american precision timepiece watches and leather

The bright new Oyster Perpetual “Celebration” dial is splashed with multicolored bubbles, all highlighting the colors of lacquered dials introduced in 2020, and is available in 31mm, 36mm and 41mm sizes, while the Day-Date 36 seen here showcases a colorful jigsaw-puzzle motif and substitutes emotions for the days of the week seen in the aperture at 12 o’clock. Kermit wasn’t the only whimsical motif introduced in Geneva: Rolex surprised attendees by introducing dial designs that felt undeniably more joyful and exuberant than collectors typically anticipate from this status brand.

As for the top end, that’s undeniably hit a stratospheric level, as one of the pieces featured there amply demonstrates. That gung-ho attitude also is driving price points, as exceedingly few watches were discussed in the $5,000 and under retail range. Luxury watches are roundly agreed to be among the product categories that largely remained bulletproof throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, an idea that was supported by robust attendance and a decidedly optimistic approach with product debuts that design-wise often veered into audacious territories. From a dial that takes its cue from an iconic Muppets character to perhaps the priciest, most blinged-out timepiece ever created, the annual Watches and Wonders trade fair and the surrounding events known as Geneva Watch Week showcased an impressive range of status-watch launches for 2023 at the event, which ran from March 27 to April 2 in Switzerland.