Year in Review: The Best Watches of 2021
A trend that has been repeating across industries during 2021 also transformed the luxury-watch business during the year – an insatiable demand for watches and supply perennially falling short. Although there were new launches throughout the year – which kept enthusiasts continually entertained – the “novelties” for 2021 were mostly not the sort typical of the go-go years. New products was arguably less exciting than business would imply, largely because new watches take several years to develop and the uptick in business became seemingly overnight. Many high-profile new launches were predictable variations of familiar models. A seemingly familiar variation but actually something entirely new and one of the top watches of 2021 Nevertheless, there were standouts. Here are a dozen of the year’s best watches picked by our editors (or even owned by some of them, but alas not the Vermeer). Led by a magnificent art-complication, the list includes several technical highlights – from an impressive time-only movement from Patek Philippe to Richard Mille’s ingenious winding mechanism – and of course a few affordable watches on the list. All-in-one Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Westminster Sonnerie – Tribute to Johannes Vermeer: “This pocket watch is the epitome of high-end horology, blending both art and engineering. While the base movement within is derived from the mega-complicated Ref. 57260 pocket watch, the Vermeer’s movement has arguably been cl...
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