Best New Winter Watch Releases

November 2024; the month in which the annual WatchPro Salon took place in London’s Leicester Square, Timex very quickly sold out of their £1 Waterbury watches and the GPHG Awards, the watchmaking industries equivalent to the Oscar’s, stole the spotlight once more with big wins from IWC, Berneron, Kudoke and Otsuka Lotec.

A busy month to say the least then but even more so when you consider all the fascinating new releases that came our way thanks to big luxury brands and smaller independents alike. Stick with me as I take you through the need-to-know new releases for November 2024.

First things first, let’s talk about that new TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph. Despite seeing a constant parade of TAG releases throughout the year, the brand has found a pretty (literally) bold way to distinguish this Monaco from its predecessors. Appearing with its skeletonised dial and, for the first time, hot pink accents, the new Monaco is inspired by the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip and was released just in time for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Square watches and cartoon collaborations have paved the way as the biggest trends of 2024 but not too far behind them have been pink dials, with Tudor and Breitling both injecting a little Pink Panther into designs released this year. The pink accents work nicely with the skeletonised Monaco dial which was first unveiled in 2023 but coupled with outer scales, skeleton bridges and a main handset presented in pure glossy black, this new colourway interestingly takes the Monaco to darker depths than we’ve seen before.

Speaking of shaped watches, this month also saw the Longines Mini Dolce Vita receive a golden makeover. Catapulting the collection into a more refined and elegant space with a weightier price tag to boot, two new additions were presented for the first time in solid 18k yellow gold and 18k rose gold. Available on a matching solid gold bracelet or with a smart tapered black alligator strap (without diamonds), the sleek new references feel like a necessary addition to the collection which had previously been limited to steel.

Moving onto another feminine launch proving that diamonds really are a girl’s best friend, the DOXA SUB 200T Diamonds collection sees the brand release a gem-set dive watch for the first time ever. Meeting market demand for a more elegant solution to the traditional dive watch, DOXA’s SUB 200T Collection is elevated into a new league of luxury with the help of diamonds, coloured gemstones and natural mother of pearl. The first precious SUB line becomes a permanent part of the DOXA catalogue with seven models offering seven distinct colourways and gemstone combinations whilst maintaining the impressive technical and functional attributes that made the original SUB concept so popular.

Christmas is around the corner now and it seems that there’s no end to the glitz and glam of the season. Originating from the sentimental desires of Peter McAuley (owner of the Belfast-based brand) to craft a watch that his mother could wear, the new Cíor 928 is available on an integrated bracelet in a colourful trio of Salmon, Black or Green. For those on the lookout for something with even more sparkle, the Prestige version features 60 individually applied diamonds and is available in two elegant colourways – Mother of Pearl and Starry Night.

Continuing the legacy that we’re oh so familiar with, Omega launched a new range of 42mm Seamaster Diver 300m watches. The eager-eyed amongst us will recognise the stainless steel version in black from earlier in the summer when it was spotted on the wrist of Daniel Craig as he attended the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Igniting a wave of intrigue, it feels like we’ve been waiting on an official release forever, but the new duo was finally unveiled last month.

For now, the collection offers four different variations presented on either mesh bracelets or rubber straps. Both models are crafted from stainless steel with one featuring a black aluminium bezel and black aluminium dial with laser-engraved waves and the other appearing with a grade 5 titanium bezel and a brushed PVD stainless steel dial.

From elegant ladies watches to something for the ‘big kids’ amongst us, let’s circle back to the ‘cartoon watch trend’ quickly as Spinnaker continue their collaboration with Spongebob Squarepants, Nickelodeon’s beloved children’s character. Having previously released a quartet of character watches that went down about as well as a Studio Underd0g Pizza Watch (note: extremely well), this time around the Cahill Automatic has been reworked into three more limited editions.

Embodying two different twists on time, the expansion begins with Foghorn and Patrick O’clock which each feature fully automatic movements, a respectable 200m water-resistance, anti-reflective sapphire lenses and true diving functionality. Continuing the fun is the WORK / NOT WORK for which the design has been taken directly from Spongebob’s little yellow wrist. Showcasing a distinctive take on time (simply time to work or time to not work), the reference is equipped with the NH34 Automatic movement and features a sandwich-construction dial with an hour hand that completes one full rotation every 24 hours, in classic SpongeBob style, across a distinctively lumed, layered dial.

At the time of writing, this new release from Seiko is very much under wraps with the official launch set to happen on December 1^st . Technically then, it isn’t a November release, but with the embargo conveniently lifting on the day of publishing, who am I to deny our readers some Seiko newness?

Aiming to represent the tranquil sense of harmony and mindfulness found in traditional Japanese rock or dry gardens (known as Karesansui), the new collection features a fern green dial with a three-dimensional design crafted to mimic the raked sand of a dry garden and a gold-toned sand offering with a glittering pattern representing Japanese temple gardens. Protected by a dual-curve sapphire crystal glass, both watches feature elegantly curved hands, a stunning open-heart display at 9 o’clock and are powered by Seiko’s in-house automatic calibre. 

Having released the original Endurance model back in 2017, the Farer brand has come a long way since. Now the Henry Shackleton inspired collection is expanded with the release of two new limited-edition references. Available with both Western and Arabic numerals on a limited run of 100 pieces each, the newly revived Endurance appears in a distinctive dark gun metal 39.5mm steel case with jade green accents on the dial and a graphite grey finishing thanks to a titanium carbo-nitride (TICN) PVD coating. Under the bonnet you can find the Soignée version of the LaJoux-Perret G101 automatic movement which is adjusted in four positions in the highest grade available with an impressive 68-hour power reserve.

Following on from their successful Essence Malachite and Eisenkiesel watches, Formex are once again expanding their Stone Dial collection to include a Blue Agate reference. Formed naturally over thousands of years in hollows with volcano rock, agate is well-known to those interested in semi-precious stones for its vibrant colours and distinctive patterns. The natural banding patterns are captivating on the dial, shifting in shade from deep navy to lighter shades of sapphire which resembles waves. Thanks to the natural properties of the agate, each dial is unique with one-of-a-kind character that lends itself beautifully to unisex wear.

Finally, let’s wrap this up with Ace Jewelers who I’m pleased to say have come through with yet another quirky collaboration for me to sink my teeth into. Last time I mentioned Ace it was for their take on The Twelve in collaboration with Christopher Ward and just before that we saw a new project unveiled with AiRAiN, this time around though they’ve teamed up with Cedric Bellon for the second time and the result is pretty sleek.

The Ace x Cedric Bellon CB01 Ti "Amsterdam Edition" is a revived take on Bellon’s sustainable timepiece, the CB01. Now appearing as a 20-piece limited edition with a raw titanium dial, the Amsterdam Edition maintains a respectable sustainability rating of 84.44% (notably this is an impressive 2 times more sustainable than a similar category Swiss-made series watch) thanks to its 100% repurposed grade 5 titanium case and repurposed Swiss-made Dubois Dépraz DD10460.