GENEVA – Watches And Wonders 2024 opened at Geneva’s convention centre Palexpo on April 9, showcasing a heady display of horology by watchmakers running the gamut from big boys Rolex and Patek Philippe to independents including Bremont and Urwerk.

Covering more than 800,000 sq ft of exhibition space and boasting 54 brands – up from 48 in 2023 – the 2024 edition of the week-long trade fair, running until April 15, is the biggest since it became a physical event three years ago.

Formerly known as Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, it had to go digital for two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite the scale, the fair arrived amid some uncertainty in the luxury market. While Swiss watch exports reached a record 26.7 billion Swiss francs (S$39.7 billion) and grew 7.6 per cent in 2023, the figure was a marked drop from the 11 per cent and 31 per cent growth in 2022 and 2021 respectively.

The slowdown was precipitated by several factors, including subdued demand from China, geopolitical tensions and rising interest rates.

Despite the uncertainty, the event continued to draw watch retailers, journalists, collectors and enthusiasts worldwide. Organisers are expecting 45,000 visitors at 2024’s event, compared with 43,000 in 2023.

To drum up interest and reel in the crowds, many brands spared no expense building booths which were both architectural and visual spectacles.

Hermes, for instance, set up a stunning scenography curated by New York-based artist Erin O’Keefe featuring cave art and colourful curved sculptures, which symbolically explored time.

Others brought in celebrities. IWC had English celebrity physicist Brian Cox as well as Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen. Hublot had French footballer Kylian Mbappe Lottin, while Zenith flew in Singapore actor Desmond Tan.

The biggest stars, however, were the timepieces, many of which pushed technical and artistic boundaries.

Here are some of this year’s hottest ticking marvels.

The Rolex Perpetual 1908 in platinum

This stunning timepiece is testament that Rolex is not just great at making tool watches, but it is also equally masterful in making elegant dress watches. Featuring a 39mm platinum case – which is just 9.55mm thick – it turns heads with its fluted bezel and a beautiful ice-blue “rice-grain” guilloche dial.

It is powered by the Rolex calibre 7140 – introduced in last year’s 1908 – which features sunny rays on the skeletonised rotor as well as striped bridges, and is visible through the caseback. The movement has a superb chronometer and a 66-hour power reserve. The watch comes with a matt brown or black alligator strap.

Price: $44,500

Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT

This stunner is a highly anticipated follow-up to the wildly successful Pepsi GMT first launched in 2018. Featuring a bi-directional Coke bezel and an advanced jumping local-hour GMT complication, it also boasts a new 4Hz movement – the MT5450-U – which has Metas master chronometer certification.

This certification is given only to watches which have passed very stringent tests, including precision, resistance to magnetic fields, waterproofness and power reserve.

Price: The Black Bay 58 GMT comes with a full steel bracelet ($6,630) or a fitted rubber strap ($6,320).

Patek Philippe Nautilus Flyback Chronograph

This Patek Philippe Nautilus Flyback Chronograph is back. Unlike its discontinued red-gold and two-tone predecessors, the new model flaunts a chic white-gold case paired with a blue-grey opaline dial.

It sports the chamfered bezel, porthole-inspired case side flanges and integrated lugs familiar to Nautilus enthusiasts, but has chronograph pushers at two and four o’clock. The 40.5mm watch also rocks an unexpectedly stylish calfskin strap with denim motif.

Visible through the transparent caseback is the watch’s heart: the Calibre CH 28‑520 C, a self-winding flyback chronograph which includes a 60-minute and 12-hour counter positioned at six o’clock, ticks at 4Hz and has a 55-hour power reserve.

Price: $114,300

IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar

The world’s first eternal calendar watch, the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar features a moon-phase indicator which is precise for a mind-boggling 45 million years.

An engineering marvel, it also boasts an amazing gear system which tracks leap years – even the rare skipped ones like those in 2100, 2200 and 2300 – over the next four centuries without any need for adjustment. 

Asked why there was a need to create a watch accurate for 45 million years, IWC’s head honcho Christoph Grainger-Herr told GQ magazine that it was about “getting excited about stuff that nobody else cares about and continuously looking to better something, then overshooting like mad because in the greatest moments of need people still want to dream”.

Price: 150,000 Swiss francs

Cartier Tortue Monopusher Chronograph

Generating murmurs of admiration at the fair, the new incarnation of the Cartier Tortue Monopusher Chronograph is available in either platinum or yellow gold, and sports a distinctively shaped 43.7mm by 34.8mm case, which is 10.2mm thick.

The platinum model features rhodium-plated Roman numerals, while the gold version opts for classic printed black numerals. Blue, Breguet-style hands round off the design.

Both iterations have been fitted with a new heart – the Cartier manufacture calibre 1928 MC. Boasting column wheel mechanism and beautifully decorated Cotes de Geneve bridges, this movement – which has a 44-hour power reserve – is visible through the sapphire caseback. Each version is limited to 200 numbered pieces. 

Price: $74,000 (yellow gold) and $85,000 (platinum)

Tag Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph

Tag Heuer has taken a giant leap into high-end watchmaking with this Split-Seconds Chronograph to mark the Monaco’s 55th anniversary.

The one-of-a-kind watch was initially previewed at 2023’s One Watch charity auction, which was cancelled at the last minute in November because of a controversy over transparency issues.

The watchmaker took it back but, by then, it was already working on a production version which showcases the brand’s legacy in crafting sophisticated sports timers since it created the Mikrograph – known for its 1/100th of a second timing accuracy – in 1916.

Available in striking red and blue versions, this stunner features a sculptural case made out of hand-polished sapphire and a movement fashioned entirely from titanium.

The manual finishes are impressive, an example being the checkerboard-patterned bridge on the caseback which required more than 30 hours of hand-engraving.

Price: $195,000

Hermes Arceau Duc Attele

Limited to just 24 pieces, the Hermes Arceau Duc Attele is a headturner which updates the 1978 concept of Hermes’ artistic director Henri d’Origny. Featuring asymmetrical stirrup lugs and a 43mm case, it has a beautiful noir striped guilloche dial beneath a sapphire dome. 

The watch also boasts a triple-axis tourbillon with a double “H” carriage, and the Manufacture Hermes H1926 movement, a manual-winding mechanism that includes 563 components and promises a 48-hour power reserve.

Paying homage to Hermes’ equestrian roots, the timepiece’s chiming minute repeater announces hours, quarters and minutes with U-shaped gongs and horse-shaped hammers, visible through a horse mane-shaped sapphire crystal back. 

Price: $582,000

A. Lange & Sohne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen

As it has always done, German luxury watchmaker A. Lange & Sohne kept it simple in 2024, releasing just two timepieces, one of which is the new Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen. 

Encased for the first time in the brand’s proprietary 18K Honeygold – an exceptionally hard alloy with a beautiful warm hue – the 41.5mm ticker features a smoked sapphire crystal dial with luminous elements on its sub-dials, and big date and moon-phase displays, enhancing legibility amid its complex functions. The power reserve indicator has been omitted for a cleaner look.

Paired with a brown alligator strap, the watch is powered by the upgraded L952.4, which offers a flyback chronograph, a perpetual calendar and a sophisticated tourbillon, beautifully finished in German silver.

Price: About €620,000 (about S$899,000)