The watch business loves celebrating milestones, far more than even its close cousin, the jewellery trade. For evidence, simply look at all the watch brand and model anniversaries this year, and the amount of attention devoted to the same. Counting this very story, to say there is milestone mania afoot is putting it mildly. Even without performing a comparison against the big names in luxury, most of which are outside watchmaking, there really does seem to be an awful lot of cake going about. Brands are even celebrating important models and, bizarrely, collectors get into it too.
Still, not every brand engages and one notable absence actually proves that the anniversary fever is real. Rolex was founded in 1905 as Wilsdorf and Davis by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis and any fool can tell you that this year ought to be something special. You will not find anything of note about this on the Rolex website though – you will not even find any special mention of the watches celebrating key birthdays this year, the GMT-Master II and the Datejust. To be fair, there is a new authorised and official Rolex book on the Datejust this year, Oyster Perpetual Datejust – A Watch that Made History by Nicholas Foulkes but it feels like it could have been released in any year. The press release does not make much noise about the 1945 debut of the watch, other than to simply mention it, almost as a BTW, to be as casual as possible.
A little across the way from Rolex in Geneva, another brand also keeps it very quiet when it comes to feting itself. Patek Philippe was founded in 1839 and the most notable thing that emerged from the manufacture at Plan-les-Ouates last year was the Cubitus. The brand did make a splash in 2014 with the Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175 but this too was more a story about an amazing watch than some kind of anniversary special. Needless to say, amazing watches give relevance to anniversaries, making them impactful far beyond their debuts and whatever anniversaries they might have celebrated.
For watch collectors though, interest in all things Rolex and Patek Philippe is strong. Thus, we know that many will remind us that 1908 is the year Rolex prefers to honour, as evidenced by a certain collection. It has not escaped us, but we also recall that not much happened in 2008 nor 2018. Once again, there might be interesting watches or collections but this only shows that the most important names in watchmaking are keeping it real with a focus on timekeeping. This bit remains true of the other big players who are celebrating in outsized ways this year: Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin. Both have standout watches, yet both are also partying hard, especially the latter.
Of course, these are only the tip of the anniversary iceberg this year. The editors of WOW find themselves absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information on major milestones this year, while also being curious about the brands that let the work speak for itself. They may not come to any conclusions, if they ever do, but there might be an ‘aha’ moment or two in the following discussion.
RC: Hello, dear WOW colleagues. I have been on a horological roller coaster ride for the past two months, professionally and personally. For the latter, I should say for the record that I did not win one of the 10 M.A.D.1s watches offered as prizes to celebrate the 20th anniversary of MB&F. It is my second failed attempt to win a M.A.D.1s raffle. Well, maybe one day.
DG: Ah yes, the raffle system from MB&F… Not to rub salt into your wounds but I was recently speaking with a industry colleague and he signed up for the M.A.D 2 raffle just on a whim, saying he’ll probably never get it and guess what? He turned up a couple of weeks ago with one on his wrist. He even went all the way to the M.A.D. House in Geneva to pick it up during Geneva Watch Days. Apart from that, I also found it incredibly amusing that there was the 20th anniversary raffle that will give away 10 Legacy Machine 101 Longhorn priced at CHF 58,000 each to “Tribe” members! What a way to celebrate a milestone.
AS: I’m M.A.D. as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore! I did not enter the latest raffle for the M.A.D. watch, or rather I would have not entered had I not been automatically enrolled… There is a limit to how much hope I can muster and how much disappointment I can take. Of course, I did not win but I am now a three-time loser. So, thanks for that, I guess… If there is ever a M.A.D. Loser edition, count me in MB&F! Also, on a happier note and for the record, happy anniversary Max and all the Friends!
DG: Yeah, not winning the chance to buy a watch is one thing, but not winning a free watch probably stings a little more. I suppose another way to look at it is also like the lottery; there are people taking home lifechanging money every other month it would seem. And here I am never having won so much as lunch money from one of these things…
AS: Well, I did win a watch once, but I think it means more to have the chance to buy the thing, or win it at auction (when you still have to pay). I am not sure how I feel about the watch I won (to whom it might concern, if you are reading this, it is not the watch you are thinking of) but anyway… It is hard to believe that it was 20 years ago that the MB&F story began, and 2005 was also the 250th anniversary of Vacheron Constantin. As it happens, that was my own debut in the world of professional watch punditry so I guess I have my own 20th anniversary to celebrate…just not with a M.A.D. watch!
RC: The day is October 22 now <the day we wrote this story – Ed>. You still have two months and one week before the end of the year to score something from one of the other brands that celebrate an anniversary this year, whether it is for the founding of the company or a specific collection. Don’t you like the Laureato Fifty? It almost converted me! I was not exactly a Laureato person previously.
AS: Well, you guys know that there is literally a new watch for me but that is elsewhere in this issue <see Yet More Hands this issue – Ed> and my peer here from Thailand joined me once again in this journey of happy addiction. But, to your point there Ruckdee, the Laureato would have been excellent for me because, like that watch, I also turned 50 this year! I happened to have seen the watch earlier in the year, as I guess we all did, and talked about the new calibre 4800 online too. A nice birthday present from the brand to itself, even though Girard-Perregaux is pretty ancient… It was 1791 I think so there will be another kind of anniversary for the brand to regale us with in a few years.
DG: I really like the Laureato Fifty as well, I like how they went subtle with their celebrations. Just a nice, classy three-hander, unlike some other brands which we will probably get into later (although those are good too, albeit more complex). And what a motivation to get the Laureato Fifty then Ashok! Most people will settle for a birth year watch, but this is a birth year collection, and even a limited edition to celebrate the same birthday as you do! I would say it would be the perfect way to get over the MB&F raffles, but it seems you already bought another grail watch this year.
“In an industry that places so much emphasis on tradition and heritage, the ability to say ‘look, we have been around for more than two and a half centuries,’ really helps to cement positions, at least in terms of seniority” — Daniel Goh, Editor-in-Chief, WOW Malaysia
AS: Well, as I wrote in the story about the watch I bought (one of them), sometimes the watch finds you, even if you never went looking for it. But I recall reading your story Dan, about watch collection anniversaries versus brand anniversaries – that was in relation to the Hublot Big Bang I think? Something like the Laureato and, of course the Big Bang, gives brands the chance to focus singularly on just one aspect; to go hard on the product, so to speak. Brands sometimes do themselves in with all these anniversaries… I have seen so many Jaeger-LeCoultre ones that I am not even sure what the next celebration will be for; that is just one example but you can also insert A. Lange & Söhne, Blancpain, Breguet, Cartier and plenty more besides, just going alphabetically. The difference here is that the Laureato is not something that regularly gets the spotlight so it makes more sense to be tactical than strategic. I think collectors care more about watches than they do about brands, although there are exceptions.
DG: Yeah, but for Hublot, even though it was a collection anniversary instead of a brand anniversary, I think the Big Bang was pretty much… well the Big Bang for Hublot. In the sense that the Big Bang collection and its ethos practically defined Hublot. Kind of like how the Bell & Ross BR 01, which also celebrates its 20th anniversary, defined Bell & Ross as the brand with a square, cockpit gauge-inspired aviation watch. This design language and identity persists today.
RC: Back when I was a simple collector, I was only partially mindful of anniversaries. I didn’t have to consciously anticipate upcoming brand or collection anniversaries for work reasons. But now I do, and I have gone from looking one year ahead to looking two years ahead already. That is why I can tell right now that Girard-Perregaux will celebrate 160 years of the Three Bridges in 2027, for example. And, to reply to Ashok, we may see some nice Reverso models in April as the collection should celebrate its 95th anniversary next year.
DG: I think also why anniversaries seem more prevalent these days is, one: I feel like there have been more brands added to the luxury watchmaking industry in the last decades. And two: I think in this era of the industry, brands really understand the value of anniversaries. Take Breguet and Vacheron Constantin for example. They celebrate 250 and 270 years respectively and in an industry that places so much emphasis on tradition and heritage, the ability to say ‘look, we have been around for more than two and a half centuries,’ really helps to cement their positions, at least in terms of seniority.
AS: I have gone the opposite way to Ruckdee with regard to anniversaries, and I really do appreciate when brands keep it low-key in most instances. You know, save it for when it really counts, as Daniel rightly points out with Breguet and Vacheron Constantin. Of course, I must bring The Crown into this because that is one brand that regularly deflates anniversary talk and just does whatever it pleases. According to Rolex, this is an anniversary year for the GMT-Master but the brand has kept it on the down-low, as nobody says anymore. There was a nice exhibition in Hong Kong and Singapore, but that is it. Too many special editions and birthdays do not mean much, in my opinion; they can have unintended negative results. Funnily enough, I think it was the Bell & Ross founders who were or are quite dismissive of brand anniversaries. I asked them about it years ago and they just looked at each other and shrugged. But, they feel differently about model milestones.
On that note, I know we will get into some news about perpetual calendars later but it is worth noting that the world’s first wristwatch perpetual calendar debuted in 1925 from none other than Patek Philippe. The movement was from a pocket watch that debuted in the 19th century, but the Geneva brand can claim to have gotten this complication on the wrist first. For evidence, see it for yourself at the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva! This news must be the winner for brands keeping it low-key this year, especially given that we are covering the perpetual calendars and chronographs for Patek Philippe in our cover story this issue and the brand did not even suggest so much as a sidebar on the 1925 news!
DG: I too was unaware that it was the 70th anniversary for the GMT-Master and also the 80th anniversary for the Datejust. I am not surprised though that Rolex didn’t make a big deal out of it. It is typical for the brand that wears the Crown, just another day on the job of making precise and reliable watches. Oh, I did not know that about the Patek Philippe perpetual calendar. Ashok is ever the king of obscure historical facts! But sometimes, I think I’d rather find out this way than reading it in a press release.
RC: So, what do anniversaries actually represent in watch circles? Is it “Milestone Marketing” in a way? It does lead to something more because brands need to push themselves to leverage their heritage and innovate at the same time. No?
AS: Optimistically, pushing tradition and innovation at the same time is ideal, as we have seen at Breguet and Vacheron Constantin. But this is not typically the case – anniversary releases are just collectibles most of the time. The most interesting things happen on the marketing front. As in, how the brands talk about themselves and what all that history means. We saw it even in the examples of the youthful Bell & Ross and Hublot – although for Hublot, it is midlife crisis time so I was expecting a classic three-hander with a white dial. Just kidding! Milestones are for staying firmly in character.
DG: I agree with Ashok, I think usually these kinds of anniversaries are an opportunity for the brand to remind their audiences of what they have managed to accomplish in however many years they are celebrating and also make a statement of intent of where they are moving towards the future. As for the releases, I think yeah they are just collectibles (in many cases) but this is still very much dependent on personal tastes right? Like even if it is an anniversary watch but the design or ethos doesn’t resonate with collectors, they would probably pass on it. Conversely, if say the Classique Souscription was launched in any other year, I would have still thought it was an utterly interesting timepiece regardless.
RC: I understand what you mean totally on aesthetics still being a primary consideration. Same as you, I would not buy a watch just because it is introduced to mark an anniversary. Having said this, I am reminded though of how, in 2022, many scrambled to get their hands on a Royal Oak with the “50 Years” rotor despite them already having one or multiple Royal Oaks. I am sure speculation was on their mind as the anniversary unfolded at that time (which was peak watch investment madness).
“I would not buy a watch just because it marks an anniversary” — Ruckdee Chotjinda, Editor-in-Chief, WOW Thailand
AS: The Classique Souscription is the world’s most exciting watch with just one hand! Sorry, I cannot help myself there. I mean, there is another famous example of such a watch but this effort from Breguet is cool in that low-key style I mentioned. It reminds people that watches used to just have the one hand, and yet it is also all about what contemporary industrial processes can achieve; some might also remember that Swatch Group has done single-handed watches before, but for a more niche and now obscure brand. On that note, did you guys realise that it is also an anniversary for none other than a prominent maker of movements? Sellita turns 75 this year! Is that not totally crazy?
RC: Whoa! Wait one moment there. No, I didn’t know that it is their anniversary, nor did I know that they are that mature! Ok, I think I need to read more to broaden my knowledge of the industry. But, anyway, thanks for telling us.
DG: Nor did I (know about the Sellita dates)! I feel like movement makers can’t really shout about anniversaries in the way brands can. Perhaps other than “Oh in the last 75 years we have produced some ridiculous number of movements and our clients include…” and start naming brands, which in the age of in-house, would probably not bode well for said brands. So perhaps it’s also not to antagonise their clients.
AS: I am ashamed to admit that I thought Sellita started out as a response to ETA threatening to cut off non-Swatch Group brands in the 2000s. It was a peer who corrected me on that some years ago so I was actually looking for information this year on the movement maker’s moves in Europa Star. That magazine is the only place that gets into the weeds of what suppliers and factories are doing. Well, at least in English… By the way, it is 100 years of Europa Star in 2027.
RC: Well, I confess to not having heard about Sellita until the Swatch Group situation also. I did try to get in touch with them once around 2017, but nobody replied to my e-mail about a potential visit. Maybe I will give them a try again.
Anyway, where our anniversary discussion is concerned, this probably goes back to when Ashok said something about the “marketing front” which Audemars Piguet has handled so well once again this year with the 150th anniversary of the brand. On top of the brand and history narrative, there is a new perpetual calendar movement that sets everything through the crown (released earlier in the year), and just this month the RD#5 watch, which combines, for the first time in the Royal Oak collection, the flyback chronograph and flying tourbillon. I think we don’t have the space to go into the technical details, but I am bringing it up to serve as an example of the case in point.
DG: I simply love how brands use moments like this to showcase technologies that advance watchmaking techniques. On the RD#5, I agree it is stunning in terms of innovation, and Audemars Piguet chose the 150th anniversary to say “Hey look, you know the perpetual calendar and the chronograph? Two age-old complications, well we have updated them in the most modern of ways.” Another good example of this that I can recall is Zenith, which celebrates its 160th anniversary. It heralded the revival of the chronometry award-winning Calibre 135-O movement and improved upon it for the new G.F.J collection. The draping of everything in blue, which includes the three full ceramic versions of the Defy, Chronomaster and Pilot, I didn’t quite get.
RC: Yes, Daniel, it is great for Zenith to have celebrated the 160th anniversary on the very same land where it all started for them. As for the draping everything in blue, well, I can look at it two ways. One: I cannot picture myself owning and wearing a ceramic watch in that bright a shade – the G.F.J. with blue dial and platinum case is perfectly fine with me. Two: there are people who do embrace more dynamic hues, and this must be how Zenith manages to design celebratory watches that are simultaneously steeped in heritage yet young in spirit?
DG: I also think, for brands such as Audemars Piguet, the anniversary is particularly meaningful as both descendants of Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet are still actively involved with the company their forefathers built. Jasmine Audemars, the great-granddaughter of Jules Louis Audemars, and Olivier Audemars, great-grandson of Edward Auguste Piguet, are still representing family interests in the company. It would be incredibly interesting to have an off-the-record discussion with them.
AS: On the RD#5, I was properly surprised there! Who would have thought to reinvent the chronograph, so good on the folks at Le Brassus. This news really forced me to think about the technicalities of what makes a wrist recorder of elapsed time tick and I had a nice time going through the documentation. Marketing of a different sort I suppose but certainly right up my alley. I happen to be visiting Audemars Piguet (this will already have taken place once you see this story, dear readers) so I will see who they trot out. As for Zenith, I am reminded that I have yet to make the pilgrimage to the manufacture in Le Locle where George Favre-Jacot started it all; it is lovely that the brand decided to put his initials into it for the 160th, in a more sentimental vein. After all, anniversaries are about sentimentality, and that plays well with collectors who are committed to one brand or another.
RC: They are indeed. And on top of whatever psychological strategy that is implemented in the long run, anniversaries either give you another excuse to buy a watch or compel you to consider a choice that was not on your to-buy list or even your radar previously. I think that, as a customer, I was very eager to see what Omega was bringing out for the 50th and the 60th anniversaries of the Speedmaster in 2007 and 2017. I can’t say that I am still that devoted to the brand, but, I do look forward to what they may offer for the 70th anniversary in 2027!
“I wonder about the appeal of anniversary editions though. These are hit-or-miss affairs, but ultimately it is the community that decides on that” — Ashok Soman, Editor-in-Chief, WOW Singapore
AS: I wonder about the appeal of anniversary editions though. These are hit-or-miss affairs, but ultimately it is the community that decides on that, as you imply there Ruckdee. I can think of a Daytona that collectors obsess over that was never meant to be an anniversary edition but just happened to come out in the right year. To return to the G.F.J. for a moment, Zenith did a good job there by making it all a tribute to excellence in chronometry, noting the track record of the manufacture in observatory awards. That makes the collection more broadly relevant, tracking with both heritage and innovation, as we have been saying. Probably the best sort of strategy because people will never remember what anniversary was being celebrated, and so on. Ok, leaving people like me aside!
DG: Yeah, and if you consider the fact that in their production planning, brands probably have a stricter timeline to adhere to for anniversary editions. By hook or by crook, they need to get these sorts of pieces ready in time for that milestone celebration and I feel like that may put a strain on the perfection of said timepiece. The current CEO of AP did say in an interview that it famously doesn’t put deadlines on its innovations as it feels like it stifles creativity. And famously, development in the watch industry counts years instead of months or weeks so I wonder how anniversary deadlines affect this kind of thing.
Take Vacheron Constantin’s crazy La Quête du Temps automaton astronomical clock for example. I wonder how close to 2025, or far away from, did they manage to complete this thing. Did they actually complete it last year and decide to keep it for a more impactful marketing year? Or were they scrambling all this year, blowing through resources to get this done within 2025? All questions that probably aren’t relevant to whoever bought the piece but interesting to a curious person like me.
RC: Vacheron Constantin never said when the construction was finished, but it did say that the project began seven years ago. It could have been ready since last year for all I know. And, as of last month, at the time of unveiling, a decision was not made about the future of that clock, whether it was going to be sold and to whom or how.
In contrast, the Breguet gold that premiered in the 250th anniversary watches was developed in a very short time after the new CEO came aboard, thanks to the resources available to the brand within the Swatch Group.
AS: I always supposed that brands worked like us, meaning backwards from the proposed time of release. In fact, that is what most production guys say, in my discussions with them. Most recently, it was Pascal Narbeburu of Van Cleef & Arpels… This brand’s Poetic Complications collection turns 20 next year I think. Anyway, the exception is when the brand already has loads of industrial capacity, like Breguet, and can turn something around pretty quickly. I too was surprised when Kissling mentioned this but it makes some sense; we know that Guido Terreni did something similar at Parmigiani Fleurier when he introduced the Tonda PF.
DG: These are both excellent points and I think allude to the fact that although the brand might be celebrating decades or centuries of history, at any given milestone the direction is very much contingent on the capabilities and philosophies of current leadership. Which is why, when people find out I am an editor of a watch magazine and ask me ‘what is your favourite brand?’ I feel like I don’t have a definite answer because brands, the big brands at least, ebb and flow with the quality of their leadership. Which I think can sometimes be the case with anniversaries. Take Breguet for example. It celebrates its 250th anniversary this year but the Breguet of last year or two years ago seems quite different from the more exciting Breguet of today.
RC: I became less loyal to brands about 15 years ago, but that is a subject for a different article, I think. Nothing bad happened. I just felt the need to broaden my horizons. I am now less verticalised, if there is such a term to describe collectors.
AS: Oh the horror! Most-favoured brand is not really a thing for us I guess…nor collectors save those who specialise in one brand. I think there is no specific word to describe such collectors, other than ‘specialist’ but that is also quite bland, paradoxically. It is worth remembering though that periods of collectability can sometimes match up with specific tenures. Consider Angelo Bonati’s leadership period at Panerai for example, or Max Busser’s reign at Harry Winston. Oh yes, Panerai too is celebrating 165 years? If one counts all the years as a retailer in Florence. Changing tacks but on the same track, there are certainly TAG Heuer enthusiasts who eagerly look for the watches made in the years of Jack Heuer; as it happens, Heuer was founded in 1860 too, just like Panerai. There are loads of stories here, just in the names of the firms, as you can see, but we shall not get into that here lest we never finish!
RC: Well, if Girard-Perregaux can count the years of Bautte, which predated the birth of Constant Girard, then Panerai counting their pre-watchmaking years is not a problem really. Perhaps, what truly matters objectively is how the brands carry themselves today, like Daniel mentioned. Numerical claims, where the years are concerned, do not have a direct impact on the quality of the watches being produced or the direction in which they are headed.
AS: I will say here, for the record again, that watchmakers are not the best record-keepers but I do cut them some slack because they have been around for a hundred years or more, in a lot of cases. It does mean that anniversary years see the release of more documents or stories that we never knew…like Zenith’s Pilot watches two years ago, to cite just one recent example. As it happens, those were excellent watches, which speaks well to Ruckdee’s point there on the quality of the current production crop (but might also say something about Julien Tornare’s tenure at the brand, as Daniel noted). Blancpain also has something like this for this year, which all three of us will experience in Le Brassus no less <this trip had not yet taken place at the time of writing – Ed>! That one stands on its own merits and does not need any grandstanding, I think. I can go full tech watch geek on that. Just kidding…maybe!
RC: Dear readers, all I can say is this. It is already unusual for WOW TH to be on the same press trip as either WOW SG or WOW MY. But for this upcoming trip in November (remember that we are writing this article in late October), WOW TH was asked to be present at the Blancpain manufacture in Le Brassus for a secret presentation, together with both my SG and MY counterparts! One can only guess at the level of significance of the timepiece being unveiled.
DG: Even for WOW SG and WOW MY, if not for Watches & Wonders Geneva it is rare we are on the same press trip unless it is in Malaysia or Singapore actually. So yes, exciting times ahead, and see you both in Le Brassus!
AS: We shall endeavour to have our first proper sitdown in person at that time. Well, by the time this issue is in your hands, dear readers, it will already have passed…or not. Tune in again to find out!
This story was first seen as part of the WOW #82 Festive 2025 Issue
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