The best new watch launches of 2023: Longines, Audemars and Breguet debut new styles
It’s worth remembering that not all watches are beloved when they first debut. Sometimes it takes, well, time, for them to be appreciated.
In watchmaking it can be the smallest tweaks that have the biggest impacts, and it’s worth remembering that not all watches are beloved when they first debut. Sometimes it takes, well, time, for them to be appreciated.
Breguet Classique Quantième perpétuel 7327
The elegance of the classic and enduring Breguet perpetual calendar (Abraham-Louis Breguet introduced the idea in the 1780s) is tinkered with across two new references. Available in an 18 carat white gold or pink gold case, with a 39mm dial, its design updates include the addition of a retrograde month display at 11 o’clock, and an updated hand-hammered moon phase indicator between 2 and 3 o’clock. Breguet signatures such as the guilloche detail, this time with a clous de Paris pattern, on the dial and the secret etchings at 12 o’clock remain. A little slimmer and more streamlined than earlier references, the timepiece wears its complexity lightly. It’s equipped with the mighty self-winding 502.3.P movement, one of Breguet’s thinnest, and with a silicon balance-spring, and has a 45-hour power reserve. It sits equally smartly on the blue alligator leather strap for the white gold as it does the brown alligator strap for the rose gold, and both have a folding clasp. $116,800
Longines Spirit Flyback
Handsomeness and heritage are all fine things, especially when combined with a spirit of adventure and a certain kind of appealing ruggedness. The Spirit collection from Longines, blending vintage ideas of pilot watches with modern takes, combines these elements. The newest iteration, the Flyback Chronograph, is crafted in distinctly modern titanium but looks like it could have been on some kind of boy’s own adventure. The flyback (a functionality Longines introduced around 1925 and patented in 1935) allows the chronograph to instantly reset (“fly back!”) the seconds hand to zero. But there’s also 100m water resistance should you be diving into the ocean, and illuminated Super-LumiNova on the hands and numerals for extra legibility should you be flying a plane. Strap options include a stainless steel bracelet, brown leather, blue fabric and beige NATO, and it comes in at a pretty sizeable 42mm with a blue or black sunray dial. $6725
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph
It’s a very happy 30th birthday to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph this year. The brand is celebrating the rather audacious timepiece (it was not beloved when it debuted) with a limited-edition run of four references that nod to the ’90s, when action movies were major and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the ultimate action man, wore the watch in End of Days, circa 1999. The big, swaggering boldness of action movies of this era suit this swaggering watch and it holds up, especially in these new refined models. Crafted in black ceramic and coming in at 43mm, the textured Tapisserie dial features yellow design accents that pay tribute to the original model, while the titanium used on the studs and caseback keep it light despite appearances. The black calfskin strap with yellow stitching and a textile effect is easily interchangeable for a yellow version. The run on this reference is limited to just 500 pieces. Approx. $252,614
