One of the first modern dive watches, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms celebrated its 70th anniversary this year with a few choice and extremely collectible models. Separating the releases into three “acts”, the first was an update of the traditional silhouette with a heavily lumed bezel and dial indices. Acts two and three kicked things up a notch with the titanium Tech Gombessa and bronze-gold “military spec” models respectively. Arguably the brand’s biggest headline of all though, coinciding with the anniversary year, is the collaboration found further down this timeline …

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2. Seiko, Grand Seiko celebrate anniversaries

Seiko kicked off its 110th anniversary celebrations this year with the Seiko Presage Laurel Re-edition, a nod to the Japanese brand’s first wristwatch, still fresh on shelves. Since then, Seiko has dropped hit after hit, including the 5 Sports 55th Anniversary Bruce Lee Limited Edition in honour of the martial arts icon who died in 1973. Though striking out on its own these days, Grand Seiko joined the celebrations in January with a beautiful black and gold urushi and maki-e lacquered dial for its own 60th anniversary, also this year.

3. The return of LVMH Watch Week

4. The rare Patek Philippe once owned by a Qing dynasty emperor

Auction house Phillips celebrated the opening of its Asia headquarters in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon district by unveiling several artefacts, including a vintage Patek Philippe Reference 96 Quantieme Lune that belonged to Puyi, China’s last emperor. The story goes that the Qing dynasty emperor gifted the watch to a close friend, the Soviet interpreter and tutor Georgy Permyakov, in 1950, during the deposed royal’s imprisonment in the USSR.

5. High horology helps stars shine at the Oscars

There was a horologically studded charge on the red carpet of this year’s Academy Awards, led by best actress winner Michelle Yeoh sporting a custom white sapphire Richard Mille RM07-02 in a show of unerring loyalty to the Swiss brand of which she has long been an ambassador.

Best supporting actress winner Hong Chau (The Whale) paired a custom Prada dress with a Panerai Luminor Due Luna with a matching pink strap making her the first woman to wear a Panerai to the Oscars. Meanwhile, both male awardees Ke Huy Quan and Brendan Fraser sported Omega, one of the most visible brands that night. Ke wore a Globemaster to receive his best supporting actor award trophy, while Fraser broke out a Speedmaster Chronoscope to claim best actor.

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6. Watches and Wonders 2023

7. Tudor opens its manufacture in Le Locle

8. Jean-Claude Biver teams up with his son for a massive first release

In 2022, Jean-Claude Biver – former president of LVMH’s watch division and the mastermind behind pivotal designs for Hublot, Omega and Blancpain – had the world of horology buzzing when he and his son Pierre announced that they had teamed up to create the Biver brand.

They since followed up in April with news of their first piece together: the Carillon Tourbillon Biver released in September in a limited run of 12 pieces, cased in 18k gold and featuring tourbillon and minute repeater complications. The brand and the piece are perceived to be a passing of the torch from father to son after decades of high horology and watchmaking. Many consider the venture a swansong for the elder Biver since his departure from LVMH in 2018, and a much-anticipated debut for Pierre Biver after a brief stint at Phillips auction house.

9. Audemars Piguet rolls out Hi-Care Programme

Swiss independent giant Audemars Piguet announced the Hi-Care Programme in April, in a huge move from a brand whose pieces are valued extremely highly. The service covers watches bought from boutiques, houses or authorised dealers in 2022 and 2023 for two years on a complementary basis. If your watch is stolen, the house will examine your request and attempt to replace it or offer a refund. Similarly, in the case of functional damage, the house will also repair or replace the model. Outgoing CEO François-Henry Bennahmias has said he expects that 75 per cent of customers will enrol in the programme and that the house could receive up to 100 claims over the next two years, per Italian Watch Spotter.

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10. Simon Brette’s first timepiece launches to a half-decade waiting list

Little news in independent watchmaking generated as much excitement as when Simon Brette announced his debut piece, the Chronomètre Artisans. The 35-year-old French designer uses a team of artisans, finishers, engineers and other craftspeople who, besides their technical excellence, are encouraged to exercise creative freedom while also looking to preserve key watchmaking techniques of the past. Per Hodinkee, the watch was sold out through to 2028 by the time the news broke on multiple platforms in April. The watch itself is a 39mm piece made of zirconium with an asymmetrical dial, drawing the wearer’s eyes to the stark flame-blued hands, titanium bridges and red-gold “dragon scale” dial finishing, a finishing technique reportedly exclusive to the watch.

11. Coronation wrist check: King Charles III’s Parmigiani Fleurier

Perhaps the most prominent wrist check moment this year came just prior to King Charles’ coronation on May 6. While the king was not seen wearing a watch during the day’s ceremonies, he may have been wearing his personal favourite Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Chronograph just the day before, at Marlborough House for a meeting with Commonwealth leaders (below, smartly hidden beneath the cuff). The 18k gold Toric Chronograph is notable for being an early piece by the house that launched in 1996, and has been seen on the king’s wrist at important junctures of Charles’ life – including in 2018 at his son Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding and last year while mourning the death of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

12. Audemars Piguet is under new management

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13. RiRi’s epic Jacob & Co. watch choker

These days, wearing a watch anywhere other than the wrist is a fashion and jewellery statement as much as it is a horological one. Brands from both sides of that divide (Van Cleef & Arpels and Jaeger-LeCoultre) have designed timepieces specifically to be worn on the neck rather than on the wrist. Barbadian songstress Rihanna took this to the next level when she wore a Jacob & Co. 47mm Brilliant Flying Tourbillon (set with 338 baguette-cut white diamonds) on her neck to complement her all-denim outfit at June’s Louis Vuitton show during Paris Fashion Week; incidentally, Pharrell’s first as creative director and head of menswear at the brand. Fans quickly praised Rihanna’s move and are now wondering one thing only – is the “watch choker” here to stay?

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14. Roger Smith’s pocket watch breaks auction record

It was yet another year of record-breaking auctions, but while the list continues to be dominated by heavy hitters like Rolex and Patek Philippe, increasing numbers of independent pieces are making headlines too. One of the biggest shocks came in June when Roger Smith Pocket Watch No 2 fetched US$4.9 million (HK$38.3 million) at Philip’s New York Watch Auction: Eight. British watchmaker Roger W. Smith rose to prominence as the sole apprentice to fellow British watchmaking legend George Daniels, founder of the Daniels’ method of end-to-end hand assembly, and of the coaxial escapement found in many Omega pieces today. This pocket watch was Smith’s second submission to Daniels in the early days of his apprenticeship, after his first handmade attempt in 1990 was deemed “not up to scratch”. When Daniels saw the No 2, he told Smith, “You are now a watchmaker.”

15. Ronaldo buys stake in reseller Chrono24

In July, Al-Nassr FC forward Cristiano Ronaldo took his watch enthusiasm to the next level when he announced his investment in Chrono24, joining the likes of LVMH head Bernard Arnault who also owns a stake in the luxury watch reseller. The highest-paid athlete in the world is a stellar candidate, as he naturally owns pieces with some of the highest price tags in the world, including the HK$7.4 million Girard-Perregaux Planetarium Tri-Axial and the similarly valued Jacob & Co. Grand Baguette Diamond, which contains a total of 761 baguette diamonds on its case and dial.

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16. Louis Vuitton released a steel time-only watch and discontinued 80 per cent of its range

Luxury goods brand Louis Vuitton shocked the world of horology in July when it announced it was cutting 80 per cent of its watch line-up, the aim being to refine the quality and proposition of its entire range in time.

The brand is generally known for more visually heavy automata pieces – in March, they released the intricate Tambour Opera Automata based on the face-changing Sichuan bian lian style of opera.

For now, LV has begun its new era in measured fashion with a new 40mm time-only Tambour that sports a vintage-inspired sector dial with subseconds, and available in humble steel, solid gold, or a steel and gold hybrid. Most importantly, Louis Vuitton called on Le Cercle des Horlogers to co-develop the LFT023 in-house movement specially for the watch.

17. Anticipation, then postponement for this year’s Only Watch auction

In June, Only Watch announced the line-up of lots for the 10th version of its biennial auction. Excitement built over the latter half of the year as the event grew nearer, however the auction was then suddenly postponed to an unspecified date in 2024. Only Watch said in a statement that “time for certification, changes in governance and the imminent auction do not coincide”, while refraining from offering further details.

Since the auction’s first edition in 2005, funds are said to have gone towards efforts to combat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but controversy has brewed in recent months over fund allocations, according to Only Watch’s own press release on the postponement. Only Watch has provided answers regarding its funding strategies, structures, projects and accounting.

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To support the cause, watchmakers and high horology maisons across the industry had put forth rare and daring pieces to be auctioned off, such as Urwerk’s light sabre-esque Space-Time Blade vertical clock, and a Patek Philippe grand complication piece with an entirely original movement expected to never be made again.

Watchmakers appear to be split by the controversy. Audemars Piguet pulled its lot from the auction just a few days shy of the press release, according to multiple reports, while independent watchmaker F.P. Journe’s founder François-Paul Journe showed personal support for the auction on his Instagram around the same time.

18. Seamaster, Omega Seamaster celebrates 75 years

19. Rolex bought long-time retail partner Bucherer

20. JN Shapiro go “Made in USA” for impeccably finished Resurgence

These days, brands associated with American watchmaking history like Hamilton and Bulova make many of their pieces abroad. But in August, California-based watchmaker J.N. Shapiro released the Resurgence – a rare instance of a high horology watch where almost every component was made in the United States. The 38mm time-only piece is limited by production capacity to 30 a year and comes in gold, tantalum, zirconium or steel, and features elegant guilloché and damaskeening, the latter of which is heavily associated with 19th century American watchmaking.

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21. Hong Kong collector puts up a Roger Smith for sale at US$1 million

In a year full of independent watches attracting ever-increasing prices, Wristcheck listed a Roger Smith Series 2 for US$1 million. The piece was created at a time when Smith was beginning to tweak the coaxial escapement designed by his legendary teacher George Daniels and since adopted by most Omega models.

So how did it end up in Hong Kong? In 2011, collector Philip Pon was at a dinner with Smith (the pair are shown together above) and independent watchmaking giants including Kari Voutilainen, Romain Gauthier and Ludovic Ballouard. Per Wrist Check, Pon mentioned that he owned a piece by all the others, and hoped to own one of Smith’s someday. Without hesitation, Smith reached for the Series 2 and offered it to Pon on the spot.

22. Blancpain goes bioceramic with Swatch

23. Louis Vuitton and Rexhep Rexhepi announce five-year collaboration

The luxury goods powerhouse Louis Vuitton teamed up with rising star independent Akrivia to realise the dual-faced LVRR-01 Chronographe à Sonnerie, the first piece in what is planned to be a long line of collaborative efforts over a five-year partnership. The piece features a skeleton Akrivia dial on the watch face, concealing a minimalist Louis Vuitton marked chronograph complication on the case back. We’re now keenly looking forward to seeing what else Akrivia’s highly rated founder Rexhep Rexhepi has planned for future forays with his big-name partner.

24. Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève celebrates 2023’s best pieces

The long-awaited winners from this year’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève were announced on November 9 by 30 high horology luminaries assembled by jury president Nicholas Foulke. Nineteen awards were given to outstanding timepieces and the masterminds behind them.

Among the awardees, Audemars Piguet took home the Aiguille d’Or grand prize for its Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4, Ulysse Nardin claimed the Iconic Watch Prize for its Freak One, Tudor’s Pelagos 39 won the Sports Watch Prize, and Simon Brette’s debut Chronomètre Artisans bagged the “horological revelation” prize.

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BONUS: Breitling acquires Universal Geneve

Like Breitling, the brand is known for classic aviation watches, most notably its 1954 Polerouter which was designed by a 23-year-old Gerald Genta to commemorate flights from New York and Los Angeles crossing the Poles to get to Europe.