2021 came out swinging, with some heavy-hitting watches and some quietly cool ones as well — we expect that the watch industry is just warming up for bigger releases yet to come. With the likes of Jaeger-LeCoultre kicking off a year celebrating the 90th anniversary of its iconic Reverso, this month brands big and small introduced everything from simple updates to existing models and even some new looks here and there. There are also some cool accessories for watch lovers you won’t want to miss in this roundup of January’s top drops.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is celebrating it’s iconic Reverso watch’s 90 birthday this year, starting with a new version with a strap made by Casa Fagliano. Outfitted with a burgundy dial and a pink gold case, the new Reverso Tribute Duoface Fagliano pays homage to one of the earliest Reversos, which began using colored dials as early the 1930s. Flip the case over, and a silver 24-hour dial on the other side can be set separately to display another time zone.
The vintage-styled and -sized (37mm) Zenith Chronomaster Revival El Primero A385 looks great in just about every new iteration that comes out. This is also true of the latest version, which has a “smoked” light brown dial with a gradient effect.
Our friends at Cantonment have partnered with our favorite maker of military watch homages, MkII. The result is a set of two neckerchiefs in red and blue with a horological motif available in different colors.
Fascinating both technically and visually, the Ochs und Junior Calendario Cent’anni is a perpetual calendar watch that’s made to accurately track the calendar and display the correct date for 100 years (theoretically, at least).
The bund strap originated in military pilot use, later becoming a popular 1970s style, and this one is amusingly named after Hodinkee editor-at-large and proponent of bringing it back, Jason Heaton. You know what, Jason? I’m with you, and absolutely need one of these to put on my retro-styled chrono!
Until recently the Hamilton Intra-Matic collection consisted of a dressy time-only watch, as well as chronograph with a sportier 60s flare. Both were popular, so the brand is now offering more of what fans love by mixing the two. This means a the chronograph’s casual look is now available as a nicely sized (40mm) three-hand watch that’s thinner and more affordable than the chrono, to boot.
G-Shock’s series of premium watches featuring the iconic square case executed in stainless steel continues to grow. The latest model has a red finish and even a red screen for its digital display, as well as expected premium features like solar charging, bluetooth and more.
The quartz-powered Avi-8 Hawker Hurricane Help for Heroes Chronograph Limited Edition is part of the brand’s ongoing support of the Help for Heroes foundation for veterans. Limited to 500 examples, the company will donate a minimum of GBP25,000, or 5% of the watch’s sale price, to the charity.
One of the most innovative and unique watch brands in existence, Ressence’s latest watch features its signature oil-filled case and dial which itself rotates to display the time. This 10th-anniversary version of its Type 1 has a metallic green dial and colored ceramic ball bearings visible on the 24-hour dial that function as a day-night indicator. It’s limited to 40 examples.
The latest watch from independent brand Ming has a minimalist design in a 6.9mm-thin case. It features a sapphire crystal dial and a hand-wound movement visible through the case back with extensive custom modification and decoration, and it’s limited to 200 examples.
The new Station Agent watch joins of Shinola’s Runwell collection and offers a Swiss automatic movement (SW260) with a slightly different look. Its classic design and small seconds subdial evoke the pocket watches developed for the early railroads — and so does its case size at a prominent 45mm.
Panerai Guillaume Néry Special Edition Luminor Marina PAM1122 Watch
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The newest collaboration between Italian watchmaker Panerai and French free diver Guillaume Néry has a technical feel, taking the form of a titanium dive watch with a rubber bezel and a strap made recycled materials. The watch also comes with an impressive 70-year warranty.
Oris’s Diver Sixty-Five watches have been highly popular, and its bronze-cased editions honoring navy diver Carl Brashear are some of the coolest. This limited edition is among the first watches to be fitted with a version of the brand’s new in-house automatic movement, which offers five days of power reserve. It’s got a 40mm bronze case and is water-resistant to 100m.
To be clear, this is a watch you are looking at. It indeed tells the time and is worn on the wrist, but it’s first and foremost intended as art — because this is the modus operandi of high-end Swiss watchmaker MB&F. The case’s shape is meant to reference “automotive and aeronautic designs of the 1940s and 50s,” and this version has been executed in sapphire crystal in order to display the complicated mechanism inside.
This particular Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso is not a watch but the name of a book… about the famous watch. Celebrating the Reverso’s 90th birthday, the hardcover book printed by Assouline traces the watch’s history, 50+ movements and hundreds of dial variations with extensive illustrations.
There’s an easy and expected way to do a collab watch: take an off-the-shelf model and give it some fresh dial highlights and slap on the partnering brand’s name. But Seiko isn’t known for being lazy. The new Seiko x Neighborhood Prospex SBDY077 watch offers a novel combination of familiar elements from the Japanese brand’s famous dive watches for a fresh look incorporating an automatic movement, all at under $700.
High-end, avant-garde brand Urwerk makes watches that are super unique, to say the very least. The UR-100 series features the brand’s signature satellite time display system (discs showing the hours rotate and themselves indicate the minutes by traveling along a scale). Like others featuring the perhaps reptilian-looking hobnail case pattern, this one is also dubbed T-Rex, and it features a case made from bronze.
The 1970s design of Girard-Perregaux’s Laureato with its angular, Royal Oak-like bezel has been reimagined in recent years as a hyper-modern sport watch. Here, it features a chronograph and a case made from a proprietary material called Carbon Glass — the bezel is made from the same material but incorporates elements of blue for an even funkier look. This “Wired” edition is only available online and helps announce the brand’s new e-commerce platform.
Citizen Super Titanium Satellite Wave GPS F950 Watch
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The Satellite Wave GPS watches represent Citizen’s most practical, accurate and advanced tech. These premium, luxury-priced watches are meant as the ultimate travel tool, the newest of which is the F950. It’s got a lightweight titanium case, solar charging and the latest tech offering the ability to adjust the time automatically anywhere on earth (along with other impressive features).
Le Jour offers a historic name and a pretty unique look with this cushion-shaped new collection available in multiple dial colors. It’s powered by a Swiss automatic movement and measures a bold-wearing 42mm wide (we’d like to see it at 38mm).
Danish brand REC has built a brand around reclaiming materials from vintage cars to be repurposed for use in its watches. The latest watches, called P-51 Little Red and P-51 Green Hornet, use metal from two Prototype Shelby Mustang GT500 EXPs from 1967 and 1968, respectively.
Jaeger-LeCoultre
