WatchAdvice 
With so many watches released this year, how do you pick which pieces were the best? Well, you don’t, it’s too hard. But we can pick which were our favourites, and that’s what we’ve done.
2024, it’s been a big year for watches. What started out as a bit of a reserved Watches & Wonders with many brands holding back on their everyday releases, choosing to focus on high-end complications, the year unfolded with a whole lot of pieces that both wowed us and underwhelmed us. Now it’s the end of the year, and we’re thinking back on the year that was, and all the pieces we’ve seen and had in our hands. Which pieces were our favourite? That’s a hard question, and over about 20 coffees we debated and argued over what we thought were great releases and why. The conclusion – we’ve picked 2 pieces each that were our personal favourites, and rather than argue the minutia of what was better, we’ve just decided to say what we like the best and why.
Matts Picks
Wow, hard choice to pick just two watches from this year that stood out above all the rest for me. There have been some great releases from all the brands, but thinking back to those peices that really hit home for me, and stuck in my mind were the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Heliotourbillon and the De Bethune DB28 XS Steel Wheels and for very different reasons. So let’s start with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Heliotourbillon.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Heliotourbillon
When I first saw the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Heliotourbillon at Watches & Wonders this year, it struck a chord with me. I can’t 100% put my finger on an exact reason, as there were several. The Triple Axis Tourbillon at 9 o’clock that can be seen through the case side window as well as the dial is just a great feat of engineering, plus it’s looks super cool revolving around. The fact that this is a perpetual calendar as well takes it up a notch, and added to this, the Duometre is powered off two barrels individually to ensure the acuracey of the time keeping, as well as the calendar functions.
The dial is sensational in person with a brushed and grained oplaine dial which catches the light beautifully. It’s also wearable, albeit on the larger side at 44mm and 14.7mm thick. But, what a peice to have on the wrist! The only drawback is it’s limited to 20 pieces and with a “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” price tag, in otherwords, POA. But still, an amazing watch that still is in my head now all those months since April.
De Bethune DB28 XS Steel Wheels
This was a more recent release, with De Bethune coming out with the Steel Wheels and Aerolite at Geneva Watch Days this year. De- Bethune isn’t a brand easily accessible here in Australia, so to be able to get hands on with the Steel Wheels and Aerolite was a joy. The Steel Wheels was my pick, and again, like the Jaeger-LeCoultre, has stuck in my head ever since.
The main reason I like this piece, and why I chose it as one of my favourite pieces this year was it’s different and not like other watch designs out there. The Star Trek-esque shaped bridge in the middle of the openworked dial looks great and the fact that this is made from polished Titanium, but looks like steel is a slight head spin. De Bethune also slimmed this one down to just under 39mm and less than 9mm thick, so this coupled with the hinged lugs makes this wear like a dream on the rubber strap. It’s now added to my grail list!
Sam’s Picks
As Matt has already mentioned, it’s not easy to narrow down to just two timepieces that stood out for me during 2024. There were so many incredible releases this year, with varying designs and price brackets! With so many pieces to choose from, I had to somehow narrow it down to a handful. I chose timepieces I got to try on, whether for review or from attending watch unveilings and events. My two choices were timepeices that I thought offered the best value for money, alongside having killer looks!
Seiko Alpinist Australian Limited Edition
My first choice was the Seiko Alpinist Australasia Limited Edition. When this timepiece was first shown through the press releases, it stood out immediately for its looks. Then, as you may have seen, I had the privilege of attending the unveiling of this timepiece as Seiko held its very first Prospex event in Sydney. The event was certainly very different from the watch events I’ve attended in the past, with Seiko going all-out to highlight their different collections and also having an interactive racing simulator to keep guests entertained. It’s safe to say, that this event and the watch itself certainly left a mark on me.
After attending the event, I also had the chance to do a full in-depth review of the timepiece. There are so many details about the timepiece that make it incredible value for money, considering the watch was being sold for $1,250 AUD. Spending some time with the watch made me appreciate the dial with it’s many different details even more (which you can read about in my review!). While it was indeed a hard choice, the Seiko Alpinist Australasia Limited Edition is my pick for releases this year. I think it’s a timepiece with the complete package!
MB&F M.A.D. 1 S
My second choice for favourite watch released this year is easily the M.A.D. 1S. Now, I may be a little biased here, as I am fortunate enough to own one. But it’s a watch that I wear any chance I get, and doesn’t that in itself say why I chose it as my favourite release this year?
In case you didn’t see this release, the M.A.D. 1S is Maximilian Büsser’s way of bringing some fun back into affordable timepeices. As we know, MB&F timepieces are expensive, and rightly so. While the watches are limited edition timepieces that are “won” through a raffle system to make it fair game for everyone involved, they are still much more affordable than your standard MB&F. The essence of this timepiece is fun, and that’s precisely what you get when you put it on the wrist. It isn’t the most functional timepiece on the market since the time reading is an approximation now, with this latest version being reduced to only a one-time ring. But that’s not what this watch was made for. The polished finishing on the unique case design shines beautifully, while the winding rotor on the dial makes itself known and quickly becomes a conversation piece!
Mario’s Picks
I believe that, in the context of what was released, 2023 proved to be much better for the watch world than 2024. However, this year excelled in keeping the momentum and high standards that had already been set the year prior. While we saw plenty of the rule-breaking, record-setting stuff we know and love in our traditional brands, the collective need to consolidate themselves led to more than a few horological outsiders getting a chance in the spotlight.
Santos Dumont Rewind
Doesn’t mean we should forget why the traditional brands got so famous in the first place, though; The Cartier Santos Dumont Rewind was above and beyond my favourite release of this year! It’s such a simple concept on paper – it’s a watch that goes backwards – but in the hands of Cartier, it was just masterfully executed. Encased in beautifully finished platinum, the red dial of the Santos Dumont Rewind ran the traditional Roman numerals in reverse, in accordance with its counterclockwise apple hands.
The biggest reservation I had about the Rewind had nothing to do with the watch itself, but instead how the community treated it online. Some of the watch world’s more vocal members gassed it up as some mystical new innovation of micro engineering. The reality of the Rewind’s engineering, however, is that they just modified and flipped the Santos Dumont’s 430 MC movement upside down, naming it the 230 MC. This is by no means an attack on Cartier, but instead an enthusiastic acknowledgement of a real-life ‘Gordian Knot’ situation: Sometimes, the best solution is the simplest one, and you don’t need an elaborate magic trick to make something truly special!
Berneron Mirage
Abstract watchmaking, both in design and engineering, has been a rising trend I’ve been happy to ride the wave of. I’ve always been a fan of the unique and quirky, and the Berneron Mirage appeals to that sense – but not in a way that would put off the average collector. This is one of those watches that heralds the coming of another watchmaking revolution, and I’m happy to be here and watch it happen. I told the guys I’d be talking about the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar. Yeah, I lied: As awesome and as record-breaking as the IWC was, there was no way I wasn’t going to include the Berneron Mirage here.
I mean, look at this thing! The Berneron Mirage looks like something that came straight out of a Salvador Dalí painting, with curved hands, melting numerals and misshapen indexes. The shaped gold case is the first ever to be designed around the movement of the watch, and allows the watch to effectively triple its power reserve thanks to its form. I thrive in writing about watches that successfully meld art and science together into one, and the Berneron Mirage is an absolute joy of a timepiece that represents the coming of a new standard of watchmaking.
Champs’ Picks
“While narrowing down my choices, I couldn’t help but gravitate toward watches that combined breathtaking aesthetics with mechanical ingenuity. My standout timepieces for 2024 aren’t just watches—they are wearable works of art. The watch feels alive with every glance of the dial. Both of my choices were perpetual calendar models, with both timepeices being very different in their own masterpiece ways. Add to that the perfectly balanced designs of the watches—sleek yet bold enough to command attention—and it’s a mechanical marvel that celebrates craftsmanship and precision. These timepieces are more than just watches; they are a testament to what happens when art and engineering collide in perfect harmony!
IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar
For me, this was the clear standout timepiece during the launch of this year’s Watches and Wonders. With IWC Schaffhausen updating their entire Portugieser collection this year, this Eternal Calendar was the icing on the cake and one of the major talking points of Watches and Wonders 2024. A mechanical masterpiece, the Eternal Calendar is the first secular perpetual calendar that automatically takes into account the Gregorian Calendar’s leap year exception rules by skipping three leap years over a 400-year span.
The timepiece also features a moon phase display that is accurate to 45 million years, which is the main talking point of this timepiece! This watch has received the Guinness world record for “the most precise lunar phase in a mechanical watch”. On the wrist, the watch feels every bit of a perpetual calendar and, in my opinion, looks fantastic. A combination of aesthetics and high horology makes this watch the best release of the year for me.
MB&F LM Perpetual Evo Ice Blue
I’m a huge fan when it comes to skeleton timepeices, and in my opinion, no one does it better than MB&F. So when I saw the MB&F LM Perpetual EVO Ice Blue during launch, I immediately fell in love. The MB&F LM Perpetual EVO features a revolutionary mechanical processor and a redesigned perpetual calendar, with the final product being a masterpiece in high horology.
The revolutionary mechanical processor of the MB&F LM Perpetual EVO uses a 28-day month as default and then adds the extra days as required to complete the months. By doing this, there is no “skipping over” redundant days, which means the result is a fool-proof system that also auto-protects itself from incorrect manipulation. This ice-blue dial version of the MB&F LM Perpetual EVO simply enhances the aesthetics of this watch, making it a mechanical and visual marvel!
