The 2024 edition of the Watch of the Year closed successfully. Over 35,000 votes were registered.
With over 35,000 votes registered, the 2024 edition of theClock of the YearA fundamental contribution to maintaining the tradition of the only Italian watchmaking prize, freely awarded by the public of enthusiasts.
One sample for each of the 12 categories: Solotempo, Chronograph, Diving Watch, Tourbillon, Complicated Watch, Design, Savoir-Faire, Innovation, Calendars, Revelation, Jewellery Watch, Value for Money. In addition, there is the special prize awarded by the members of L'Orologio Club, who are invited to cast their vote to choose the model that absolutely deserves to win the title of Watch of the Year.
The award, sponsored again this year by Vicenzaoro, was instituted in 1994 by our magazine to honour the most loved and appreciated models by the public of enthusiasts and admirers.
SOLOTEMPO
Patek Philippe
Golden Ellipse 5738/1R
In all its essentiality, the Ellipse by Patek Philippe became one of the watches that defined an entire generation of extravagant, design-focused models in the 1970s. The new 'chain' bracelet gives it a vintage style that takes it back to its roots, focusing on the brand's craftsmanship heritage. Readers prize a sober but striking watch with an elaborate gold bracelet that lends just the right amount of opulence to the clean design of the case.
CHRONOGRAPH
Omega
Speedmaster 'Dark Side of the Moon' Apollo 8
Once again the Speedmaster of Omega takes the podium in this category, proving that our readers fully recognise its iconic status among chronographs. This year it graduates with an updated Dark Side of the Moon version that introduces a Master Chronometer movement and some small but substantial aesthetic changes (including a rocket-shaped seconds hand) that enhance its appeal without distorting its original spirit.
DIVER'S WATCH
Zenith
Defy Extreme Diver
The Defy Extreme descends to 600 metres and the inspiration is that of a diver launched from Zenith in 1969. Rewarding the company's return to diver modelling, with a timepiece steeped in history and with important technical content, it successfully took shape in the modern Extreme line, the boldest and most ultra-technical version of Zenith's sports watch.
TOURBILLON
Piaget
Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon
Almost a foregone conclusion for a record-breaking tourbillon, the thinnest on the market. Piaget adds a new record to its palma res in the challenge to the last millimetre of ultra-thin watchmaking, a true speciality for the brand. The Watch of the Year was awarded to an interpretation at the limits of the laws of physics of Abraham-Louis Breguet's invention, concentrated in just two millimetres of thickness.
COMPLICATED WATCH
Vacheron Constantin
Les Cabinotiers - The Berkley Grand Complication
A confirmation for Vacheron Constantinwhich wins once again in this category. After all, this is the most complicated watch ever made and the readers rewarded a true pocket watch masterpiece, made to order, which brings together 63 complications. These include a Chinese perpetual calendar, reworked in the form of an algorithm to transcribe its indications into a mechanism programmed down to 2200 capable of following its irregularities.
DESIGN
Hublot
Big Bang MP-11 Water Blue Sapphire
One of the many expressions of the innovative designs and technical exploits of the MP series by Hublot acquires a new style in a totally transparent sapphire case with an unprecedented colour: a luminous translucent aqua blue shade, the result of several years of development and testing. It offers an unprecedented and fascinating view of the seven serially coupled barrels and the in-line indicator of the exceptional 14-day power reserve.
INNOVATION
Bulgari
Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc
Victory goes to a timepiece that redefines, at just 1.7 mm thick, the standards of ultra-thin watchmaking: it is the thinnest certified mechanical chronometer on the market. An extraordinary result achieved by re-engineering the components of the Octo Finissimo Ultra by Bulgariwith the use of innovative technical solutions and the filing of no less than eight patents.
SAVOIR-FAIRE
Van Cleef & Arpels
Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté
Quite a success for a brand with no watchmaking tradition, namely Van Cleef & Arpelswhich for several years now has been putting its great jewellery know-how at the service of the universe of hands, producing timepieces with dials conceived as works of art, linked to the savoir-faire of the ancient métiers d'art. We prize the poetry of the image of an enchanted forest, translated into a jewellery watch that is the fruit of traditional techniques, but also of innovative processes.
REVELATION
Leica
ZM 11
As a true outsider, the winner is a brand that has written a fundamental page in the history of photography and that, even with its recent watchmaking production, has been able to fully convince the enthusiast public and our readers. We reward a model that is faithful to the brand's distinctive design, emphasising above all the very essence of photography, i.e. the interaction between light and shadow reproduced on the dial. And equipped with a top-of-the-range mechanism from Jean-François Mojon's Swiss manufacture Chronode, specially reworked for Leica.
CALENDARS
IWC
Portugieser Eternal Calendar
IWC becomes champion with its first wristwatch perpetual calendar with the most accurate moon phase ever. An extraordinary result of refined mechanics, the watch does not need to be adjusted until 3999. An innovative gear train, designed for a 400-year cycle, overcomes the complex exception rules of the Gregorian calendar for leap years. The exceptional accuracy of the phases of the moon is such that it is off by one day in 45 million years.
JEWELLERY WATCH
Cartier
Reflection
A watch or a bracelet? Cartier is a true master in the creation of original and daring jewellery watches in which, like an illusionist, he manages to play with time. He leads the way in this category with a voluminous, geometric open bangle bracelet, richly sculpted in gold and set with precious stones, which conceals a watch inserted inside the opening of the cuff. The dial of which, in a play of mirror polish, is reflected on the opposite side. And time seems to run in reverse.
VALUE FOR MONEY
Seiko
Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver's Watch
The public rewards the excellent value for money of a watch that is heir to the great tradition of Seiko in underwater modelling. The proportions have been refined, the technical specifications improved, and a new movement with a 72-hour power reserve added. The Japanese manufacturer comes out on top with a rank diver, guaranteed waterproof to 300 metres, offered at a price, 1,400 euros, more than competitive for the type.
Special prize the Clock Club
Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona
The vote of L'Orologio Club members, connoisseurs and collectors alike, awards the latest valuable version of the Rolex Daytona in mother-of-pearl and diamonds. Which, unlike previous variants with opulent and flamboyant gemstones, manages to maintain a welcome restraint. Technically successful, stylistically concrete, this chronograph always remains perfectly recognisable and acknowledged.
