Watches and Wonders 2022: the trends and new releases to know from Cartier, Hermès, Tag Heuer and more as the timepiece fair returned for its first in-person show in Geneva since 2019

Apr 25 , 2022

The 2022 Watches and Wonders show at Geneva’s Palexpo saw a return to an in-person exhibition. Photo: Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie/Keystone

New diver watches, unisex pieces and bold, modern updates to throwback models were just a few of the exciting designs on show at the watch world’s not-to-be-missed event

H. Moser & Cie shone at the ‘Carrée des Horlogers’ exhibition for smaller brands with new fumé dials while Gautier Massonneau launched its inaugural series

The first physical edition of Watches and Wonders since 2019 closed its doors on April 6 having set an optimistic tone for the future of the industry after two years of virus-related stops and starts. While the positive tone is habitual, the hiatus has had a positive effect on creativity, offering time for fresh ideas and aesthetics in tune with a world rising, hesitantly, from its 24-month slumber.

Dive right in

Sports watches of all kinds never die, they just reappear in new colours and materials that enhance cases and dials and, of course, draw the gaze.

Tag Heuer dug into its past to revitalise its reference 844 diver – reborn as the Aquaracer 300 Professional Orange Diver. Like its sisters in the collection, this latest iteration is driven by the trusty automatic Calibre 5. It comes in a 43mm polished steel case with a chic, black unidirectional octagonal ceramic bezel while the bright matt orange dial is patterned to add interest to the dial. This tool watch is water resistant to 300 metres, with readability guaranteed by markers and an hour hand that glow green in the dark. For contrast, the minute and second hands, and the triangle at 12 o’clock on the bezel, glow blue.

Panerai’s aquatically themed booth at Watches and Wonders 2022, referencing the brand’s long heritage in dive watches. Photo: Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie/Keystone

Meanwhile, Panerai’s new diver line, the Submersible QuarantaQuattro, has gone for a size compromise for its cases at 44 millimetres, instead of the usual 47mm and 42mm. The collection includes several models in an eSteel case (98 per cent recycled steel) weighing in at 300 grams, or an audacious 100-gram version made of compressed carbon sheets, cut to create different patterns. Called the Submersible QuarantaQuattro Carbontech, it runs on the P. 900 movement and to lighten the slightly austere look, Panerai offers a kit with rubber bracelets in summery colours: yellow, red and blue.

Trendsetters

One trend that is finally going mainstream is unisex watches. Traditionally this almost inevitably meant smaller case sizes but now brands are acknowledging that women choose their accessories according to a far wider range of criteria than men.

Interestingly, Zenith’s new Chronograph Sport line is being clearly marketed equally at women and men. It is a geek’s watch at heart, a 41mm chronograph running on the famed El Primero 3600 automatic movement. This latest iteration comes with a bezel in a tricolour of ceramics, each corresponding to the colour of one of the subdials. Achieving this is quite a feat and accounts for the slightly higher price versus the plain steel version.