Here are our favourite watch articles of 2024
Jamie WeissI’ve just run the numbers, and we published over 1,300 articles on Time+Tide in 2024. That’s a lot of waxing lyrical about watches! Whilst we’re still wistfully looking back at The Year That Was as we take our first steps into the unknown that is 2025, I’ve come up with a dozen pieces that I think represent some of our best articles of 2024. Of course, with over 1,300 proverbial runs on the board, it’s easy even for us writers to forget what our best works were… So, if for my fellow journalists’ sake rather than mine, if there was someone on the team who wrote a piece that you really enjoyed last year, please, get in contact – we love writing for y’all, and it would mean the world. Let’s dig in!
Will the Cubitus be the final straw that will put Patek Philippe customers off for good?
Let’s start with something topical (I swear this isn’t recency bias). It’s fair to say that the Patek Philippe Cubitus, the brand’s first new collection in 25 years, was likely the most controversial watch of 2024. Much has been said about this divisive square timepiece, but I think Zach’s very even-handed critique of why the way Patek handled the watch’s release was potentially more on the nose to collectors than the watch itself is the best take on the whole debacle (I swear this isn’t garden-variety bias, either). Read Zach’s article here.
The dark art of resonance in watches, how it works, and why it’s so rare
Chalk it up to his engineering background, but Borna’s understanding of the finer points of watchmaking – and his ability to explain them in an engaging and witty way – never ceases to amaze me. I was a particular fan of his piece about the niche and widely misunderstood complication/phenomenon that is resonance watches and why they’re so uncommon. Read Borna’s article here.
Seiko President Akio Naito on Grand Seiko’s impressive growth, community engagement, and making icons
One of the highlights of my year was having the chance to sit down with Akio Naito, President of the Seiko Watch Corporation, when he visited Melbourne last year. By any measure, Seiko is one of (if not the) biggest watch brands in the world, so I was admittedly quite nervous… But I shouldn’t have been, as Naito-san was one of the most kind and generous interviewees I’ve ever had. Our chat focused on Grand Seiko, and how the brand is dedicated to listening to its community – a dedication that comes right from the top. Read Jamie’s article here.
From Bauhaus to Brutalism: the relationship between art movements and watch design
One of the biggest watch industry trends of 2024 has been a move towards shape-led design – and many of those shapes have been inspired by art and architectural movements, such as Art Deco and Brutalism. However, most watch collectors (and indeed journalists) struggle to articulate or recognise how different art movements have left their mark on watchmaking. Thankfully, we’ve got people like Buffy to arm us with the vocabulary and more importantly, the context, to understand this paradigm shift properly. Read Buffy’s article here.
The Bastardo abides: the transgressive tastes of Phil Toledano, and the Toledano & Chan B/1
Speaking of shape-driven design… The Toledano & Chan B/1 was undoubtedly one of the highlight watch releases of 2024. The brainchild of designer Arthur Chan and multidisciplinary artist Phil Toledano, the B/1’s striking form – inspired by brutalist architecture, specifically the Marcel Breuer Whitney Museum window in Midtown New York City of all things – couldn’t be more on trend if it tried. D.C. picked Phil’s brain about the watch, the watches that influenced it, his passion for vintage cars and his curatorial approach. Read D.C.’s article here.
The eye of the tiger is back in watchmaking – and at multiple price points
One of the things that makes the aforementioned B/1 so on-trend is its use of a natural stone dial. Stone dials of all stripes (see what I’m doing here?) are really having a moment right now, but tiger eye seems to be particularly hot. What’s exciting, too, is we’re seeing a democratisation of stone dials, which used to be the domain of luxury watchmaking but are now popping up in much more affordable watches too. Read Russell’s article here.
Is now the time to make watches more simple rather than complicated?
An idea that goes hand-in-hand with this move towards shape-driven watch design is a reduced emphasis on complications (and perhaps a reconsideration of the role of quartz movements). Perhaps we have hit a saturation point in useful mechanical innovations in horology. But Zach postulates that, rather than trying to compete to make increasingly more esoteric complications, maybe watchmakers should pursue a different approach… Read Zach’s article here.
How the humble honey bee helps keep Jaeger-LeCoultre’s high watchmaking buzzing
Here’s a story that generated a lot of buzz… Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Watch brands love to talk about how their creations are shaped by the natural environments in which they’re created, whether that’s the lakes of Japan or the mountains of Switzerland, but in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s case, it’s quite literal. Turns out the humble honeybee might be the secret to haute horlogerie. Read Jamie’s article here.
A month with my $7 18k gold Universal Genève
This article represents the end of a very cool little saga that Buffy took us on early in 2024. Buffy was already pretty well-known in the T+T office for their knack for finding killer vintage watches at ridiculously low prices, but when they shared they’d found a beautiful 18k white gold Universal Genève in the bottom of a box in a charity shop and paid only 7 of their finest Australian dollars for it, we knew that we’d hit gold in more ways than one. Read Buffy’s article here.
Through a designer’s eyes: Emmanuel Gueit critiques 2024 watch releases
This article originally appeared in Issue 9 of the Time+Tide NOW Magazine, and while we typically keep most of the articles that appear in NOW as print exclusives (so that you all go out and buy the damn thing), Andrew’s chat with legendary watch designer Emmanuel Gueit was worth bringing to the web. Read Andrew’s article here.
What Geneva Watch Days told us about the state of the industry
It hasn’t been all sunshine and daisies for the watch industry over the last 12 months. With the topsy-turvyness of the COVID-19 era coming to an end, a faltering Chinese economy, and a global cost of living crisis, many watch brands are hurting – an undercurrent that could be felt at 2024’s edition of Geneva Watch Days, for better or for worse. Russell’s pulse-taking of the state of the industry is a worthwhile read, and might help you understand what 2025 might look like for watchmakers. Read Russell’s article here.
Under-represented and under-appreciated: Deloitte & Watch Femme’s report shines a light on women and the watch industry
Last year saw the publication of a rather important report – the Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Insights 2024: Spotlight on the female market. It made concrete something that many watch consumers have known instinctively for a while, namely that women are massively and systemically under-represented in the watch world. A lot of lip service has been given in recent years to how the watch space is becoming more inclusive, but as Laura adroitly explains, there’s still much that needs to change. Read Laura’s article here.
Why the emphasis on in-house needs to end
Finally, let’s end with an excoriation of one of the watch industry’s most notorious weasel words: “in-house movements”. I love it when Borna sharpens his pitchfork and gets stuck into brands: it’s not just entertaining but informative. Read Borna’s article here.
Hope you enjoyed these articles and thanks again for all your support in 2024!
Jamie and the Time+Tide Team