13 Watch Brands That Are Destined to Have a Big Year in 2025

2025 is shaping up to be a huge year for new watches, as an inordinate number of brands are celebrating major anniversaries.

It’s not always possible to predict which brands will make a big deal out of their milestones. Some brands, like Seiko, seem to celebrate a new anniversary every year. Others, like Rolex, have previously let major milestones — like the 70th anniversary of the Submariner in 2023 — pass with nary a mention.

But in the spirit of speculation, I’ve grouped 13 brands below that are each celebrating a major, round-year milestone this year. A few of these brands have already gotten their celebrations going with special releases that hint at more to come over the next twelve months, while others are yet to show their hand.

In any case, here are 13 watch brands to watch in 2025.

Czapek: 10 Years

Czapek

The Czapek story actually began in 1839 when the company Patek, Czapek, & Cie. was founded by François Czapek and Antoni Patek. Their partnership lasted only six years before the two parted ways, with Patek later co-founding Patek Philippe and Czapek striking out on his own with a solo brand in 1845 — 180 years ago this year — until he literally disappeared in 1871.

The Czapek of today is a contemporary attempt to recapture the spirit of its eponymous 19th-century watchmaker and has only been around since 2015. Over the past decade, the brand has gained a large and dedicated following of collectors thanks to its impressive in-house movements and beautiful, creative designs (its Antartique sports watch is a modern classic). Many of the brand’s releases are special editions, and what better occasion to crank out some extra-special editions than a 10th anniversary?

Jack Mason: 10 Years

Photo by Johnny Brayson for Gear Patrol

Former fashion brand Jack Mason only started targeting watch enthusiasts a couple of years ago, and much of its greatest successes have occurred quite recently, like the Strat-o-timer GMT. So you may be surprised to learn that the Texas-based brand already has a decade of history behind it, with plans on tapping into said history for its big birthday.

In a recent brand video, founder Peter Cho revealed Jack Mason has “something special in the works” for its annivesary as part of the brand’s ultimate goal of becoming the premier American watch brand. Last year saw the release of Jack Mason’s most impressive watch to date, the reimagined Canton, so I’m salivating to think how much better its watches can get.

MB&F: 20 Years

MB&F

Watch industry veteran Max Büsser and his independent watchmaker friends have now been producing their insane horological creations for two decades. The brand is partly responsible for sparking the independent haute horology movement, and its numerous wild innovations are completely unique to the brand.

MB&F is fully committed to celebrating the end of its teenage years, as it has already released a pair of commemorative watches in special “Longhorn” versions of its LM Perpetual and LM Sequential Flyback, while also promising that additional special releases will debut all throughout 2025.

Omega: 30 Years (of James Bond)

Photo by Johnny Brayson for Gear Patrol

Omega was founded in 1848. That’s 177 years ago, so not exactly the sort of round number a brand would typically celebrate. However, the brand’s relationship with James Bond began in 1995 with the film Goldeneye. That was 30 years ago, meaning Omega will almost certainly release some sort of new Bond-themed watch in 2025.

The anniversary comes at an interesting time for Omega. For one, the brand has hinted that the Seamaster, 007’s watch of choice, is due for a major update. What’s more, it’s possible the next Bond could be cast in 2025, as Daniel Craig ended his tenure in 2021. This means we could end up with a perfect storm of a new Bond and a new Seamaster coming together to celebrate three decades together.

TAG Heuer: 40 Years

TAG Heuer

TAG Heuer traces its history to the founding of Heuer, which was 165 years ago in 1860. Will the brand mark 165 years? Eh, maybe. But there’s another anniversary that might make more sense to celebrate. In 1985, TAG bought Heuer, creating the brand TAG Heuer. The new brand ended up being a pretty significant reinvention, with the plastic and affordable Formula 1 watch reinvigorating the brand and making it one of the biggest Swiss watch brands of the ’90s.

Over the past decade, the brand has mainly focused on its mid-century Heuer heritage to win back enthusiasts. But more recently, there has been a warming to the TAG watches of the ’80s and ’90s, to the point where we even saw a new Formula 1 created with Kith last year. Therefore, it’s possible TAG Heuer has something special planned to commemorate four decades of the merger that forever altered the course of the brand.

Maurice Lacroix: 50 Years

Maurice Lacroix

Maurice Lacroix operates in a unique space in the watch industry. It’s priced competitively, which puts it in competition with microbrands that are decades younger. But it operates like a traditional Swiss luxury watchmaker, despite its competition in that category being decades (or centuries) older. It’s a space shared only by a handful of other brands, namely Frederique Constant and Raymond Weil.

Of the three, ML is the oldest, and this year the brand celebrates the big five-oh. That’s quite the achievement, and I could see the brand turning to a couple of its model lines to celebrate. The most obvious is the Aikon, its integrated sports watch that has reinvigorated the brand in recent years. But I could also see ML turning to its somewhat neglected Masterpiece line, where the brand flexes its horological muscles.

Laco: 100 Years

Laco

The flieger is arguably the most recognizable pilot’s watch there is, with a history that stretches back to German military aviators of the 1930s (don’t do the math on that). There were just five brands that created the original fliegers, and it’s an impressive list: IWC, A. Lange & Söhne, Wempe, Stowa and Laco.

Of the five, Laco is easily the most affordable today, making it a great budget option for someone looking to get an authentic flieger on their wrist. Laco as a brand debuted just a decade or so before it made its first flieger in 1925, making this year the 100th anniversary of the brand. Laco is chomping at the bit to get its birthday party started, having already released a 99th-anniversary flieger late last year.

Rolex: 120 Years

Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

Rolex often doesn’t make a big deal about anniversaries, but it also almost never does what’s expected of it, so maybe the Crown will decide that 120 is the year it decides to really celebrate.

I’m not really convinced that’s going to happen — 120 years is kind of a weird number to rally around — but I never want to count Rolex out when it comes to anything. In addition to the company milestone, Rolex also has a couple of major models celebrating some big birthdays this year. The GMT-Master turns 70 (it debuted in 1954, but Rolex officially counts 1955 as its launch year), while the Datejust marks its 80th year, so maybe those watches will get some extra attention.

Audemars Piguet: 150 Years

Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet is more of a sure thing when it comes to having an anniversary celebration this year, as 150 years is quite a major achievement. (It really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?) I don’t know what special watches we’ll see from the brand, but you can bet the Royal Oak will be involved, given that 158 of the 187 watches currently offered by the brand are some kind of Royal Oak.

But I hope we get more than just new Royal Oaks. The sports watch only debuted in 1972, meaning AP existed for 97 years before it ever made a Royal Oak. That’s a lot of history to draw from, and I’d love to see the brand bring back some of its hidden gems and dress watches — like a gold perpetual calendar, perhaps — to celebrate a wider range of its history than just its flagship sports watch.

Bulova: 150 Years

Photo by Johnny Brayson for Gear Patrol

You’ll notice the few brands older than Bulova on this list all have one thing in common: they’re all Swiss. But not Bulova. The brand is based in the US of A and always has been. Its current headquarters are in the Empire State Building; it doesn’t get any more American than that.

“We’re the only brand that has been in this country for 150 years uninterrupted,” Jeffrey Cohen, President of Citizen Watch America told me last year at the premiere of America Telling Time: 150 Years of Bulova, a full-length documentary about the century-and-a-half history of the brand. The film is impressive and will give any viewer a greater appreciation of Bulova’s many accomplishments, but I doubt the movie is all the brand has planned for its 150th celebration.

Breguet: 250 Years

Breguet

Breguet was founded by its namesake, Abraham-Louis Breguet, 250 years ago. In the two-and-a-half centuries sense, the brand has had an outsized impact on the field of horology, with its eponymous founder’s inventions like the tourbillon, Breguet coil, and Breguet hands and numerals finding their way into watches from countless brands over the centuries.

Whatever Breguet has in store for such a monumental anniversary, it’s sure to be impressive. I’m picturing some sort of horological masterwork that would’ve made its founder — arguably the greatest and most accomplished watchmaker of all time — proud beyond words.

Vacheron Constantin: 270 Years

Vacheron Constantin

Vacheron Constantin isn’t quite the oldest watch brand in existence, but it is the oldest continually operating watch brand. At no point in its 270-year history was Vacheron Constantin not producing watches for an extended period of time. That is a remarkable achievement and part of what makes the watch industry so special and unique — there are no 270-year-old car brands, after all.

Vacheron already kicked off its 270-year celebration earlier this month by recreating its original integrated sports watch from the 1970s, the 222, in stainless steel. This is already the most hyped watch of this young year, but Vacheron is just getting started. The brand has 11 months to continue wowing us.

Blancpain: 290 Years

Blancpain

Due to a few decades of dormancy throughout its history, Blancpain hasn’t been in continuous operation for as long as Vacheron. But since it was founded two decades earlier and still exists, it beats out VC for the title of oldest extant watch brand.

290 is sort of an odd number, and I’m sure most of the brand’s major celebrations will be saved for year 300. But at this extreme advanced age, every milestone is worth celebrating (as Vacheron is proving at 270). Blancpain has a recent history of creating truly excellent anniversary pieces, like the 70th anniversary Fifty Fathoms Act 3 from 2023, so I’m excited to see what the brand puts out this year.

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