The Biggest Watch Releases of the Year Are Coming. Here’s What You Need to Know

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It was the Before Times when there was last a major, in-person watch trade show in Geneva. Though many things look different than in 2019, this month will see watchmakers and journalists once again descend on Switzerland for the biggest horological moment of 2022. On March 30th, the show Watches & Wonders Geneva will open and host 38 brands from Rolex to Patek Philippe, and Gear Patrol will be on the scene.

Here’s what you can look forward to.

Giddiness over Rolex and Patek Philippe

Yes, your prayers will be answered and dreams will come true: Rolex’s major product reveal for the year will take place at Watches & Wonders, and a big one is expected from Patek, too. As always, Rolex will update multiple lines but give one collection the spotlight. Nobody except Rolex knows what it’ll be, as these announcements are guarded like state secrets, but you can expect Rolex rumors and speculation to build ahead of time — and that whatever Rolex announces won’t be a major departure for the brand.

The successor to Patek Philippe’s discontinued reference 5711 Nautilus is also widely anticipated, and there are rumors about what it might look like. Lest we get lost in hype over the Nautilus, though, we can also expect a range of interesting models from the prestigious brand. Rolex and Patek together are the cherry on top of all the cool watches you can expect to come out of shows like Watches & Wonders. We’ll have our own predictions soon, and of course insight on the new watches when they’re revealed.

Watches & Wonders

Tudor and Cartier are another couple of brands to watch

These heavy hitters get attention by the very virtue of their popularity, but they also both have track records of making a splash at shows like Watches & Wonders. As Rolex’s sister brand, Tudor naturally has some of its sibling’s mojo, but it’s also exciting because its releases are typically far more accessible. Further, Tudor is known to make some daring and unexpected decisions.

Measured by revenue, Cartier was beat only by Rolex among watch brands in 2021, according to a Morgan Stanley report. So, the brand is a big deal, boasting a number of iconic models, but they also regularly impress with creative design, notable new collections and surprising moves (such as their solar-charging Tank collection in 2021).

There’ll be more cool watches than just the headliners

Some major brands steal a lot of the spotlight, but much of the fun of watch release season comes from variety and discovery. Brands of all different stripes at Watches & Wonders will be debuting everything from sporty everyday watches to those with impressive technology, innovative materials and fascinating crafts — although the Watches & Wonders brands lean toward luxury and the high-end of watchmaking. We’ll be bringing you the highlights of all these cool products.

The 38 watch brands that are officially presenting at Watches & Wonders are:

A. Lange & Söhne – Angelus – Armin Strom – Arnold & Son – Baume & Mercier – Cartier – Cyrus – Czapek & Cie – Chanel – Chopard – Ferdinand Berthoud – Grand Seiko – Hermès – H. Moser & Cie. – Hublot – IWC – Jaeger-LeCoultre – Laurent Ferrier – Louis Moinet – Montblanc – Oris – Panerai – Parmigiani – Patek Philippe – Piaget – Rebellion – Ressence – Roger Dubuis – Rolex – Rudis Sylva – Speake-Marin – TAG Heuer – Trilobe – Tudor – Ulysse Nardin – Vacheron Constantin – Van Cleef & Arpels – Zenith

Watches & Wonders

Trends like smaller cases, green dials and vintage reissues will continue

Across brands, existing trends are going strong. With enthusiasm for vintage and retro styles has come smaller case diameters, and the preponderance of “oversized” watch cases of several years ago seems mostly gone. Green dials (and bezels and straps) are still popular, but we’re looking forward to more color mini-trends — brown dials tend to look great on retro watches and seem to reference “tropical” dials. More of those, please.

We’ve previously noted that the category of “sports-chic” watch created by the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak (and bolstered by the Patek Philippe Nautilus) has been gaining momentum in recent years. This year, though, it’s in the zeitgeist more than ever, with the Royal Oak turning 50 and much anticipation around the Nautilus (as mentioned above). This has seen brands of all kinds and price points offer their own interpretation of the concept, and we might very well see more still.

Brands not showing at Watches & Wonders will also launch new collections

Until 2020, the Swatch Group‘s show Baselworld was the biggest watch industry event of the year while its rival Richemont had its own show called SIHH. A lot has changed since 2020, though, with Baselworld no longer being held and SIHH expanding to become the new biggest show as Watches & Wonders.

Watches & Wonders isn’t only for Richemont’s circa dozen brands, but you won’t find the Swatch Group companies there, like Omega, Hamilton, Longines, Tissot and others. Also conspicuously absent are Japanese watchmakers Seiko (though Grand Seiko will be there), Casio and Citizen. That hasn’t stopped them and others from capitalizing on the excitement and some have already made their big 2022 announcements (like Omega). Other brands, too, will be making the most of the moment and dropping all kinds of new releases.

In other words, scads of cool new watches are coming your way soon.

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