Guide: Filip's 10 favourites from 2023

Text: Filip Ericsson

The news from the watch manufacturers has come thick and fast during 2023. Many an interesting wristwatch has seen the light of day and to list ten favourites from the past year is therefore not so easy. But the author of this article has made an attempt and below follow my favourites, in all price ranges! 

Cartier Tank Cintrée Platinum 

As usual the famous French jewellery and watch manufacturer needs no introduction, except perhaps that the company was founded in Paris in 1847, that the watches are made in Switzerland and that it today is part of the Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont.  

With that said we can go straight to the news in question. The Cartier Tank Cintrée is a real old goodie in the brand's history which ever since 1921 has constituted a formal one-off on the watch market as well as in the Cartier palette. 

The Cartier Tank is after all a historic exclamation mark in itself, an iconic model series that was launched in 1917 and which subsequently spawned a good number of variants in different shapes, but all with the typical tank shape seen from above in common. The Cintrée has with its long, narrow shape probably always represented the most extreme and studied outpost in the extensive Tank programme, where the decadent art deco philosophy has been taken the very furthest.  

The Tank Cintrée in itself is thus nothing new for Cartier, instead the news consists of a variant in platinum, the noblest of case materials. Platinum variants have existed before but the new watch is based on the hundred-year jubilarian that came in 2021, which received a new, extra thin case. That watch was however executed in gold.  

The new platinum Cintrée thereby has the same beautifully curved shape as always, where the case as it were hugs the wrist, an ergonomic concession to make the elongated case sit comfortably. The measurements are after all extreme, with 46x23mm in length/width as well as only 6mm in thickness. Refinement cubed.  

Inside sits a mechanical, hand-wound movement in the form of the Cartier Caliber 9780 MC, which is in fact a Caliber 849 from Jaeger-LeCoultre. The unit is a mere 1.85mm tall and thereby one of the world's thinnest movements. Of course nothing to be ashamed of even in a watch like the Cartier Cintrée in platinum.  

The finish of the case and dial is not unexpectedly fantastic but a little unusual is that the watch is not at all designated as water resistant. Not even 30 metres then. The crown is incidentally adorned, in the customary Cartier manner, with a precious stone, in this case a red ruby.  

Only 150 watches are to be built and it is unclear whether all are sold. The price is in any case stated at 38 500 dollars. A sum that few can (or want to) spend on a wristwatch, but more class than this is after all hard to find.  

The Cintrée in platinum comes across as the dress watch's dress watch, a collector's item like few others and an exceedingly beautiful piece of jewellery that ought to grace any occasion whatsoever. Enchanting.  

H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Small Seconds Micro-Rotor 

The exclusive Swiss brand with the awkward name is one of the few manufacturers that compete with Patek Philippe and company at the very top cream of the watch industry. The company was founded in Russia in 1828 but the entire operation moved to Switzerland in 1953. 

Like so many other Swiss brands during the 60s and 70s H. Moser & Cie disappeared during the so-called quartz crisis, and did not rise again until 2002 where the great-grandson of the founder Heinrich Moser, Roger Nicholas Balsinger, was one of those involved. 

In 2005 the doors opened to the company's new factory in German-speaking Schaffhausen and the same year the first watches were released in the form of advanced, mechanical dress watches in the top price segment.  

In 2020 came the watch that would really put the brand on the map: the Streamliner. It was an entry into the much-buzzed segment “luxury sports watches with integrated bracelet”, where Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet have reigned since the 1970s. The first Streamliner consisted of an eye-catching flyback chronograph at 42mm. 

With its organic shapes the brand added something completely new and of its own to the luxury sports segment, something for those who wanted to be avant-garde where Patek and Audemars have after all accustomed the public's eyes for decades. This year H. Moser & Cie have refined the concept and chiselled out something that is bound to appeal to even more connoisseurs.  

It concerns a “time only” watch with a small seconds hand at “six o'clock” and a case that has been scaled down to a harmonious 39mm – as well as a cool 10.9mm in height. The development is a big thing in itself for the exclusive little brand but it is the dial that is bound to make most jaws drop.   

The dial is executed in enamel in a deep blue colour and with a sort of rough surface, which someone described as “a bubbling deep blue body of water”. The effect is peerless and with the clean hands and the seconds hand's little circle with its contrasting even surface the perfection is total. 

Inside sits a really high-standing in-house movement with a micro-rotor in platinum that offers a good 74 hours of power reserve. The Streamliner is resistant to a fit-for-purpose 120 metres and the price is 29 900 Swiss francs. At the exchange rate at the time of writing that means a bit north of 300 000 kronor. If it tastes good it costs.  

The new Streamliner comes across as extremely clean and elegant, all emphasised by case and bracelet executed in almost exclusively brushed steel, with only minimal elements of polished surfaces that break it up. See how case and bracelet as it were melt together and belong together. With its perfected shape, dazzled detail work and sophisticated micro-rotor technology – surely this is horology of the best class! 

IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40

The new, long-awaited Ingenieur from IWC is so perfect that it almost feels contrived, but that does not stop it from taking part on the list of the year's best newcomers. To ignore it would be close to dereliction of duty.  

The mythical luxury brand from German-speaking Schaffhausen in Switzerland has a devoted crowd of followers and enthusiasts around the world. And that is no wonder with the glorious history that follows the brand, a status that has arisen mainly through its legendary pilot's watches.  

That they have gone a little under the radar and chiselled out a sort of technical, masculine stamp in their brand DNA instead of glossiness and glamour, is bound to be one of the reasons for that. 

It is thus in the instrument watches that one finds IWC's soul and therein one of the brand's great classics – the Ingenieur – also plays a significant role. The model was presented in 1954, an instrument watch for professionals with a need for an exact timekeeper that is not affected by magnetic fields.  

In 1976 the model took a step towards the then new segment of luxury sports watches with a new version drawn by the design genius Gerald Genta. It hit so right that a Genta-inspired Ingenieur was in production all the way until 2017.     

Then the model was transformed, to many people's chagrin, into an astonishingly bland product, far from its predecessor's idiosyncratically industrial beauty. They evidently chose to create a strongly retro-inspired Ingenieur, but lost their way along the road.    

After the tired retro turn there were therefore many who wished for a new Ingenieur that returned to the Genta roots, and at the beginning of the year the prayers came true. The new Ingenieur winked so clearly at the Genta original that one can in principle speak of a retro turn here too, though with the gaze towards 1976 instead of 1954.  

The air went out of it somewhat however when the price was revealed; the new watch is more than twice as expensive as the previous model, with a Swedish list price of 142 000 kronor for the steel variant. That comes across as insanely expensive when for example a Rolex Explorer 40mm has a price tag of 87 100 kronor.  

If you can swallow that, IWC has created a real dream Ingenieur, with perfected shape, perfect measurements and exquisite technical specifications. The new watch is 40mm across the case and a mere 10.7mm in height, thinner than many luxury sports watches on the market.  

Inside ticks the IWC Caliber 32111, which according to the company is constructed in-house, but which is in fact a unit developed by ValFleurier within the Richemont group, of which IWC is part. That means that the same base and the same parts are shared with other brands in the group. 

Nothing wrong with that for the 32111 is undeniably a state-of-the-art movement that belongs in a high-grade instrument watch like the Ingenieur. The group's movements are also acknowledged as well constructed and reliable and in the 32111 there are silicon parts for low friction and antimagnetic properties, as well as 120 hours of power reserve. Top notch then.  

On the inside of the case there is, in typical Ingenieur manner, also a membrane of iron to shut out magnetic fields, an important property of the model. Otherwise it is water resistant to the equivalent of 100 metres.  

The Ingenieur is offered with a case in steel or titanium. With the steel version there are black, white and green dials while the titanium variant is sold with a silver-coloured dial. The model is delivered with a steel/titanium bracelet of the so-called integrated type, a hallmark of the model as well as of the luxury sports watch segment in which the Ingenieur can be said to belong.  

A dream watch then but the question is how many will swallow the price. 

Longines Conquest 34 & 41mm 

The Longines Conquest is a good old Longines model that came out in 1954 and which since then has played the role of the elegant sports watch in the Longines palette. Recent years' Conquest has however consisted of a rather clumsy and uninteresting creation, at least if you ask the author of this article.  

That is why it is gratifying that for 2023 they have taken a new grip and launched a completely new and considerably more graceful variant on the theme and thereby returned to the great old Conquest days.  

At the same time it is strange how quiet the company has been about its new favourite. No big campaigns and equally quiet it has been from the big watch magazines/sites. High time for a presentation then! 

The Conquest is something so unusual as a Longines novelty that is not part of its extensive heritage range, which has after all almost entirely taken over the model programme. The Conquest Heritage, which in terms of shape reconnects with the equivalent of old times, has after all long been in the programme.  

The new Conquest instead shakes off the old and takes the model to new, modern grounds. And the result is both handsome and tasteful, far from its predecessor's unwieldiness. A harmoniously shaped, satisfyingly thin case surrounds beautiful dials in “sunray” finish in different colours, while an elegant steel bracelet strengthens the impression of a luxury sports watch, surely deliberately given the segment's popularity.  

The new Conquest comes with two case sizes of 34 and 41mm respectively, one for her and one for him (even though certain narrow-wristed men can guaranteed wear the small one without shame). The thickness is 10.9mm for both.  

Both variants are driven by the brand's renowned Caliber L888, a modern automatic movement that has been developed by ETA exclusively for Longines. Both Longines and ETA are after all part of the Swatch Group. The movement offers 72 hours of power reserve and a balance spring in fashionable silicon which gives good antimagnetic properties. Splendid for the price range. 

The Conquest is as it should be resistant to 100 metres and is offered with a dial in black, silver, green, blue and brown. The price is 25 750 kr for both the small and the large one. Time to buy! 

Omega Seamaster PloProf Summer Blue 

During the summer Omega presented a number of Seamaster variants under the name “Summer Blue” to celebrate the famous model's 75th anniversary.  

The Ploprof 1200m was for the undersigned the biggest surprise among all the Summer Blue variants and surely many PloProf enthusiasts cheered along with me. It was namely not just a blue variant like the other Seamaster watches in the anniversary collection, but a completely new PloProf. 

The model is a true legend among diver's watches that possesses a coolness factor perhaps like no other. The PloProf immediately attracted a mythical aura when it entered the market in 1971, a myth-making that was created by its enormous water resistance of 600 metres, its peculiar, asymmetrical shape, its odd technical solutions, the immense measurements as well as its horrendous price.   

That it was worn by the legendary Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli on the outside of his shirt sleeve and that the ocean film-maker Jacques Yves Cousteau's film team used it in their professional work back in the day, of course only added to the icon value. 

The PloProf was discontinued in 1979 and was not replaced until 2009 with the PloProf 1200 with, as the name suggests, a doubled depth rating. The measurements were now even coarser and few could probably wear this piece among people without feeling ridiculous.   

The new PloProf Summer Blue is executed in the fine steel O-MegaSteel, moreover in a so-called monobloc construction which means that the case is milled from one piece, just like with the 70s original.   

The measurements are still wrist-numbing at 55x45mm in diameter. The thickness of 15.5mm does however mean that it actually has the same measurements as the original, which means that it is around 2mm thinner than the outgoing model, and thereby more user-friendly on land. The water resistance is stated just as before at 1200 metres.   

The dial of the PloProf Summer Blue is executed in a delicious “powdery”, slightly shimmering shade while the ceramic bezel is in matching dark blue.   

Like earlier PloProf watches the new version possesses odd technical solutions such as the advanced crown guard to the left of the case, the extreme bezel lock in the form of a large button on the right side as well as the eye-catching minute hand that gives the dial extra character – and legibility.  

The new PloProf is sold exclusively with a blue rubber strap. The Swedish price is a dizzying 188 300 kronor. You want it, even if you would look ridiculous! 

Nivada Grenchen Antarctic 35mm 

The small watch manufacturer Nivada Grenchen in south-eastern Switzerland was revived in 2020 after many years of sleeping-beauty slumber. The company began making watches in 1926 with a focus on affordable wristwatches and attracted great popularity during the 1940s and 50s, primarily in the USA, through a specialisation in hard-wearing, water-resistant watches. 

The brand is probably best known for the watches that accompanied the American navy's expedition to the South Pole, Operation Deep Freeze 1955, in the form of the sports watch Antarctic which had come out in 1950. These watches were marketed as water-resistant, self-winding, shock-proof and antimagnetic, ideal properties for South Pole expeditions then.  

When Nivada Grenchen was relaunched as a brand in 2020 new versions of three historic models came out at the same time: the Chronomaster, the Depthmaster and the Antarctic. And quite recently the latter was broadened with an orthodox 35mm variant that makes at least the article author's mouth water.  

The Antarctic 35mm rides the ongoing downsizing wave on the watch market while at the same time it comes even closer to the essence of the vintage model, the original that got to go to the South Pole. It is liberating. The case and dial are similar to the template and the lugs with their peculiar shape give strong recognition potential. 

The watch is only 10mm thin with the crystal included, and the case itself measures a mere 7mm in height! Refined indeed, and the slimmed case is made possible by a hand-wound movement from the venerable but forgotten Swiss movement maker Landeron, in the form of the Caliber 21. A simple movement with a mere 36 hours of power reserve which however is probably reliable and cheap to keep up. 

The Antarctic incidentally offers sapphire crystal and 50 metres of water resistance. The dial comes in beige, white or black and the price is a very affordable 850 dollars on the company's website. A real goodie for that money! 

For those who want a bigger watch there is always the Super Antarctic which measures 38mm and which is sold at the same price.   

Panerai Radiomir Officine PAM01385

The legendary luxury brand with Italian roots, Officine Panerai, has always been cherished by enthusiasts the world over, and the new, strongly retro-inspired Radiomir Officine is bound to make the brand's followers even more excited. 

Now all Panerai watches are surely in some way retro-ish since its two main models, the Luminor and the Radiomir, are in terms of shape strongly related to their military predecessors from the 30s and 40s. The new Radiomir Officine however takes the step further and offers an even more orthodox interpretation of bygone times.  

And how handsome it is. Where Panerai can sometimes overcomplicate things and move away from the origin, here they have made great art out of the simple, the pure. The new watch has been inspired by the first Radiomir prototype from 1935, with dial and hands in a shape and tone that imitate the iconic original. 

And the case of course is, as always for the Radiomir a close relative of the 30s template, with its beautiful cushion shape signed by Rolex. The water resistance is to 100 metres, also customary for the model. 

The dial is executed in a light brown, matte shade with a slightly grainy surface that is completely unique to the PAM01385 which is its reference number. Important for Paneristis. The dial is of the so-called sandwich type, a real speciality of the brand which consists of two plates on top of each other, where the lower one is treated with Super-LumiNova and which shows through the cut-out of the numerals in the upper plate, all for good visibility in the dark. 

The Radiomir Officine measures a Radiomir-typical 45mm across the case, which sounds more extreme than it is. Thanks to the soft shape and the lug-free case it comes across as considerably smaller on the wrist than the measurements suggest. The undersigned, who after all usually wears 34-millimetre vintage watches, has tried it himself and it sits just fine. 

Inside sits Panerai's classic, hand-wound Caliber P6000 which ticks at a moderate 21 600 vibrations per minute and offers three days of power reserve. A small seconds hand is found at “9 o'clock”, that too a wink at bygone Panerai times. 

Only 300 pieces are to be built and it is unclear whether all are sold or not. The price is otherwise 5500 Euro. Fairly good value for this horological treat! 

Sinn T50 Goldbronze 

The new diver's watch T50 from German Sinn, famous since the 60s for its serious instrument watches, has already been covered here at Eqotime, but it is so successful that yet another variant on the theme gets the honour here.  

The model is in its basic execution made in titanium but a special version in a limited edition made in “Goldbronze” was presented in parallel. If you ask the author of this article it is by a margin the most interesting and covetable variant.  

Goldbronze is the brand's own precious metal alloy and means bronze that has been refined with 12,5 percent gold. That simultaneously gives a luxurious and good-value metal which moreover offers outstanding resistance to corrosion when diving in salt water.  

The dial too is unique compared with the other T50 watches, a glass-fibre-like, rough-ground surface in a brown shade that resembles nothing else – and which goes so well with the gold bronze! The case back is incidentally in titanium and the strap of textile in a matching colour. 

Otherwise the T50 Goldbronze has the same specifications as the other T50 variants, a scaled-down model of the brand's customarily so masculine diver's watch with a case at a user-friendly 41mm, water resistance to a full 500 metres and a bulletproof Sellita SW300-1 beneath the shell.   

Unfortunately the Goldbronze version was a limited edition of 300 examples so buying a new one is today not possible. You have to look for it on the second-hand market if you are keen on an example. At the time of writing five Goldbronze are found on Chrono24, which are spread around the world and with prices of between 54 000 kronor and 79 000 kronor.  

Meagre supply and a scattered price picture then. That does not however stop the Goldbronze from being one of the year's best watches. 

Traska Commuter 34 & 38mm 

A micro brand on the list of 2023's best watches is of course pleasant and American Traska really deserves it. With its well-made and carefully shaped all-round watch Commuter, which this year has come in a new execution and new case sizes of 34 as well as 38 millimetres, a great deal of watch is offered for astonishingly modest money.  

Traska was founded as late as 2018 and has since then managed to come out with a full five model series, even though the company is run by only three people. The focus is on mechanical, sporty, classically shaped and very good-value wristwatches. The prices namely undercut 10 000 kronor. 

The Commuter comes across as strongly inspired by the luxury sports watches, but in a completely different price range of course. For surely there is quite a lot of Rolex Oyster Perpetual about it, with its “one watch for all situations” style emphasised by discreet, harmonious lines, modest measurements and a hard-wearing quality secured by 100 metres of water resistance.  

The Commuter came out in 2021, then exclusively with a 36mm case, and in connection with a light update of the model the new 34 and 38mm variants are also included. The updates incidentally comprise better finish and new dials. For example the hands are cut with diamonds which is said to give exceptional finish, especially for the price range.  

The Commuter is offered with several different dials: sand yellow, mint green, copper and blue for the small watch and white, mint green, black and dark green for the larger one. 

Inside both models sits an automatic movement from Japanese Miyota in the form of the Caliber 9039, which means the company's “premium” movement with 42 hours of power reserve and an accuracy of -10 to +30 seconds/day. Not fantastic but also nothing to make a fuss about for the price range.  

The Commuter 34mm is namely priced at 5888 kronor while the 38mm variant is at 6446 kronor. These figures float all the time a little depending on the exchange rate against the dollar. Traska is bought via the company's website.  

Zenith PILOT Automatic 

Zenith, founded in the Jura mountains in Switzerland in 1865, has always been a real connoisseur's brand which however at the same time has gone somewhat under the radar, in the shadow of high-profile competitors like Rolex or Jaeger-LeCoultre. Or perhaps precisely because of that.   

The brand was a pioneer regarding pilot's watches and registered the word “PILOTe” as early as 1888. That is why Zenith is still the only brand that may have the word “pilot” on the dial! As early as 1909 a Zenith watch was incidentally worn on the wrist of the pilot Louis Bleriot when he flew across the English Channel, for the first time in world history.  

That is why a completely new pilot's watch from Zenith is something that ought to catch an interest. But the fact is that when the company's new pilot's watch with the rather spartan name “PILOT Automatic” was presented at the beginning of the year the news passed many by. Under the radar as said.  

That is why it is an honour – and a task! – to get to present it here, but not only for that reason. The product itself is namely extremely tasteful; a discreetly elegant and capable pilot's watch that easily takes on an IWC Mark XX, the considerably better known and more noticed star in the pilot genre.  

With the new PILOT Automatic Zenith has moreover done something completely new with its pilot concept, far from the extreme retro thinking of the other aviator watches in the programme. It feels fresh.  

The dial, black as sin just as is customary with real pilot's watches, is here endowed with strong, horizontal ribs, which give a character of its own and something rough-hewn. This is accompanied by pensioner-friendly numerals and strong hands in chalk white for the very best legibility – the watch type's most important property.  

An oversized crown that can be handled with the gloves on is the dot over the “i” of fitness for purpose. 

The case measures, for many, an ideal 40mm and is executed in mainly brushed steel with elements of polished surfaces. Elegant enough and then some. The water resistance is to 100 metres so that the Zenith survives even after a possible plane crash over the sea.  

The engine consists of the Caliber El Primero 3620, a movement entirely developed in-house which is after all the brand's big thing. It offers 60 hours of power reserve and beats at a full 36 000 vibrations per minute, a classic Zenith speciality which if nothing else gives an extremely smooth-running hand. The case back is incidentally in sapphire crystal where the beautiful movement can be admired. 

The PILOT is available in steel as well as black ceramic, and a chronograph is also offered under the name Big Date Flyback. The case back is in sapphire crystal where the beautiful movement can be admired 

 The watches are delivered with a black leather strap and Zenith also throws in an equally black composite one for those who prefer it.  

The price for PILOT Automatic is around 90 000 kronor depending on the exchange rate, a high price for such an unknown which however possesses a quality and a refinement that is not ashamed in any company. The ceramic and chronograph variants are of course even more expensive.