First impressions of the hottest new luxury timepieces from Watches & Wonders 2025
Geneva once again becomes the heartbeat of haute horlogerie as Watches & Wonders 2025 unveils its most spellbinding novelties. Over the coming days, we will be sharing with you the most impressive new watches, hot off the workshops of the world’s biggest names in horology.
In the first of this three-part series, Robb Report Singapore’s intrepid editors offer their takes on the watches that have hit the ground running and grabbed their attention the most.
A. Lange & Söhne Minute Repeater Perpetual
The folks at Lange love to stress that they had no precedent of any sort when it came to creating chiming watches. Every single chiming complication had to be built from scratch, which makes each new sonorously endowed timepiece an exceptional creation.
The Minute Repeater Perpetual, which features its two namesake complications, ought to be minted as an instant icon. It joins the likes of the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater, Richard Lange Minute Repeater, and Grand Complication as among Lange’s most technically accomplished chiming watches. Housed in a 40.5mm platinum case with a black enamel dial, the watch’s stately appearance befits its mechanical sophistication. Driving the watch is a 640-part hand-wound movement, which has been newly developed to offer both sensory allure and practicality— it sounds the time on demand with clear and pristine chimes, while automatically computing and displaying all the essential calendar information, requiring only one correction by a single day on 1 March 2100.
IWC Schaffhausen Ingenieur Automatic 35
One of the big hits when it debuted in Watches & Wonders 2023, the revitalised Ingenieur collection continues to garner plenty of love from us. Retro, robust, and spiked with all the attributes that made the inspirational Ingenieur SL from the 1970s popular in the first place, the thoughtfully revived collection continues to surprise—this time in a smaller package.
IWC has marched out several new iterations this year, including a ceramic model and a perpetual calendar complication. But it is the Ingenieur Automatic 35, featuring a 35mm case—and specifically, the model in full gold—that has us swooning. The watch’s smaller dimension makes it great for unisex wear. At the same time, the watch’s size doesn’t diminish its presence—especially not with its full gold case and bracelet, accompanied by similarly hued dial with gold appliques and gold-plated hands. The watch not only feels weighty on the wrist (as it should), but also commands attention in no small measure.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Grand Complication
Roger Dubuis is another brand that celebrates a significant milestone. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the niche high-end marque, founded by its late, mercurial master watchmaker—a reverential figure in contemporary horology who had been relentlessly creative and fiercely protective of watchmaking traditions, while constantly pushing the boundaries of his craft.
The Excalibur Grand Complication isn’t billed as a tribute watch to Mr Dubuis, but it might as well be one. Brimming with drama and invention, the watch combines a perpetual calendar that is accurate until the year 2100; a minute repeater that chimes the time in uniquely ominous-sounding tones; and a flying tourbillon. Presented on an openworked dial with retrograde indicators for the day and date display, it is a breathtaking work of mechanical art that—like the best of Roger Dubuis’ works—both confounds and fascinates in equal measure.
Chopard L.U.C Quattro
Beauty and brawn might appear unlikely bedfellows in luxury watchmaking, but the L.U.C Quattro demonstrates time and again that the two qualities can not only co-exist, but also complement each other. Twenty-five years since its debut, the watch remains one of the most celebrated dress watches in the Chopard L.U.C repertoire, exemplifying the brand’s pursuit of mechanical and aesthetic excellence.
The watch exudes a regal disposition in its 39mm case made of polished ethical gold, paired with a deep navy dial crafted from frosted-textured brass. But it is the details—and what lies within—that thrill true horological aficionados. The elegant gold markers, from the herringbone-type hour indicators to dauphine fusée hands, articulate Chopard L.U.C’s exacting attention to detail. The best bit about this watch, however, it is the famed manual-winding L.U.C 98.09-L movement. Beautifully decorated to Geneva Seal standards, it features the company’s groundbreaking four stacked winding barrels (hence the name) that accord the watch nine days of power reserve, offering astounding mechanical stamina to match its sophisticated demeanour.
Zenith G.F.J
We know there is no such thing as perfection in life. But we can try and Zenith certainly did—and got pretty darn close to founder Georges Favre-Jacot’s vision of creating “the perfect watch” when it produced the Calibre 135, an extraordinarily precise and reliable movement that won a record-breaking 235 chronometry prizes, including five consecutive first prizes in the wristwatch category at the Neuchâtel Observatory between 1950 and 1954.
To mark its 160th anniversary, Zenith has decided to breathe new life into the legendary movement, resurrecting it with new materials and innovations, and getting up to speed for the 21st century user. Powering the new G.F.J edition, in 39mm platinum case with a beautifully ornamental dial featuring guilloche decoration and a lapiz lazuli centre, the re-engineered movement offers more power reserve (72 hour, compared to 40 in the original), and greater precision of +/-2 seconds daily deviation, which is COSC-certified.
