7 timepiece moments from March and April 2025: Watches and Wonders, the effects of Trump’s tariffs, and a bevy of new releases to get excited about

This March and April, the world once again descended on Geneva for the year’s biggest watch fair, Watches and Wonders. But hanging over the fair were US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the Swiss watchmaking industry, and brands seem increasingly likely to price up their watches as a result. Nevertheless, we were cheered to spot several stars wearing Rolexes on television recently, or grail watches off screen; Breitling added another aviation-themed vintage brand to its expanding catalogue; and Philips in Association with Bacs & Russo are putting several beautiful clocks up for auction. 1. Watches and Wonders The biggest event on the high horology calendar landed at Palexpo in Geneva during the first week of April, and the Style team was on the ground to take a closer look at all the new releases. Sixty brands showcased their novelties in stunning booths to over 55,000 attendees. This year’s edition was also arguably one of the most star-studded yet, as Kim Woo-bin visited Jaeger-LeCoultre, Jay Chou visited Tudor, Eileen Gu and Simone Ashley visited IWC Schaffhausen, Gianna Jun visited Piaget and Kylian Mbappe visited Hublot along with Usain Bolt, just to name a few. Brands had a lot to say this year. Rolex officially unveiled its first five-hertz movement with the Land Dweller, whilst Vacheron Constantin celebrated its 270th anniversary and also released the most complicated wristwatch ever made (the Les Cabinotiers Solaria). Bulgari made its first-ever appearance at the fair, debuting the thinnest tourbillon watch in the world, while Cartier revisited its Tank à Guichets, an art deco jumping hours watch design from the 1920s. We cover the fair in-depth on the rest of the Style website, most notably the major trends present at this year’s event, and why gold was so prominent. 2. Watches affected by Trump’s tariffs While Palexpo was abuzz over the new releases, by day two, excited conversations had turned to anxious speculation as US President Donald Trump announced tariff increases on major trade partners on April 2. Most notably for watches, Trump announced reciprocal tariff increases on some of the world’s leading watch-producing countries, affecting retailers, brands and collectors alike. He imposed a 31 per cent tariff on goods from Switzerland, 24 per cent on Japan and 20 per cent on Germany (as part of the EU). This will have a number of ramifications for watch consumers in the US, which, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry’s 2024 report, was the world’s highest spending country on watches in 2024, 2023 and 2022. Collectors around the world may need to pay exorbitant prices for new watches made in any of the aforementioned countries – even after Trump announced a 90-day pause, levying a 10 per cent flat increase in the meantime. Price increases are slowly being rolled out, or at least heavily teased, by brands across the board – even in an already weakening watch market. Forbes recently reported that exports from major watch conglomerates had decreased in the last year. Hodinkee reported on April 9 that while the tariffs may not affect bigger brands with substantial stock already in the US, mid-tier, direct-to-consumer brands such as Christopher Ward have no recourse except to pass on the cost to US clients, and CEO Mike France says he already expects demand to slip. GQ reported on April 29 that based on various sources, Rolex and Omega are looking to increase prices by roughly 3 and 5 per cent respectively, with others likely to follow. 3. Even more new releases Outside Geneva, Audemars Piguet dropped a Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked and two Royal Oak Offshore chronographs evoking the night sky above the Vallée De Joux, and using a shade of blue named Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50. Breitling leaned towards time-only designs with the new Top Time B31, as well as announcing actor Austin Butler as its new brand ambassador. Breguet celebrated its 250th anniversary, unveiling the Classique Souscription at the Paris workshop of Abraham-Louis Breguet, known for high-end pocket watches and one of the most famous souscription programmes in watchmaking history. The one-handed piece evokes as much of Breguet’s pocket watches as possible, and includes a “secret” signature imprint on the dial. MB&F handed the reins to designer Eric Giroud to create a piece with a funky rotor and dial design inspired by the Technics SL-1200 DJ turntable. The M.A.D.2 follows the M.A.D.1’s unique focus on the rotor on the dial, with time shown on the side of the watch. Meanwhile, Christopher Ward’s new C12 Loco introduces just the second ever in-house movement – the CW-003 – for the smaller, UK-based independent brand. The movement is special as it features an absurdly high level of finishing for what most see as a microbrand, as well as a custom free-sprung balance wheel eminently visible at six o’clock. Back in Switzerland, vintage-inspired darling Furlan Marri celebrated its fourth anniversary with the discreet 36mm Red Hunter Anniversary Piece, combining historic design language from officer-style wristwatches and hunter-case pocket watches. The exhibition caseback can be concealed with a hinged cover. 4. Pontroué steps down from Panerai, Arnault moves to Loro Piana There’s a management shuffle going on at two of the major watch groups. On April 1, Emmanuel Perrin succeeded Jean-Marc Pontroué as CEO of Panerai. Pontroué had been Panerai CEO since 2018, while Perrin had spent time across Richemont brands such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, and most recently lead the group’s Specialist Watchmakers Distribution team. Meanwhile, LVMH’s head of watches Frederic Arnault was appointed CEO of Loro Piana in March, ending his tenure of a little over a year. He is succeeded by Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin, who will juggle both positions and report to LVMH head of watches and jewellery Stephane Bianchi. 5. Breitling buys Gallet More than a year after acquiring vintage brand Universal Genève, Breitling announced another acquisition – this time of Gallet, an aviation-focused watchmaker. The brand was founded almost 200 years ago by Julien Gallet and initially worked with Jules Racine & Co to make watches in the second half of the 19th century, before making a stopwatch to time the Kitty Hawk flight in 1903, marketed as “The Sun”. The brand is known primarily for its MultiChron line, particularly for the Clamshell model, an early waterproof chronograph from 1938. Breitling has been relatively silent since acquiring the Universal Genève brand – known for its Polerouter – early last year, so only time will tell what the expanding watchmaker has in store for both brands. 6. Watches on and off screen It’s been a bumper two months for spotting watches on screen. Rarely have television producers taken high horology as seriously as they did in the latest season of The White Lotus, where resort owner Sritala (played by Lek Patravadi) was seen greeting guests with a Jacob & Co Fleurs de Jardin. The Ratliff family men are seen with the widest array of collectibles – Saxon Ratliff (Patrick Schwarzenegger) was spotted with Hublot and a Rolex Milgauss, and younger brother Lochlan Ratliff (Sam Nivola) donned an Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to Saturn. Weathered Hollywood producer Rick (Walton Goggins) can be seen sporting a Rolex Datejust on a black strap, a minimalist choice in a surprisingly stacked cast of watches. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) In the real world, perhaps the biggest watch spot was tied to Watches and Wonders, when Roger Federer was seen wearing Rolex’s new Land Dweller in a personal Instagram post on March 30, just a day or so before the watch was set to be launched officially. This seemed to have increased anticipation for a watch that has proven to be a highly successful release for the brand. Coachella also proved fertile ground for artists to sport luxury watches, especially those related to music – but no one outshone Ed Sheeran who, on day two of the festival, wore a unique Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin, which replaces traditional indices with music control buttons. LeBron James was also spotted courtside wearing a recently reissued grail – the Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 in steel. 7. Clocks on the block If you’re looking for pieces steeped in provenance, Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo is pulling out all the stops, showing clocks galore (nine total) at its coming auctions. Its recently-announced Geneva Watch Auction XXI, set for May 10-11, will feature the Cartier Portico Mystery Clock No. 3 from 1924, among others. Closer to home, the Hong Kong Watch Auction XX will show an ornate coral sculptural clock, also from Cartier, dated to 1930, as well as a flintlock pistol attributed to Moulinie, Bautte & Cie adorned with pearls, emeralds, opals, diamonds and a hidden watch at the end of the grip.

7 timepiece moments from March and April 2025: Watches and Wonders, the effects of Trump’s tariffs, and a bevy of new releases to get excited about

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1. Watches and Wonders