Guide: Britta's 10 favourites from 2023

Text: Britta Rossander
Photo: Mia Litström / The manufacturers

The year 2023 offered a large and colourful palette of watch models. Several brands offered watches with vintage aesthetics and modern technology. That does of course make it possible to get fantastic design from yesterday without having to worry about the service and purchase problems associated with vintage watches bought second hand. Here come a few personal favourites from the year that has passed in no particular order. 

Blancpain Ladybird Colors ref. 3661A-1954-95A 

A watch that makes you happy with a case in white gold and 56 diamonds around the dial. The watch has printed indexes in graduated size in all the colours of the rainbow, a small seconds at six o'clock and a dial in mother of pearl. The twelve hour markers are all printed at least five times so that the colours get as much depth as possible. Five straps, in alligator, come with it, whose colours have been given names such as lemon sorbet yellow, raspberry pink, apple green, midnight blue and white, are easy to change with a well functioning quick change system. Through the case back in sapphire crystal the well decorated movement is visible in all its glory. 

Cartier Mini Baignoire ref. HPI01607

A delightful time-taking jewel in white gold with masses of diamonds.

Since Cartier started as a jeweller before he took on designing watches there are many Cartier watches that blur the line between timekeeper and jewel which means the brand has an easy time reaching the female wrists. This combination is clearly visible in the design of the Mini Baignoire. The combination of clean lines, miniature dial and the amount of diamonds makes the Mini Baignoire a piece of jewellery. 

An early version of this design came as early as 1912 when Louis Cartier – grandson of the founder Louis-François Cartier – created his first oval watch. But it was not until 1958 that the design was developed. That year the oval Cintrée watch was launched and in 1973 it was named Baignoire a word that comes from the French word for bathtub and just like the Panthère de Cartier watch the Baignoire is now a jewellery watch par excellence.

Certina DS Action Diver ref. C032.607.38.051.00

A black case in steel with a rotating ring in matt black ceramic and a coal black NATO strap makes this watch really good looking. Super-LumiNova® on the hands and indexes as well as on the markings on the rotating bezel ring means that even though it is all black it is easy to read under water. The case's matt black ceramic black ring is a perfect background for the dive time scale. The PVD coating on the case's steel gives a good looking black tone and the black NATO strap is a perfect match. 

The watch of course meets the requirements of the ISO 6425 standard for being a real diver's watch. The unidirectional rotating bezel ring, the screwed crown and the case together with the DS (double security) concept, mean that the watch is safely water resistant to 300 metres.

Chopard L.U.C. 1860 ref. 168860-3003

A reissue of an earlier success model can be tricky with Chopard has hit completely right with the new L.U.C 1860 in Lucent Steel. L.U.C was launched in 1997 with the L.U.C 1860 with the in-house calibre 1.96. certified according to the highest standard. Right from the day it was released up to today, it is known as one of the best modern and good looking suit watches. A case in steel with a salmon coloured dial that is close to a copper tone. Hour markers and hands in white gold. The date display at 6 o'clock is gone and this version without a date looks better than its predecessor. The somewhat toned down look on the new L.U.C 1860 feels more wearable.

The new L.U.C 1860 is a further development of the original and the first steel watch in the series. This is in my opinion as close as you get to the ideal of a modern, dressed watch.

Czapek Antarctique S Sashiko 

With a candy pink dial and a Japanese inspired embroidery pattern it takes place number one in this year's flood of watches with pink dials. The automatic calibre SXH5.01 is the first created in-house by Czapek. The other details have been done with care and with the help of the foremost Swiss craftsmen within ”la crème de la crème”, which is part of the ”We Collect Rare People” spirit of the group directed by Czapek. 

Through the sapphire crystal on the back of the case you can see that the micro rotor is placed to the side of the centre to make the mechanism and its exceptional architecture visible. The parts of the movement have a superb finish done with state of the art laser engraving.

The dial pays tribute to the geometric lines and the three-dimensionality of the traditional Japanese embroideries developed in Japan during the Edo period. The lotus pink tone shifts between sugar sweet pink and a hint of purple depending on the light. It is possible to order the watch with a diamond at every index if you so wish. 

A Lange & Söhne Odysseus Chronograph ref. 463.178

This choice perhaps does not have so much to do with the watch itself but more with how it was presented. 

It is four years since A. Lange & Söhne launched its first sporty and elegant watch with the model Odysseus. The company's first in steel with its own design language and a tailor-made movement. That there would be more models in the Odysseus family was clear right from the start. 

At Watches & Wonders in March the Odysseus Chronograph was presented the follow-up to the watch family's success story. It was also the only watch that was presented and that was exactly how CEO Wilhelm Schmid wanted it. He told us that the first own chronograph would shine in solitary majesty both out of pride that they had been able to develop it and with respect for everyone who had worked on it. 

This was something completely new in terms of presentation – we are after all used to having trouble keeping all the watches apart – here they pointed with the whole hand and let nobody miss what they had achieved.   

Beauregard Lili Bouton

Lili Bouton is sophisticated, has a dial of onyx (8 ct) and gets brilliance from diamonds as well as having a case in rose gold (it is also available in white gold). Onyx is said to strengthen self-confidence and designer. The owner of the brand, Alexandre Beauregard, is known for his choices of interesting gemstones.  

The company, with an address both in Geneva and Montréal, was founded in 2018 and four family members under the leadership of the father of the family the jeweller and watchmaker Alexandre Beauregard work together. That I bring this up is because the watches they produce are outstandingly beautiful and that it is the only independent watch brand that expressly makes for female wrists. 

Rolex Perpetual 1908 ref. 52508 / 52509

The model 1908 is the first model out in the Perpetual series and a tribute to the year Hans Wilsdorf named his brand ”Rolex” and also took the opportunity to register it in Switzerland. It is an elegant discreet watch with a thin case that easily slips in under a cuff which hardly any other Rolex models do.

The case is available in yellow or white gold and it has a sapphire crystal back (another contemporary step for Rolex) which means the movement with its engraving is fully visible. A dial in white or black – where I personally prefer the classic white – has Arabic numerals at 3, 9 and 12 o'clock, otherwise it is facetted hour markers. A small seconds at 6 o'clock, feels obvious, with the words ”Superlative Chronometer” above in an arc shape. The hour hand has a circular opening just before the tip which is rather good looking, the minute hand is like a double-edged sword. The model can be had with a brown or black alligator strap. The 1908 is equipped with the new calibre 7140, which was presented this year. The movement parts are decorated with Rolex Côtes de Genève, the company's reinterpretation of the well known engraving used since the 1800s by many brands.  

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Secret Necklace ref. Q3272301

This year's most beautiful and most elegant variant of the ”nurse's watch” that is to sit in a pendant. 

Already in LeCoultre & Cie’s day they realised the potential in the aesthetic and technical part of watches that could be worn as jewels and accessories. The model Reverso was after all originally developed for men who played horse polo but it started to appear in feminine variants fairly soon after the launch in 1931. Models have been made that can be used as brooches, handbag clips and pendants and in 2023 we got an interpretation of the Reverso in the form of High Jewellery. The Reverso Secret Necklace is an Art Deco inspired jewel that hides a timekeeper that is to be read upside down when you lift the watch and look down at it.  

Chanel Mademoiselle Privé Pique-Aiguilles Pearls Motif ref. H9466

A watch in the new series of five extraordinary watches connected to Chanel's classics within fashion. The domed shape of the sapphire crystal and the size of the case are inspired by the pin cushions the seamstresses have on their wrists when they work and every model has an exceptionally ”oversize” case with a domed crystal. The dials are works of art with diamonds, gold and pearls against a black base where you can see the ”fabric's” threads. These watches are a refined variant of fashion watches in the noblest materials and really completely crazy but still seductive in their design and a lovely way to combine watches with haute couture. 

An eleventh watch that gets to tag along just because it is such a clean-lined watch without a single silly thing – just classic elegance and masterly craftsmanship.

Breguet Classique 7637 Répétition Minutes

Among all the watches sprung from sometimes strange new thinking it is nice for the eye to see a watch in classic style with a classic complication of master class. The minute repeater is one of the most remarkable complications and Abraham-Louis Breguet created in 1783 his construction left marks in watchmaking history. It is as a tribute to this that Breguet this autumn launched this future classic which takes more than a month to create since every watch is handmade. Grand feu enamel on the dial ”baked” countless rounds at over 800 degrees and a movement engraved according to Breguet's spécialité with decorations on every single millimetre. The minute repeater is activated with the help of the sliding button at 9 o'clock. 

That minute repeaters are still made is of course because the collector value is so extremely high. Fun to know is that the complication arose out of a need due to the fact that before we had electricity it was difficult in the 1600s to tell the time after nightfall. Watchmakers competed to find ways to create a watch that could chime on demand. The solution came as early as around 1680 with the invention of the first repeating movement.

For 2024 we can perhaps expect:

More colours for dials, new case materials and a trend with smaller cases. More colour is a trend that is here to stay and during next year it will probably continue and likewise the smaller case size. We will probably see both light and pastel coloured dials even from the most established brands. 

Regarding the economy it will probably not be a ”guarantee” that a watch will go up in value if you have the chance to buy the regular retail channel but availability will hopefully have improved and new releases will perhaps arrive faster to the authorised retailers.