In Best of the Best, we honour the brands and people behind the most covetable products. Here are the best of the best watches from esteemed watchmakers in 2025
Watch of the year: Patek Philippe Quadruple Complication Ref. 5308G-001
In a rarefied field where excellence is the baseline, Patek Philippe’s Quadruple Complication Reference 5308G-001 raises the stakes for technical sophistication in fine watchmaking. The watch combines a split-seconds chronograph, a minute repeater, and an instantaneous perpetual calendar in a showcase of mechanical virtuosity and aesthetic elegance.
The minute repeater chimes the hours, quarters, and minutes with crystalline precision, resonating from twin traditional gongs activated by a case-side slide, an acoustic signature honed over generations. To this, Patek Philippe adds a split-seconds chronograph capable of tracking concurrent events, bolstered by two patent-pending innovations. One is a flexible-tooth clutch wheel that eliminates chronograph hand jitter without drawing additional energy; the other is a precision-boosting system that momentarily disengages a component during split-second timing, reducing friction, and enhancing reliability.
The third complication is no less impressive. The patented instantaneous perpetual calendar executes a simultaneous, mechanical ballet at midnight, with day, date, and month all switching in unison, regardless of month length, in just 30 milliseconds. These indications, arranged in an arc of apertures, are joined by discreet windows for the day/night cycle and leap-year indication, while the moon-phase display is integrated into the small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock.
Housed in an elegant white gold case with an ice-blue sunburst dial, the Ref. 5308G-001 is a horological masterpiece that upholds and advances Patek Philippe’s formidable legacy.
Revival: Zenith G.F.J
Zenith’s horological legacy runs deep. This is, after all, the maison that introduced the legendary El Primero movement in 1969—the world’s first high-frequency automatic chronograph. To commemorate its 160th anniversary, Zenith has chosen to resurrect another, no less iconic, movement from its storied past: the Calibre 135.
Originally introduced in 1949, this award-winning movement earned an astonishing 235 chronometry prizes, including five consecutive first-place finishes at the prestigious Neuchâtel Observatory. Now reimagined for a new era, the Calibre 135 has been meticulously re-engineered using contemporary materials to enhance energy efficiency and deliver precision of +/-2 seconds per day.
While the movement itself can be admired endlessly through the sapphire crystal caseback, the true visual centrepiece of the G.F.J is its lustrous lapis lazuli dial—a vivid, natural stone that pairs impeccably with a refined 39mm platinum case.
Chronograph: Grand Seiko Tentagraph SLGC009
Grand Seiko’s debut in-house mechanical chronograph was already a revelation. With the Tentagraph SLGC009, the Japanese watchmaking house returns with an even more assertive statement.
Equally adept on the wrist as it is in the wild, the Tentagraph SLGC009’s high-beat chronograph functionality exudes greater presence, as it adopts Grand Seiko’s famed Tokyo Lion design codes. The angular case is crafted from high-intensity titanium and evokes the stance of a lion’s paw. Elsewhere, claw-like lugs extend from the 43.2mm case, while the dial, rendered in a rich brown tone, is said to mirror the mane of a lion caught in the wind.
A newly developed rubber strap in matching brown completes the look, embossed with paw-print motifs that balance strength with whimsy. At the heart of it all is the Tentagraph’s high-performance movement—beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour and offering up to three days of power reserve.
World timer: Bovet Récital 30
Mechanical watches may no longer be strictly utilitarian tools, but the world timer remains one of the most functional complications in contemporary watchmaking. Even more so when the mechanism in question goes beyond convention to elegantly resolve one of travel’s most persistent irritations: daylight saving time.
First introduced in the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève-winning 46.3mm Récital 28 Prowess 1 from 2024, Bovet’s revolutionary roller-based world-time display returns—this time with a streamlined profile. The functionality remains exceptional: 24 cities, each engraved on its own rotating roller around the edge of the dial, can be instantly shifted into one of four global configurations with a simple press of a pusher at 2 o’clock.
These configurations—UTC, American Summer Time, European Summer Time, and European Winter Time—allow the watch to automatically account for the world’s most common daylight-saving time changes.
While the Récital 28 housed this innovation within a large, multi-complication case, the Récital 30 pares it back—offering the same functionality in a 42mm red gold or titanium case. The dial, too, has been simplified: the city rollers now form a sculptural frame around a clean, central display with applied numerals and elegantly tapered hands for the hours and minutes.
Tourbillon: Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon
Breaking records has seemingly become a pastime for Bvlgari. With the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, the brand once again surpasses expectations—this time delivering the world’s thinnest tourbillon watch, measuring just 1.85mm in total thickness.
Compressing a tourbillon into such dimensions is, by any standard, an immense technical challenge. One of watchmaking’s most complex mechanisms, the tourbillon traditionally requires space for its rotating cage and the tolerances needed to ensure stability and precision.
To flatten the complication to just 1.85mm, Bvlgari had to rethink the entire architecture of the movement—choosing not to stack components, but to spread them horizontally across a single plane. This conceptual shift led to the development of the calibre BVF 372, which is built directly into the case itself.
The caseback doubles as the mainplate, machined from ultra-dense tungsten carbide for rigidity, while the bezel and case middle are rendered in microbead-blasted titanium for lightness and a refined matte finish. The result is an integrated mechanical landscape—flat, skeletal, and exquisitely architectural.
Perpetual calendar: IWC Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar 41
It was only a matter of time before IWC brought together the genius of two of watchmaking’s most revered figures—Gerald Genta and Kurt Klaus—into a single, uncompromising timepiece. The Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar is the latest evolution in the modern revival of IWC’s iconic sports watch, a collection that has long struck a chord with collectors for its bold geometry and unmistakable 1970s design language.
Powered by the IWC-manufactured calibre 52616, the movement automatically adjusts for the differing lengths of months and leap years, requiring no correction until the year 2100. The moon-phase display is precise to a single day in 577.5 years, while the calibre’s twin barrels help to deliver an impressive seven-day power reserve.
Housed in a stainless steel 41.6mm case and paired with the Ingenieur’s signature integrated bracelet, this is a timepiece that bridges two legacies in a form that feels both enduring and entirely of the moment.
Giving back: Chopard L.U.C Heritage EHG Moon 122
Set against an expansive aventurine dial in a 44mm case made of ethical rose gold is a series of constellations as seen from the northern hemisphere in a beautiful astronomical display.
The craftsmanship lies in the hand-hammering and hand-engraving of this watch’s gold moon phase, so precise that the error between the trajectory of the moon and that of the complication is a mere 57 seconds. Just opposite is a small-seconds subdial with a hand-hammered and engraved gold view of the North Pole.
The calibre’s foundation is a Chopard base movement provided to students from the prestigious Geneva School of Watchmaking for their studies. The academy and the company then jointly added the moon-phase complication, part of Chopard’s effort to support the next generation.
Craftsmanship: Greubel Forsey Hand Made 2
A handmade watch is an increasingly rare object, with many companies relying on CNC machines, robotics, and other modern technology to produce timepieces at scale.
Greubel Forsey’s 40.9mm hand-wound Hand Made 2, which consists of 96 per cent handmade components, is about as close as you can get to old-school watchmaking craftsmanship today. (The sapphire crystals, spring bars, case gaskets, mainspring, and most jewels are the only parts not made by hand.)
Exquisitely finished and entirely assembled by a single watchmaker, the white-gold Hand Made 2 is produced in only two or three examples per year, making it one of the high-end independent brand’s most exclusive timepieces.
Grand complication: Roger Dubuis Excalibur Grand Complication
When it comes to creating highly complicated, avant-garde timepieces, few watchmakers have been as consistently assertive as Roger Dubuis. So with the brand marking its 30th anniversary this year, expectations were high.
The result—the Excalibur Grand Complication—is characteristically ambitious: a limited edition of eight pieces that distils the brand’s most technical signatures into an intricately rendered watch.
The 45mm Excalibur Grand Complication unites three of high watchmaking’s most demanding mechanisms: a bi-retrograde perpetual calendar, a minute repeater, and a flying tourbillon. Each is seamlessly integrated into the architecture of the watch, accentuating the brand’s distinctive technical language.
The perpetual calendar—accurate until the year 2100—is expressed through twin retrograde indicators for the day and date, arranged across the upper dial in a layout that maintains both legibility and structural balance. Below it, the flying tourbillon is positioned near 5 o’clock, rotating within a titanium cage shaped as a Celtic cross. The minute repeater completes the composition, its chime tuned to a dissonant tritone that produces a deliberately atmospheric sound.
High jewellery: Franck Muller Round Triple Mystery
If the goal of a high jewellery timepiece is to dazzle, then Franck Muller’s Round Triple Mystery achieves it with mesmerising effect.
Housed in a 39mm white or rose gold case and adorned with a profusion of brilliant-cut diamonds, this watch transforms timekeeping into a kinetic sculpture of light. Each model features three gem-set sapphire discs—each orbiting on its own axis—that rotate to indicate hours, minutes, and seconds.
The Round Triple Mystery is offered in a striking array of variations: from cool, all-diamond executions in white gold to vibrant renditions accented with rubies, emeralds, or blue sapphires—each colour-matched to its strap. Select models feature a bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds, further elevating the piece’s architectural presence.
Minute Repeater: A. Lange & Söhne Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar
For all its mechanical complexity, the minute repeater remains a deeply emotional complication, using an orchestration of hammers and gongs to translate time into sound. With its new Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar, A. Lange & Söhne approaches this complication with characteristic restraint and refinement.
The repeater is activated via a slide on the left flank of the case, which sets in motion a sequence of chimes that indicates the hours, quarter hours, and minutes. The mechanism also includes a pause elimination system that keeps the chime fluid when no quarter tones are needed, while a built-in safety mechanism blocks activation when the crown is pulled.
More impressively, this complication co-exists with a full perpetual calendar: retrograde day, oversized date, leap year indicator, and a moon phase accurate to 122 years.
Its four-part enamel dial offers subtle depth and warmth, while the manually wound calibre L122.2, comprising 640 components, delivers a 72-hour power reserve.
Time-only: Breguet Classique Souscription 2025
It takes a refined sensibility and resolute confidence to do simplicity well. It’s no surprise then that Breguet—a house synonymous with restraint and sophistication—continues to flaunt its mastery of understatement with the Classique Souscription 2025.
Created to mark the brand’s 250th anniversary, the watch pays tribute to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s original Souscription models—pocket watches devised in the late 18th century as both mechanical innovation and commercial ingenuity.
Just like the 18th-century originals, this modern interpretation embraces a philosophy of simplicity. The dial, rendered in flawless grand feu enamel, is crisp, white, and uninterrupted, save for a single heat-blued central hand.
The 40mm case, crafted from Breguet’s proprietary gold alloy, is slim, balanced, and refined. Straight lugs and a stepped bezel frame the dial with architectural clarity, while the curved profile ensures a comfortable fit. Powered by the hand-wound calibre VS.00, the timepiece boasts a 96-hour power reserve.
Creativity: H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Pop
On paper, H. Moser & Cie.’s Endeavour Pop collection may sound like a little too much—bright, clashing colours, rare gemstones, and unapologetic contrast. But in execution, it is anything but excessive.
The collection exudes controlled creativity, expressed through vibrant materials rendered with the minimalism and finesse that define the brand’s design language.
Each dial pairs two semi-precious stones—Burmese jade with pink opal, lapis lazuli with lemon chrysoprase, or turquoise with deep orange coral—arranged in precise geometric compositions that play with colour, texture, and light.
The Endeavour Pop dials are housed in three iterations: the 38mm Small Seconds in stainless steel, the 40mm Tourbillon in stainless steel, and the piece unique Minute Repeater Tourbillon in red gold.
Material: Hublot Big Bang Unico Magic Ceramic
Material innovation has become integral to contemporary watchmaking and Hublot has emerged as one of its most forward-thinking champions.
Just take the Big Bang Unico Magic Ceramic: a watch that pushes the potential of ceramic to its extreme. Through a pioneering sintering process that blends specially formulated mineral oxides with zirconium oxide at high temperatures, Hublot has created the world’s first fully pigmented, multi-coloured ceramic.
The result is visually arresting: a dark, almost volcanic bezel flecked with vivid blue circles, forming an organic, marbled texture. Housed in a polished 42mm black ceramic case and powered by the in-house HUB1280 Unico chronograph calibre, the Big Bang Unico Magic Ceramic speaks Hublot’s design language fluently, with a material accent that is unmistakably its own.
Bracelet: Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds
Though the Reverso is already available on a metal bracelet, its classic configuration is as a steel timepiece on a leather strap—its original form was created in 1931 for polo players in India during the British Raj.
But a fresh pink-gold Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds on a matching pink-gold Milanese bracelet promises to pleasantly upset the norm. With its elegant looks and comfortable feel, the bracelet beautifully complements the watch’s precious-metal case, which measures just 7.56mm thick.
Flip the case over and a blank caseback reveals an ideal canvas for a personalised engraving, making the watch a perfect gift or an heirloom.
