Guide: Albin's 10 favourites from 2022
How do you sum up a year full of watches? The watch world is bigger than you think, and every time you feel you have seen a fair number of watches, something completely new always turns up.
Text: Albin Johansson
Photo: Eqotime
How do you sum up a year filled with watches? The watch world is bigger than you think, and every time you feel you have seen quite a lot of watches, something completely new always turns up.
During 2022 quite a lot of new releases have arrived and some have impressed me more than others. Some of them are extremely complicated watches from prestige manufacturers, and others barely show the time and are from small manufacturers I had not heard of until I held the watch in my hand. I prefer feeling over specifications and tell you why I like a watch rather than what water pressure it can handle or the size. So so here are my 10 favourites from the past year, enjoy!
Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante
Czapek is an independent manufacturer that I have increasingly had my eyes opened to during the year. With a naturally limited production and a well-judged balance between sports watches and more classically designed watches with a modern twist, the brand has become a personal favourite.
The Antarctique Rattrapante is a sports chronograph on a bracelet limited to 99 watches annually. The skeletonised dial looks very good, and the watch is very wearable on the wrist. What we have in the rattrapante is quite simply a complicated sports watch. I got the chance to fit a rubber on the watch at the photo shoot for our article on Czapek, and for me that took the watch to the next level and I was sold immediately.
Read more about Czapek in our article here.
Longines Spirit Zulu Time
Longines is one of my personal favourite brands. The reasons are several and have to do with everything from their history to the fact that they repeatedly release new models that look really good at relative affordable prices. With the Spirit Zulu Time they managed to get my favourite complication (GMT) into a model that both wears well and looks right.
The watch comes in several versions and my favourite is the one with a green bezel on leather. The blue variant with sunburst finish also looks very good. Some watches you never need to take off the wrist and they suit most things, the Spirit Zulu Time is one of them, and for this one that also applies when you go abroad and want to keep track of several time zones.
We took the opportunity, in collaboration with Longines, to do a proper hands-on of the model which you will find here.
Tudor Pelagos 39
Tudor is doing completely the right things right now, and when they released the new Pelagos 39 it was close to a bullseye for me.
There is something special about watches in titanium, and for me divers in titanium are real tool watches where the element of weight has been removed to make the instrument easier to use. The weight can be brought down further when you have the watch on the rubber strap. Tudor often has elements from big brother Rolex, and with the red text on the dial on a light diver that sits really well on the wrist it feels like a real premium diver. The classic snowflake hands also lift the watch considerably with a wink to the manufacturer's history. Had they skipped the sunburst on the dial and made it matt black it would have been a bullseye for me.
Don't miss our article on the Tudor pelagos 39 here.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skelton 8 days
Ever since Bulgari presented the Octo Finissimo they have shifted into a new gear when it comes to producing exciting models, which was not least noticable this year during Geneva Watch Days where they showed, among other things, something that would become one of my favourites for the year.
Bulgari's Octo Finissimo series is focused on thin watches. When a manual rose gold one with 8 days of power reserve and a total height of just under 6mm turns up, it is thumbs up from me. A really good-looking watch from a manufacturer that keeps impressing.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Skeleton Tourbillon
Once again a beast in a skeleton version, but this time in Titanium. This watch just looks so raw that I cannot help loving it. The Overseas is a model I like, and Vacheron Constantin needs no closer introduction.
A fun feature in my opinion is that the watch has no other complications than the tourbillon itself. Beyond time display of hour, minute and seconds it has no date function or similar. The watch is like a work of art you can wear on the wrist.
A hands-on article on the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Skeleton Tourbillon Titanium is found now here.
Sjöö Sandström Landsort
After many years of waiting for Swedish Sjöö Sandström they finally released their new version of the Landsort. A proper Swedish diver inspired by the deepest point of the Baltic Sea, which lies off the island of Landsort (Öja) in Stockholm's southern archipelago.
The new model came in four different versions, three in steel and one in bronze with a green dial limited to 100 watches. The model has become neater and wears better on the wrist while at the same time it looks really good, in particular the bronze model.
Read more about the new Landsort here.
Rolex GMT-Master 126720VTNR
I considered not having this watch on the list but on closer thought it has its place among my favourites. A modern GMT with a ceramic bezel and the crown on the ”wrong” side of the case in a wink to Rolex's history. The watch is so wrong and right at the same time that I find it hard not to like it, while at the same time I think it looks really good.
Patek Philippe World Time 5230P
If you like GMT watches then the step is not far to liking Worldtimers. The heavyweight Patek Philippe has a rich history when it comes to these, and in connection with Watches & Wonders they presented a new release I would not have minded adding to the collection.
Read more about Patek Philippe's new releases from 2022 here.
Patek Philippe Annual Calendar 5205R
Two Patek Philippe in the same top list? Yes, if they are this good you have to. The 5205R has long been one of my favourites. Earlier versions have existed with, for example, a black dial, but this year they released one with a green dial and the pictures get to speak for themselves.
Read more about Patek Philippe's new releases from 2022 here.
Omega Seamaster Diver 300m
Last but not least an iconic diver that has helped many watch enthusiasts take the step in with their first ”real” watch. The Omega Seamaster professional 300m was one of my first watches and it always has a special place in the watch heart. When Omega presented the new green model this year it ticked many important boxes for me.
Read more about the model here.
Summary
When I take a look at the watches above I see a clear thread, green dials, divers and complicated sports watches seem to have made the biggest impression on me during 2022, but there were of course quite a lot of watches that did not fit. We will see what next year's top list looks like and I hope that 2023 becomes just as strong a year in terms of new releases as this one was.
Don't miss seeing my colleagues' top lists: Aleksandar, Mia and Britta.
