2025 has been a quiet buying year for me personally. I’ve added the Ball Dazzle and a Studio Underd0g x Fears Gimlet to my collection, but the year isn’t over yet. Two of the watches below are must-buys that have made it onto my Christmas list, and I will be pulling the trigger once my four listings across eBay and Chrono24 finally sell. The rest, unfortunately, will have to wait for a kinder economy.
It’s easy to get lost in the noise of industry news. Consider this article a moment of reflection rather than rigorous recommendation, a light-hearted wishlist designed to be read between mince pies and mulled wine. No grand complications. No theory. Just the five watches released in 2025 that I’d actually buy.
EC Andersson Mytilus Bare Metal
There’s something so unique about the Mytilus case shape that can’t fail to capture your attention. That case also happens to be ridiculously thin, at just 4.1mm thick (albeit measuring 9.5mm with the sapphire) and hewn form a single piece of metal in their Gothenburg Studio. It has a two-step sandwich dial with lume underneath and frankly looks unlike anything else on the market. I like the Bare Metal version, which has an orange inner ring on the bezel which adds a nice pop. Plus, it comes on an uber-comfortable rubber strap. It’s Star Wars utilitarian and I wouldn’t kick it out of the cantina, especially at just £1,100.
More details at EC Andersson.
echo/neutra Rivanera Piccolo MB
The Rivanera Piccolo MB from echo/neutra is basically what happens when the Cartier Tank gets overhauled by Le Corbusier – all brutalist hard edges and post-modern sensibilities. I love it. Crafted from grade 5 titanium, it’s lightweight, scratch resistant and moody thanks to the gun-metal colour paired with that Musou Black dial.
At 26 x 33mm with a 6.9mm thickness and a lug-to-lug of 33mm it’s the sort of proportion that lands in the sweet spot for my slightly slim wrists. Inside is an automatic Sellita SW1000 which gives you a weekend proof 46-hours of power reserve and is viewable through the sapphire caseback. It comes in around £1,470 which frankly given its specs feels like a bargain.
More details at echo/neutra.
Christopher Ward C1 Jump Hour
A clean dress watch with a jump hour, a great bracelet and a very cool sapphire hand, the C1 Jump Hour is proof that their ‘value proposition’ undersells what Christopher Ward do. At 39mm wide, 14mm thick (owing the box sapphire crystal) and 47mm lug-to-lug with an instantaneous jumping hour complication, powered by their modular JJ01 system atop a Sellita SW200, it’s a winner. Price is £2,285.00 which feels a lot, but for a clever jump hour with a sapphire hand and these specs it’s more than fair in my opinion. The underrated detail here: CW’s jump mechanism stores and releases energy in micro-increments to reduce disc wobble.
More details at Christopher Ward.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 Beige
Ok, so a simple dial colour isn’t exactly a big hit, but as someone that wears an ungodly number of sandy tones, this just works for me. The OP36 remains the sweet spot (for my 17.5cm wrist) of the range at 36mm wide, 11.7mm thick and 43mm lug-to-lug, with the Calibre 3230 ticking away inside, it’s high-end chronometry disguised as minimalism. Retail sits at £5,400, availability sits somewhere between “possible” and “bring pastries to your AD”. The bit most people miss: the beige lacquer is double-layered to give a softer, almost porcelain tone in daylight.
More details ay Rolex.
Tag Heuer Carrera Fragment
The third collaboration between Fragment and TAG (Tagment?) is the best yet. Hiroshi Fujiwara’s minimalist streetwear aesthetic meets the Glassbox Carrera silhouette, resulting in a monochrome 39mm case powered by TAG’s TH20-00 calibre with an 80-hour reserve. It’s just plain good looking. Fujiwara requested removable branding, which is why the Fragment lightning motif hides inside the date window rather than on the dial. Priced at £7,300 at launch, with 500 pieces available the aftermarket seems determined to misbehave already with a model on Chrono24 for double.
More details at Tag Heuer.
Tom beware if you do buy the CW C1 Jump Hour. Mine regularly jumped 2 hours(!) and the numeral in the hour window rarely sat centrally but quite a way to the right which meant it was partially hidden. Getting communications from CW, and a refund, has been worse than pulling teeth and customer service has been abysmal. Wishing to get into the brand I also bought the C12 Loco in orange so hope to fare better with this one.