The behemoth that is Watches and Wonders is growing exponentially at the Palexpo in Geneva, as the pandemic-ending Baselworld and SIHH becomes a distant memory. But in parallel with the growing exhuberance of the big brand booths comes the flair of the Independents. This year the smaller brands are cheekily based at Villa Sarasin for Time To Watches, big-brand baitingly close to the Palexpo halls, and in the city centre. What they offer is less safety in numbers and heritage, but balanced out by an imaginative flair that has ever more collectors waking up to indie power.
Bianchet B 1.618 UltraFino
True to the Bianchet design language, the new B 1.618 UltraFino is a tonneau-shaped sports watch, but with a slim difference. It features the rarity of a titanium automatic tourbillon movement and one of the sleekest integrated bracelets we’ve seen this year. The UT01 movement is an engineering marvel measuring just 3.85mm thick and weighing only 8 grams. As one of the very few ultrathin automatic flying tourbillon movements in titanium encased in a 40mm case of brushed grade 5 titanium, the UltraFino’s openworked intricacies are tougher than they look, boasting 5000G shock resistance and 5ATM depth rating.
Doxa Sub 250T GMT
Doxa has built up their reborn brand with a steady evolution of the Sub 200 and 300 ranges known from the wrist of a certain Cousteau. And even if their 43mm Sub 300 is significantly smaller than its dimensions signal, the world wants smaller sports watches. This was evident in the reengineering last year that brought us a brand new Sub 200 in 39mm, but this year they’ve finally given us the travel tool we’ve asked for. In fact we haven’t seen a GMT from Doxa since the 2006 SUB 750T GMT, and the muchawaited Sub 250T GMT comes in a new 40mm case with a barrage of 18 references.
Krayon Anyday
Krayon is a brand marked by innovative dial art and movement tech, balancing modernity with the appeal of traditional finishing. This year we see a return of their Y-logoed guilloche dial in the deep blue centre of the poetically named Anyday. With a crescent date pointer and a brand-new complication, Krayon offers a first in the world of calendar watches with a new 378-part movement. The Anyday dial continuously displays each day and date for the entire month as the five-day working week in dark blue, with Saturday and Sunday appearing in light grey. And just like a traditional desk planner it offers a five-week span at a single glance.
Byrne Star
Byrne offer complexities with a fun twist and a tech-forward stance. This time they offer a baffling twist on the traditional world timer complication, riffing off their quadranttwisting style in a slim 38mm case. Three calibres in just three years. That is no mean feat, and it comes after the brand’s 2022 foundation no less. This time we’re treated to a scintillating mix of blue and yellow, as the duo of John Byrne and Claire Cohen have subverted the classical image of the world timer through a central rotating disk, which makes tracking time easy, and four rotating cubes at the dial’s cardinal points.
Awake Sơn Mài Frosted Leaf Green
French brand Awake has a refined take on French 39mm chic, after making a segue last year from their tool watch minimalism into dial art. The new release offers an evolution of this modern approach to metiers d’art. As we saw last autumn in the Sơn Mài collection, the 39mm case frames a minimal dial expanding on their technique of colour, lacquer and applied silver leaf. The techniques are from Vietnam, and Awake works with artisans in the country to complete the work. Offering new colours, we have a soft spot for the nature-inspired deep, forest-camo like dial of the Frosted Leaf version of the 2025 Sơn Mài.
Maen x Nico Leonard
Maen is a sharp, small brand from Sweden with a solid line-up offering a big bang for retro bucks. In a rather bold twist, this is the first watch collaboration with YouTube star Nico Leonard, and in quietly spoken contrast to his exuberant personality. It’s a modern take on the vintage jump hour or Guichet concept. This isn’t something we see often, and we now wonder whether Louis Vuitton actually sparked a new hot trend this winter. With a 34mm width and comfortably short lug length, the 1.7mm thickness will make it a dressy nugget with a broad-shouldered demeanour, and we’re all about the Hublot-ish modern juxtaposition of a striated FKM rubber strap.
Breva Segreto Di Lario
Breva Geneve in their revived guise gives us a sense of the dolce vita, in fact their latest model is named after an iconic breeze known from Lake Como in Italy. Under the stewardship of Julien Haenny, the brand offers a suave take on independent watchmaking with the new collection Segreto di Lario. At the heart of the 25-piece limited edition 18K red gold cushion case sits a new calibre created by Jean-François Mojon based on the Chronode calibre C101. The manual-winding movement comes loaded with dual barrels, offering an exceptional seven-day power reserve, and a delightful dial design in brushed blue with an innovative twin retrograde power reserve.
Louis Erard Regulator X GoS
Louis Erard have two great USPs, one being a deep love of the marine chronometer-inspired Regulator design. The other is an instinctive feel for the power of collaborations, and this time Manuel Emch has focused on metallurgy together with GoS Watches in Sweden. The forged wonder of Damascus steel, a GoS speciality, becomes the focal point of an enigmatic dial. With a twirling, vortex shape for the seconds at six o’clock, the minimalist watch has industrial-looking chapter rings for the minute and hours, where recognisable blued spear hands enliven the monochromatic scene. In keeping with the Scandinavian roots of GoS, the strap is made from braided salmon leather.
Depancel Sèrie-R
French retro charmers Depancel have their foot back on the throttle, with the Série-R offering more of their race-infused design. It takes a leaf out of the Heuer Monaco book of chronograph lore, but manages to remain fresh and different, and hey, what you took as another petrolhead chrono is in fact a very useful calendar complication powered by the proven Miyota 9120 movement. The strong case lines are inspired by the vintage Delage D8 Aera Coupe, and combines the brand’s dashboard design and a twin-level blue sunburst dial in a svelte 36mm case.
Formex Ceramica Skeleton COSC GT
Formex does a strong job within a packed budget segment, and surprise us here with their first all-ceramic piece. If you need reminding of its scratch-proof properties, ceramic is seven-times harder than steel, which makes for a great everyday watch. Adding to the dark vibe of the black 41mm GT is a COSC-certified movement with an open worked dial featuring popping gold details. With its brushed and polished angular case and distinctive design, this new chapter of tech-forward design from Formex has strong form and is remarkably light at only 137 grams including the all-ceramic bracelet.
Marathon OSAR-D
It’s not all high-end haute horological madness this year. The Canadian tool watch maestros at Marathon are bigging (and smalling) up their OSAR-D collection with an Explorer-sized 36mm at one end and a Bear Grylls sized 46mm at the other. All OSAR-D models are also now available in crisp white dials suited to Arctic conditions. Sure, you could pick yourself up a bit of metiers d’art or a tourbillon, but if you’re after something that won’t live in the safe, Marathon’s a good place to start.
Horage DecaFlux
While not strictly new for Geneva Watch Week, it’s still the first opportunity we’ll have to get hands-on with the newly launched Horage DecaFlux – and for anyone that misses the Milgauss, this is an exciting one. Equipped with the brand’s new K3, silicon-equipped movement, the new watch is, in line with its inspirations, highly magnetic resistant, but it also has a four-day power reserve and superb, laser-engraved finishing to boot. Even if those specs don’t sell you, there’s enough to love about the teal blue sunray dial and red lightning bolt hand that the punchy CHF 2,500 price tag would be suspicious if this was any other brand.
Schwarz Etienne Geometry Black
The Geometry is for me, at least, the coolest thing that Schwarz Etienne make, which is saying something given the Roswell. But it’s always been just that little too visually busy. Enter the Geometry Black, a refined, streamlined, monochrome take on the intense, multi-finish dial. Now those finishes are highlighted in texture rather than colour and the result is a much cooler creation from white hot zeitgeist designer Éric Giroud. Backed by an equally black movement, it’s serious watchmaking having some serious fun.
Baltic Scalegraph Tour Auto Edition
It’s Baltic’s third year sponsoring the Tour Auto, a Paris to Nice race this April, and to coincide they’re bringing a new angle to bear on their retiring Bicompax chronograph. With its light blue dial, darker blue tachymeter bezel and the Tour de France Automobile colours on the big-eye minute subdial, this isn’t the classic vintage Baltic chrono. Even the indexes – here curved lines instead of the usual straight indexes – are a world apart. We’ll see if this marks a new direction for Baltic, although that’ll depend on the first non-limited Scalegraph they do. But for now, this is a fun, fresh twist on the almighty micro’s specific brand of watchmaking.
Herbelin Newport Chronograph Heritage
Two years ago, Herbelin celebrated 35 years of their flagship Newport collection with a limited-edition chronograph – and now that handsome, archival design is back in a fully-fledged collection. With its rounded case, tachymeter bezel and central lugs, it’s aesthetically somewhere between the early racing stopwatches and the more modern breed of racing timepiece, here in a glamorous mix of black and gold. It’s not all looks either; with 100m water resistance, a glassbox sapphire crystal and ceramic bezel, it’s rugged enough for a solid everyday wearer – and it’s priced to match at £2,700. That’s a lot of distinctive French watchmaking for the money.
Haute-Rive Honoris
Haute-Rive expands on their top-tier offerings with the Honoris, set in a hand-polished 18K rose gold case with a deep blue dial. The dial itself has the deep lustre only Gran Feu enamel can provide, and offers a fitting background to the open-worked orchestration of gears. Its figure-of-eight design includes the captivating view of a flying tourbillon at six o’clock, and turning the watch over to reveal the HR01 movement makes for a revelation. This manual wind movement, despite the complexities of the prima ballerina at six, offers an unprecedented 1000 hours of power reserve through a single barrel with a baffling 3 meter long mainspring.
Carl Suchy & Söhne Vienna
Austrian watchmaker Carl Suchy & Söhne have always been an interesting brand with their funky line-engraved dials, but in the fittingly named Vienna they’ve pulled back on certain aesthetic quirks for a more modern, minimalist feel. And it works. Incredibly well, in fact. The dial is split between horizontal lines on the right, vertical on the left and a ‘proof of life’ style counter at 6 o’clock that alternately matches and contrasts. It’s backed by a beautiful Vaucher movement and, given the men behind the Vienna – Robert Punkenhoffer, Eric Giroud and Marc Jenni – the Vienna’s beautiful new everything shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
GUEBLY CH1 Rétrograde
GUEBLY’s debut, the CH1 Rétrograde, is a bold statement in contemporary watchmaking. Housed in a 42mm grade 5 titanium case with a distinctive 23-facet construction, it brings a fresh perspective to the retrograde complication. At 6 o’clock, a 120° retrograde seconds display resets every 30 seconds, adding a dynamic flourish to the dial. Inside, the Caliber 21.31 micro-rotor movement is a technical marvel, crafted from titanium and decorated with meticulous hand-finishing. The blue guilloché dial, accented with Grand Feu enamel and hand-polished gold appliqués, balances complexity with refinement. Despite its mechanical prowess, the CH1 remains impressively wearable at just 10.56mm thick, with 100m water resistance and a 70-hour power reserve. Limited to 80 pieces, it’s an audacious debut for a brand ready to make its mark.
