The 10 watches we’ve been most impressed by so far this year

This year has so far been a golden one for the world of horology. We’ve already seen a number of astonishing releases, predominantly at the SIHH, yet there’s still plenty more to come. The world’s biggest watch fair and trade show, BaselWorld, is just around the corner and a number of brands are holding off on unveiling their hard work until then. Many of the timepieces have been in development for years, and as always, cards are being kept close to their respective chests, so we’ll have to wait and see what the likes of Rolex, Omega and Tudor are getting up to.

Basel will likely develop on existing trends within the industry, but we can also expect to see a few new ones. So far, many brands are looking to their heritage for inspiration and as such, we’ve seen plenty of vintage-style pieces which can never be a bad thing. Elsewhere, skeletonisation has been big, and brands are continuing to innovate with new ways to strip down their timepieces. The results have been dramatic, and while they are technically astounding, skeletonised watches continue to divide opinion; some just consider them too showy.

In order to really show their worth though, certain brands have been looking to the stars for inspiration. Astronomical-inspired timepieces started cropping up in 2014, with a particular highlight being the Van Cleef & Arpels Complication Poetic Midnight Planetarium. Now they are everywhere, and everyone from Montblanc to Roger Dubuis are trying to outdo each other with their very own out-of-this-world creations.

It is the heritage trend that appeals to us the most though and as a result the following list is somewhat dominated by them. Here are the 10 watches we’ve been most impressed by so far this year.

BAUME & MERCIER CLASSIMA