The Art and Craft of Dress Watches: Top 10 Picks from Watches and Wonders 2025

At this year’s Watches and Wonders in Geneva, dress watches reaffirmed their place in the modern collector’s wardrobe with refined restraint. Amidst a sea of technical showpieces and avant-garde designs, a wave of elegantly understated timepieces stood out for their clarity of purpose. Brands leaned into slim profiles, clean dials, and precious materials, offering a masterclass in how tradition can still feel timely. 

GMT India takes a close look at the top 10 dress watches spotted at Watches and Wonders 2025.

TAG Heuer Carrera Day-Date

This 41 mm watch has a stainless steel case, lugs, a crown at 3 o’clock, and a polished bezel. The black opaline dial has 18 ct rose gold-plated hour markers, and hour, minute, and second hands. The day-date window at 3 o’clock also gets a rose gold-plated frame. 

Powered by the TH31-02 movement, this TAG Heuer Carrera delivers 80 hours of power reserve. The caseback gets a Victory Wreath engraving. The watch is finished on a silver-coloured stainless steel bracelet. 

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds

This 47 mm watch gets a stainless steel case, lugs, and a crown. The Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds displays a different time zone on each dial. In addition, the front black dial features a small seconds register and the reverse silver dial features a 24-hour/night-and-day display.

Shaped to fit the rectangular Reverso case, the hand-wound Calibre 854 is designed in such a way that the minutes on both dials and the hours on the front dial can be adjusted by the crown; the hours for the second time zone are adjusted by a small slider set into the top case-band. The slider is completely invisible, except when the case is released from the carriage to be flipped over, thus maintaining the perfectly sleek case design. There is a sunray pattern on the inner surface of the carriage. Powering the watch is a manual winding Calibre 854 with a 42-hour power reserve. 

H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Centre Seconds Concept Purple Enamel

Housed in a stainless steel case is a classic time-only watch. The dial is crafted from six enamel pigments, each in a different hue, that are carefully washed and finely crushed before being applied. The HMC 201 calibre is equipped with a regulating organ manufactured by H. Moser & Cie.'s sister company, Precision Engineering AG, featuring an original Straumann® hairspring and a distinctive double hairspring providing a 72-hour power reserve.

The movement also boasts hacking seconds for precise time settings. This elegant opening allows the wearer to admire the wheels of the gear train, the central seconds mechanism, and the bidirectional automatic winding system. The solid 18-carat gold oscillating weight has also been openworked, ensuring an unobstructed view of the movement.

Rolex 1908

The Perpetual 1908 in 18 ct yellow gold features a 39 mm case, an intense white dial, and a Settimo bracelet. This watch gets a slim case crowned with a bezel that is part domed and part fluted; the lower part is given an elegant fluting while the upper part is domed. The intense white dial has Arabic numerals for 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, and 9 o'clock, along with a central hour and minute hand, and a small seconds hand at 6 o’clock.

Powering the watch is Calibre 7140 with a bidirectional self-winding movement via perpetual rotor, offering a 66-hour power reserve. The watch is finished on a seven-piece solid links Settimo bracelet with a concealed folding Crownclasp in 18 ct yellow gold. 

Chopard L.U.C Quattro

This 39 mm chronometer (Ref. 161954-5001) has a rose gold bassine-shaped case, a polished bezel, and a fluted crown at 3 o’clock. The deep blue brass dial has a frosted texture achieved with galvanic treatment; a 60-minute track runs along its outer periphery. Herringbone-shaped hour markers, dauphine fusée hours and minutes hands, and baton-type small seconds and date hands at 6 o’clock, all in ethical 18-carat rose gold, enhance the overall look.

Powering the watch is manual winding Calibre L.U.C 98.09-L with 216 hours or 9 days of power reserve. The transparent exhibition caseback offers a full view of the movement as well as the power reserve indicator with a rose gold hand.

IWC Ingenieur Automatic 35

The IWC Ingenieur Automatic 35 has a 35 mm stainless steel case, integrated lugs, and a crown. The elaborately crafted black dial features the characteristic “Grid” pattern, consisting of small lines and squares. Another detail is the intricate framing of the date window. The hour markers are individually mounted by hand and filled with Super-LumiNova®; the hands are rhodium-plated.

The model has been equipped with an open caseback showcasing the 47110 calibre with automatic winding and a power reserve of 42 hours. The movement is finished with circular graining and Geneva stripes, and features a gold-plated oscillating weight.

Panerai Luminor Marina

This 44 mm brushed steel watch gets a polished bezel and a signature crown with protection. This white matte sandwich dial has Arabic numerals for 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 9 o'clock, hour markers with grey Super-LumiNova® X2, a date window at 3 o’clock, and a small seconds counter at 9 o’clock. 

Powering the watch is the automatic mechanical P.980 calibre with an Incabloc® anti-shock device and a single barrel with a stop balance wheel offering 3 days of power reserve. The dodecagonal exhibition caseback and the oscillating weight are crafted from stainless steel. 

Tank Louis Cartier

This 31.8 mm yellow gold watch has a flinqué dial, blued-steel sword-shaped hands, Roman hour markers, a central railway track, parallel brancards, and a crown set with a sapphire or ruby cabochon, or even an inverted pavilion diamond. Powering the watch is Calibre 1899 MC, a self-winding movement with a 39-hour power reserve. The watch is finished on a semi-matte grey alligator leather strap.

Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 6196P-001

This new model is housed in a platinum case with satin-brushed flanks,  a smooth bevelled bezel, and slender tapering lugs. The dial is crafted in rose-gilt opaline. Caliber 30-255 PS, a manually wound movement, runs the watch with a 65-hour power reserve. The stop-second function enables the time to be set to the nearest second. The watch is finished on a chocolate alligator leather strap.

A. Lange 1815‍

The new 1815 comes in a 34 mm white gold case, with lugs and a crown at 3 o’clock. The blue dial has a railway-track minute scale, Arabic numerals, and a subsidiary seconds dial positioned at 6 o’clock. The lancet-shaped gold hands that rotate above a blue background match the case colour. 

Powering the watch is Lange manufacture calibre L152.1, a manually wound movement, precision-adjusted in five positions. The plates and bridges are made of untreated German silver, while the balance cock is engraved by hand. The movement delivers a 72-hour power reserve.