MONOCHROME’s 2025 favorites are twelve personal picks, not a ranked “best of” list: four members of its core team each chose three watches they would want on their wrist, without constraints. Their choices range from restrained dress watches to complicated calendar, travel-time and chiming pieces, with attention to proportions, materials, movement design and wearability.
What the list represents
In a recap published on 6 April 2025, MONOCHROME asked Frank, Xavier, Robin and Brice: “What watches gave you the best impression!” Each named three watches they would want to wear. The result is a snapshot of those writers’ preferences—not a scored contest, an industry consensus or a consumer-tested recommendation. MONOCHROME’s full recap gives each choice its personal rationale.
The event itself ran public days from 5 to 7 April 2025. The Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation reported more than 55,000 visitors and 60 exhibiting maisons for the 2025 edition. Those are organizer figures, rather than independent measures of the watches’ reception. The event’s official page describes the edition, while the Foundation’s 7 April 2025 release also reported 6,000 retailer representatives, 1,600 journalists and 23,000 tickets sold for public days. It estimated social-media hashtag reach at more than 700 million.
Brice’s three picks
Patek Philippe Calatrava 6196P
Brice chose a classic dress-watch interpretation, citing the restrained design and the contrast of a platinum case with a rose-gold opaline dial. The recap reports a 38 mm case, 9.3 mm thickness and a 65-hour power reserve. These are specifications as reported in that 2025 article, not independently reverified current specifications.
#1 Best Overall
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- Vibrant Display & Personalized Style: Effortlessly view the 1.91-inch TFT LCD display, even in bright sunlight, with up to 550 nits of brightness. Express your unique style by choosing from over 150 pre-designed watch faces or customizing the dial with your like images
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- Effortless Fitness Tracking & Everyday Durability: Stay motivated with over 110 sports modes to track your progress across various activities like running, walking, hiking, and more. The IP68 waterproof rating ensures worry-free use during workouts, handwashing, and daily activities
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Rolex Perpetual 1908 with Settimo bracelet
The Settimo bracelet was the draw for Brice: its supple, vintage-inspired look and concealed clasp. The recap describes the pictured version in yellow gold, with white or black dial options, and notes that the bracelet has no micro-adjustment. That last detail matters to anyone for whom a fine-grained fit adjustment is important.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Gold Milanese
Brice singled out the gold dial and Milanese bracelet, as well as the Reverso’s proportions. The recap reports a case thickness of 7.5 mm. Its appeal in this selection is a combination of a recognizable case shape and a dressier gold-and-mesh treatment.
Frank’s three picks
Chopard L.U.C Quattro Platinum
Frank’s choice centers on the Quattro movement architecture: four mainsprings and a nine-day power reserve, as described in the recap. He also highlights the compact movement dimensions, 39 mm platinum case, textured light-blue dial and power-reserve display on the back. The watch pairs a long stated reserve with design details that make that reserve visible to its wearer.
Rank #2
- HANDS-FREE VOICE CONTROL AND CALLS – Ideal for hiking in the snow or your daily commute, this women's smartwatch allows you to make/receive calls and set reminders via voice commands - no more having to whip out your cold phone in freezing temperatures. Stay warm and connected while your phone is in your pocket.
- YOUR SILENT GUARDIAN IN EMERGENCIES – The DEMABON smartwatch is equipped with an SOS emergency call feature, thoughtfully designed to protect you in critical moments.Whether it's elderly parents at home who may experience dizziness, a fall, or sudden heart discomfort, or women commuting late at night or traveling alone, simply pressing the side button five times will immediately send an emergency alert and location to preset contacts and initiate an urgent call.
- BLUETOOTH CALL AND MESSAGE NOTIFICATIONS — With Bluetooth one-touch connection, you can directly use the smart watch to answer and make calls, or check call records, receive and read notifications from SMS, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat and other apps. This watches for men allows you not to miss any important information, but please note that you cannot reply to messages.
- 24/7 HEALTH MONITORING AND AI VOICE ASSISTANT — Monitor heart rate, blood oxygen throughout the day, and track your sleep quality at night, including wakefulness, rapid eye movement, light sleep and deep sleep. (Note: This product is not a medical device, the data is for reference only). The fitness watch is also equipped with an AI voice assistant (Siri, Bixby, Google Assistant). Through voice commands, you can set alarms, check the weather, control music, and make your life smarter.
- 1.75-INCH AMOLED DISPLAY AND AI DIAL — Experience the stunning visuals brought by the 1.75-inch AMOLED high-definition touch screen smartwatch, with a resolution of 390 x 450, clear display and smooth operation. There are more than 100 dials to choose from in the APP, and it also has AI dials. Just describe your preferences and AI will recommend a unique design style for you. You can also customize the dial to personalize your smart watch.
Patek Philippe Calatrava 8-Day 5328G
Frank liked the modern Calatrava case and gradient-blue dial alongside the hand-wound calibre 31-505. The recap notes the movement’s relationship to the Gondolo 5200. Here, the attraction is not just the long-reserve format implied by the model name, but the way Patek Philippe brings that mechanical emphasis into a contemporary Calatrava design.
The Tool Desk
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Frank’s pick combines a minute repeater and perpetual calendar with a black enamel dial, frosted movement decoration and a hand-engraved moon disc. He also wrote about hearing the repeater; that is his reported personal experience, not an independent sound test. The watch stands out in the list for bringing a chiming complication together with elaborate calendar and finishing work.
Robin’s three picks
Parmigiani Toric Perpetual Calendar Gold
Robin praised the restrained design and the combination of gold, color and calendar display, including gold movement bridges. His choice is an appreciation of how those details work together, not a comparative assessment against other perpetual calendars.
Rank #3
- HANDS-FREE VOICE CONTROL AND CALLS – Ideal for hiking in the snow or your daily commute, this women's smartwatch allows you to make/receive calls and set reminders via voice commands - no more having to whip out your cold phone in freezing temperatures. Stay warm and connected while your phone is in your pocket.
- YOUR SILENT GUARDIAN IN EMERGENCIES – The DEMABON smartwatch is equipped with an SOS emergency call feature, thoughtfully designed to protect you in critical moments.Whether it's elderly parents at home who may experience dizziness, a fall, or sudden heart discomfort, or women commuting late at night or traveling alone, simply pressing the side button five times will immediately send an emergency alert and location to preset contacts and initiate an urgent call.
- BLUETOOTH CALL AND MESSAGE NOTIFICATIONS — With Bluetooth one-touch connection, you can directly use the smart watch to answer and make calls, or check call records, receive and read notifications from SMS, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat and other apps. This watches for men allows you not to miss any important information, but please note that you cannot reply to messages.
- 24/7 HEALTH MONITORING AND AI VOICE ASSISTANT — Monitor heart rate, blood oxygen throughout the day, and track your sleep quality at night, including wakefulness, rapid eye movement, light sleep and deep sleep. (Note: This product is not a medical device, the data is for reference only). The fitness watch is also equipped with an AI voice assistant (Siri, Bixby, Google Assistant). Through voice commands, you can set alarms, check the weather, control music, and make your life smarter.
- 1.75-INCH AMOLED DISPLAY AND AI DIAL — Experience the stunning visuals brought by the 1.75-inch AMOLED high-definition touch screen smartwatch, with a resolution of 390 x 450, clear display and smooth operation. There are more than 100 dials to choose from in the APP, and it also has AI dials. Just describe your preferences and AI will recommend a unique design style for you. You can also customize the dial to personalize your smart watch.
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Honeygold
Robin’s interest was the warm Honeygold case and brown dial in a watch from the sporty Odysseus line. The pairing gives the model a different tone from a conventional steel sports watch while retaining the line’s daily-wear character, as described in the recap.
NOMOS Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer
Robin favored the thin automatic movement, travel-time complication, correction pusher and steel bracelet, describing the result as sporty. MONOCHROME’s recap listed six colorful limited editions and two classic editions. It also described the watch as under €4,000 at publication in 2025; that is a historical price reference, not current pricing or a statement of present availability.
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Xavier’s three picks
Vacheron Constantin Solaria Grande Complication
Xavier focused on the engineering challenge of the Solaria: the recap reports 41 complications across two dials and a movement comprising 1,521 components. Its complexity is also a practical design challenge, since the information must remain legible across those displays. The numbers describe the watch as reported in the 2025 recap.
Rank #4
- 👍【Military Standard Quality & 100 Day+ Ultra-Long Life Battery】- The frame of the military smart watch for men is made from a special aluminum alloy material,successfully passed 12 military tests, is rugged, waterproof, dustproof, and can handle all the extreme environments.with a battery capacity of up to 900mAh, 5 times of traditional smartwatches. Offers 100 days standby time and 30 days for daily usage, say goodbey to frequent charge, no more need to bring so much cables for long trip!
- 👍【LED Flashlight & Compass Adventures & 2 Pack Watch Straps 】- Tactical smart watches for men have a LED flashlight( Lighting range up to 6-10m). Equipped with a compass device, magnetically resistant, designed for professional outdoor exercise.You can take on any adventure no matter day or night. Definitely a great companion for your adventures! Also equipped with 2 comfortable and skin-friendly wristbands (silicone strap and nylon strap), the length can be adjusted freely.
- 👍【2024 New Split Screen & 2.01" Big Screen & DIY Watch Faces】- We created a quick menu displayed on the split screen for the first time, and it updates in real time according to the user's latest visits, allowing you to use it more conveniently and intelligently. 2024 new Blackview W60 Smart Watch is equipped with 2.01"extra large HD full touch screen, TFT color display for outstanding HD quality. We offer you a variety of online dials, or you can also personalize the watch face.
- 👍【Answer/Make Calls and AI Voice Assistant】Blackview fitness watch come with built-in HiFi stereo speakers and microphone. Once connected to Bluetooth, you can directly answer or make calls through the smartwatch. The "GloryFitPro" app stores multiple contacts, ensuring you stay connected with family and friends anytime, anywhere. Receive real-time notifications on the smartwatch for incoming calls or messages (WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, etc.). Speak to the AI voice assistant for quick help
- 👍【100+ Sports Modes】With more than 100 sports modes, this fitness tracker supports running, cycling, walking, climbing, yoga, skiing, football, and more. It tracks your daily data such as steps, time, distance, and calories, and connects to the GPS on your phone to record all your training routes and fitness using the "GloryFitPro" app to further motivate yourself to complete your exercise plan. It's an IP68 waterproof device that can meet your daily needs. (*NOTE: Not for sauna, hot water.)
Rolex Land-Dweller
The calibre 7135 and Dynapulse escapement were Xavier’s mechanical reasons for choosing the Land-Dweller. The recap reports silicon escape components, a ceramic balance staff, a 5 Hz frequency and a 66-hour power reserve. Xavier also expressed reservations about the design, making this a useful reminder that technical interest and aesthetic preference do not have to align.
Zenith G.F.J Calibre 135
Xavier highlighted Zenith’s revival of Calibre 135, a movement with an observatory-chronometry history, in a modernized form and a platinum case for the brand’s 160th anniversary. The selection connects a historically significant calibre to a commemorative contemporary release; the recap presents that heritage as part of the watch’s appeal.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What ties the twelve selections together
The range is broad rather than prescriptive: dress watches, sports-oriented designs, calendar and travel complications, a minute repeater and releases whose movement architecture is a central attraction. Across the individual comments, the recurring considerations are proportions, case and dial materials, wearability, movement design and distinctiveness. That is a synthesis of these four writers’ remarks, not a measured trend across all Watches and Wonders launches.
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Best Value
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The Foundation’s own characterization of the 2025 launches emphasized heritage and iconic collections, jewelry watches, smaller sizes, textured and colored dials, and skeleton watches. Those observations provide event-wide context, but they do not establish why MONOCHROME’s team selected any particular model.
For readers comparing the picks, the most useful questions are concrete: how a case’s size and thickness suit the intended wearer; whether the dial and case materials match their taste; what the complication adds to daily use; and whether a bracelet’s fit or a watch’s operating demands are acceptable. The team’s stated reasons can help narrow interest, but they are personal preferences rather than buying recommendations.
Quick Recap
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