Lange & Sohne boutiques.
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