Three New Releases from Watches and Wonders You Need to Know

Written by Felix Scholz

Watches and Wonders Geneva is in full swing — that one week of the year when the biggest brands unveil their latest and greatest watches. With literally thousands of new watches on show, it’s a lot to take in all at once. But having said that, here’s four pieces that have caught our attention. 

Cartier takes to travel

The Cartier slate of releases was packed with colour, shape and a little bit of complication. There are colourful new Santos-Dumont models, as well as a host of animal-inspired jewellery watches, but one of the real standouts was the Santos de Cartier Dual Time. The Santos de Cartier, with its broad, muscular case, integrated bracelet and a host of practical features like the QuickSwitch and SmartLink bracelet features, make it a watch perfectly suited to life on the road. The addition of a second time zone is an incredibly practical inclusion to this iconic watch that many will find appealing. Of course, Cartier watch design typically sees technical additions integrated in a way that enhances the elegance of the overall watch, and that’s definitely the case here. Instead of an additional GMT hand, Cartier has opted for a secondary hour subdial with a subtle day/night indicator right above. Not only does this offer a better fit for the dressy design, but it also provides a dial design with an interplay of shape and line that is very Cartier, especially with this anthracite grey sunray-brushed dial. 

Tudor offers a smaller GMT

TUDOR showed a tightly focused collection at Watches and Wonders, with a fully monochromatic 41mm Black Bay ‘Black’, as well as a heavy-hitting solid gold Black Bay on a gold bracelet. The watch that really has people talking, though, is the hotly–anticipated Black Bay 58 GMT, offered on a bracelet or rubber strap. This watch manages to hit all the right vintage notes, from the 39mm case that sits a relatively slender 12.8mm tall through to the nostalgia-friendly design notes — details like the familiar gilt Black Bay dial design and the iconic black and red GMT bezel, commonly referred to as a ‘Coke’ bezel. Of course, this watch offers more than just good looks; there’s also a serious engine ticking away inside: the METAS-certified MT5450-U, which offers a respectable 65 hours of power reserve and the watchmaker’s proven reliability. Already, this smaller, more nuanced TUDOR GMT looks set to be one of the winners of 2024. 

IWC Portugieser plays with colour

IWC, renowned for its Pilot’s watches, decided to focus on its elegant Portugieser collection this year, offering a suite of new designs that include mostly dressy chronographs, and a brace of 42 and 40-mm automatic models. Across all these models, there’s a trio of new colours on offer: Horizon Blue, Obsidian and Dune. Obsidian is a glossy black, Horizon Blue is a soft sky blue, and Dune is a desert-inspired champagne gold tone that needs to be seen in real life to be properly appreciated. On top of the new colours, the Portugieser 40 and 42mm models have been given a subtle case-lift, resulting in a more slender profile and better visibility. It’s hard to go wrong with any of these new models, but the Portugieser 40 in Horizon Blue is very special.