At the end of the year, it’s time to note our favorite 2023 debut watches. Starting today and through the end of the week, we’ll re-acquaint you with a few of our favorite timekeepers of the year.
Starting today, we list our favorite watches in no particular order and from all price ranges.
Bulgari: Aluminum Chronograph
Now measuring a slightly larger 41mm in diameter, Bulgari’s Aluminum Chronograph (which won the GPHG Iconic Watch Prize in 2020) is now available in a version sporting an all-black dial, a black rubber bezel and a black rubber and aluminum bracelet. Price: $4,640.
Porsche Design: Chronograph 1 – Rennsport Reunion 7 Edition
As an enhanced edition of the famed Porsche Design Chronograph 1 from 1972, this watch retains the original’s pioneering black livery. But instead of the original’s PVD steel case, the new models are forged using a more scratch-resistant titanium carbide case. But the revived watch still enthralls with same matte black dial and 41mm case size as the original.
For this special edition, Porsche Design engraves a ‘7’ on the strap to celebrate the seventh Porsche Rennsport Reunion. Turn the watch over to see more commemorative markings, including a platinum-colored winding rotor in the form of the RS Spyder wheel rim with a colorful Porsche Crest (used exclusively for this edition). The rotor winds the superb COSC-certified Porsche Design caliber WERK 01.140. Price: $12,500 (limited to seventy-five pieces in celebration of 75th anniversary of Porsche.)
Oris: AquisPro 4000m
Not only is this debut the most water-resistant diver’s watch we’ve seen from this independent Swiss manufacturer, but its also the sportiest Oris watch to include Oris Calibre 400, a superior automatic mechanical movement that boasts the aforementioned five-day power reserve, plus strong anti-magnetism and chronometric accuracy. At 49.5mm in diameter, the watch is a wristful, but given its 4,000-meter water resistance rating, thin is out of the question. The watch’s titanium case frames an easy-to-read blue gradient dial with a seaworthy wave pattern. Oris fits a blue ceramic insert with the requisite minutes scale into the unidirectional bezel and caps off the case with a blue rubber strap. Price: $6,200.
Bulova: Oceanographer GMT
This nicely retro-styled model retains the look of the existing Bulova Oceanographer ‘Devil Diver’ models, but with a new GMT hand to account for a second time zone. Look for three models in the new collection. One combines brown and black tones with an IP-plated rose gold tone steel case and bracelet.
A second steel-cased edition features a familiar red and blue GMT design often built into dive watches as well as a matching steel bracelet. The third Bulova Oceanographer GMT model (above) boasts a more monochrome look with a gunmetal IP-plated case and bezel set with a full luminous white dial. Prices: $1,295 (luminous dial and rubber strap) and $1,395 (steel bracelet).
Hublot: Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin
Hublot combined two of our favorite things (coffee and watches) into one green-hued watch when the watchmaker teamed with Nespresso to create an environmentally friendly Big Bang watch made using recycled Nespresso capsules and coffee grounds.
The new Hublot Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin is a 42mm limited edition watch with a case, crown, bezel, and pushers made from recycled aluminum. The watch’s caseback and movement container are both made from recycled titanium. In a world first, Hublot and Nespresso have transformed used coffee grounds into watch straps. Price: $24,100.
Grand Seiko: GMT Series
Grand Seiko continues to commemorate the quarter-century anniversary of its excellent Caliber 9S mechanical movement series with a new release of two GMT watches —one sporty model and one dressy edition—each powered by a specific edition of the caliber.
Both watches feature dials that echo the skies over Mt. Iwate, in the Iwate Prefecture in Japan, where Grand Seiko hand-assembles its watches. The sportier edition (the Sport Collection GMT Caliber 9S 25th Anniversary Limited Edition SBGJ275, ) features a first for Grand Seiko: a clear caseback on a mechanical watch with water resistance of 200 meters.
On the front, you’ll see a sapphire blue and white rotating bezel marked to indicate three time zones. Grand Seiko fits its Hi-Beat GMT Caliber 9S86 to power the watch, providing a frequency of 36,000 vph and very stable precision. The 2,000-piece limited edition is priced at $7,600.
We’ll post more 2023 favorites tomorrow and through the end of this week.
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