From Rolex to Jaeger-LeCoultre: Top Dress Watches of 2024

A dress watch is a particular kind of wristwatch that is meant to be worn with formal or business attire. Elegance and simplicity are the qualities that define a dress watch. For instance, most dress watches have dials with almost no complexity (such as extra dials or chronographs); simple hour markers are often used to indicate the time and these can also take the form of plain lines or Roman numerals.

This year, several dress watches have been launched. The brightest among them are: 

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Montblanc Star Legacy Automatic Date 43 mm Limited Edition

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The Montblanc Star Legacy Automatic Date Limited Edition of 800 pieces features a green dial with Montblanc's distinctive exploding star design, and rhodium-coated, sword-shaped hands and numerals. It is driven by the MB 24.17 automatic movement, which displays the hours, minutes, seconds, and dates, while delivering a 38-hour power reserve.

The timepiece's design was influenced by Minerva pocket watches from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which had round, polished, pebble-shaped cases and onion-shaped crowns. This timepiece also comes with an alternative green calf leather strap with alligator print and ecru stitching.

Price: INR 2,80,000 (approx.)

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Oris Hölstein Edition 2024

Over the past five years, on June 1st every year, Oris has been releasing a Hölstein Edition. To celebrate its 120th birthday this year, the timepiece maker has created a special watch for Oris enthusiasts ― a black-on-black version of its throwback sports watch, Divers Sixty-Five, marking a first for Oris. The 40 mm stainless steel case, bezel, and crown are plated in black DLC (diamond-like carbon). The hands, hour markers, dial text, date wheel, and lume are all in black too.

This is also the first time a regular bezel has been paired with a minutes scale (rather than a 12-hour scale) on a Divers Sixty-Five with in-house Calibre 400. This means that the watch has a five-day power reserve and elevated levels of everyday anti-magnetism, and that it comes with 10-year recommended service intervals and a 10-year warranty (when the wearers register it at MyOris). The caseback is plated in black DLC, and engraved with the limited edition number and the Oris Bear. The watch is finished on a black rubber strap with a black DLC-plated buckle.

Price: INR 3,90,000 (approx.)

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IWC Portofino Chronograph 39

Since 1984, IWC Schaffhausen's Portofino collection has stood out for its clean and modern style. The minimalist round case, Roman numerals, and simple hour markers make the watch extremely versatile. IWC Schaffhausen's new Portofino Chronograph 39 (Ref. IW391503) combines traditional Portofino styling with a sporty chronograph mechanism. The watch has a 39 mm polished stainless steel case, a silver-plated dial, and rhodium-plated hands and hour markers. There are two subdials with spiral finishing: one at 12 o’clock for the 30-minute counter and an hour subdial at 6 o’clock.  

Portofino Chronograph 39 is powered by the IWC-manufactured 69355 calibre. This robust and precise chronograph movement in a classic column-wheel design enables the measurement of stop time for up to 30 minutes and can be viewed through the sapphire glass caseback. The bi-directional pawl winding system reliably builds up a power reserve of 46 hours in the mainspring. Portofino Chronograph 39 has also been fitted with a 5-link stainless steel bracelet.

Price: INR 7,50,000 (approx.)

H. Moser Pioneer Centre Seconds Cosmic Green

This 40 mm stainless steel novelty has a screw-in crown with an ‘M’ engraving at 3 o’clock and a polished bezel. The dial boasts Cosmic Green fumé with a sunburst pattern; it also showcases the H. Moser & Cie. logo in transparent lacquer, leaf-shaped hour and minute hands filled with Super-LumiNova®, and faceted hour markers. The dial moves from green at the centre to black on the outer periphery. 

Powering the watch is Calibre HMC 201, an automatic movement with a bi-directional pawl winding system and a power reserve of 72 hours. Turning the watch over showcases the skeleton caseback with an engraved oscillating weight. This model has the original Straumann® hairspring with an anthracite finish, complete with Moser double stripes and partially skeletonised bridges. The hand-stitched alligator leather, rubber, or textile strap or the steel bracelet accompanying the watch has a steel pin buckle engraved with the H. Moser & Cie. logo.

Price: INR 16,00,000 (approx.)

Rolex 1908

Rolex presented a new version of Perpetual 1908 in a 39 mm platinum case. Its ice blue dial features a guilloché rice-grain motif. This rosette-like design is distinctive for its three-dimensional, repeating geometric pattern that extends across the surface of the dial, starting from the small seconds counter at 6  o’clock. The minute track is surrounded by a filet sauté with a crimped pattern, which is also guilloché. Like the watch faces of the 18 ct gold versions, the exclusive dial of this model bears Arabic numerals for 3 o’clock, 9 o’clock and 12 o’clock, faceted hour markers and similar hands.

The 1908 variant incorporates calibre 7140, a cutting-edge watchmaking movement featuring Rolex Côtes de Genève bridges and a cut-out oscillating weight. This movement follows a self-winding method via a perpetual rotor. Because of its barrel architecture and the escapement's exceptional efficiency, the power reserve of this movement is around 66 hours. The oscillator is mounted on the brand's unique high-performance Paraflex shock absorbers, which boost shock resistance in the movement. The watch is finished on a brown alligator leather strap with a Dualclasp, a double folding clasp.

Price: INR 26,51,000 (approx.)

JLC Reverso San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk

Monet was drawn to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, located close to St Mark's Square, which was chosen as the venue for the Homo Faber Biennial. This vista, painted while the sun set behind the island, focuses on light, colours, and reflections, leaving the buildings as a silhouette to anchor the composition. Creating a miniature version of Monet's famous artwork took almost 70 hours of diligent efforts. 

The 10-piece limited-edition watch comes in a 45.6 mm white gold case. The dial features grand feu enamel in a shade of blue that complements the colour of the sky on the caseback painting. The herringbone guilloché pattern comprises 120 separate lines, each of which requires three passages of the lathe, creating 360 lines altogether. The watch with dauphine hour, minute hands is powered by Calibre 822 with a 42-hour power reserve. Finishing the watch is a black alligator strap.

Price: INR 92,00,000 (approx.)‍