It’s been a great year over on Worn & Wound+, our dedicated Slack channel for Worn & Wound readers, and watch and gear enthusiasts of all kinds. At the moment, we have over 1,000 people from all over the world in our Slack channel talking about watches and many, many other topics. There are dedicated channels to discuss EDC and gear, movies and television, photography, and more. There’s a marketplace channel where members can safely buy and sell watches, and there are channels where members can arrange local in-person or virtual watch meetups. It’s also, of course, a great place get insider info on deals from the Windup Watch Shop – you never know what watches might turn up for sale in the Slack channel before they’re made available anywhere else. 

All that said, it’s the great watch discussions that are really at the heart of Worn & Wound+, so as the year draws to a close, we thought we’d ask members of the Worn & Wound+ community to tell us about some of their favorite new releases of the year. And if you’re still not signed up for Worn & Wound+, be sure to hit this link and check it out. It’s completely free, and we’d love to see you join the community. 

Andrew Iveagh – Omega Speedmaster “First Omega in Space”

As a long time Tudor stan, it pains me to say my favorite of 2024 was the Omega Speedmaster FOIS. Between the reduced size, the blue gray dial, and the tan/fauxtina lume, it’s a vintage inspired lover’s dream. I’m usually a dive/gmt fan, but this chronograph really checks a lot of boxes that previous Speedys haven’t. It’s on my list for 2025 as a must try and possible must buy.

Scott Tarlow – Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso 

My favorite watch release this year is the new midsize Reverso. The fatal flaw of modern Reversos has been their size – they leaned “sports” when most people view them as a dress watch – now it is truly an elegant watch. To me – it is also the best value from a mainstream brand under $10,000 (new). It has the same stoicism of the 5196 – other dress watches in this range try and have complex dials and the like (talking about Grand Seiko) the new Reverso is truly a watch that has a haute horology feeling. It’s a steal at $8,900.

Nate – H. Moser Pioneer Retrograde Seconds 

I didn’t think anything could really unseat the H. Moser & Cie Streamliner as my favorite current production watch, but the Moser Pioneer Retrograde Seconds did just that. The 30-second retrograde complication on its own would be enough, perhaps. But the exposed cam and pawl and the elegant bridge that also serves as a seconds indicator are truly mesmerizing. As always from Moser, the dial is a stunning color, and the bold partially-skeletonized propeller-like feuille hands of the Pioneer collection bridge the gap between contemporary and vintage sophistication.

Steve Faiello – Grand Seiko SLGW004/SLGW005

The dominating trend in the watch industry for the past 5-10 years has been vintage reissues. In an industry that constantly points to its heritage, digging something out of the archive and remaking it with modern engineering is low hanging fruit. Few have done it as well as Grand Seiko did this year with the new SLGW004 and SLGW005 45GS reissues. Featuring the marvelous slim, high beat, technically innovative, hand wound 9S4 movement released at Watches & Wonders, Grand Seiko manages to not just nail the looks of the vintage original (fairly easy to do), but the proportions (harder), and the underlying engineering innovation (damn near impossible these days due to cost). The 45GS is revered for good reason and Grand Seiko set a new high water mark for how reissues should be done with this stainless steel and gold pairing.

Matt Johnston – Tudor Black Bay Monochrome 

My watch of the year is the Tudor Black Bay Monochrome. As I have progressed in my collecting journey, I have come to realize I fall into the “not much of a sports watch on a bracelet guy” camp. To me, the monochrome is a serious step up in quality for its price range, is far and away the best bracelet in its segment, and the on-the-fly microadjust allows a guy with a highly-fluctuating-wrist-size peace of mind throughout the day. With this piece filling the role of the sports watch in my collection, it opens up a lot of space in my brain to focus the rest of my collecting-bandwidth on pieces that are more of what I’m generally interested in (dressy, independent, and/or complicated).

Kilo – Kollokium Project 01 Variant B

Image: Kilo

My watch of the year is most certainly the Kollokium Project 01 – variant B.

The Kollokium series technically launched in late 23 but that was a very limited run for friends and family only. The variant B was the first version sold to the public and it came about only in late spring of 24.  I was thrilled to snag mine at the launch and took delivery in June. (seen here catching my flight to WindupNYC).

There is simply nothing like this watch. Not even close. All the little details have been written about by every media outlet on the planet and yet it always leaves something new for you to discover when you actually see/touch/wear it. 

Paul Meister (TimeEQ) – Angelus Instrument de Vitesse 

Image: Paul Meister (TimeEq)

My personal watch of the year is the Moser Pioneer Center Seconds Cosmic Green 40mm, but as it’s just a new colorway for an existing design (albeit, perfect for my tastes), I don’t think it should count. So, my favorite new watch of the year is the Angelus Instrument de Vitesse. Perfect sizing with a great monopusher movement, that provides some vintage vibes without actually trying to look vintage.

Sean Martin – Omega Speedmaster Pilot

My favorite watch of 2024 arrived at the last minute, which is the Omega Speedmaster Pilot. It is not just that the public finally can buy a version of the watch secretly being tested by U-2 and other military pilots, but proof Omega can still make something fun. The public gets a slightly changed version with a playful blue artificial horizon on one subdial, giving it even more personality than the Mil-Spec model. Using solid lume indicators, pips of orange, and a textured dial really sends it over the top for me. Finally, it is nice to see Omega is not actually afraid to put one of their automatic chronograph movements into a new Speedmaster. Not all Speedmasters need to pretend they are the Moonwatch, and this one certainly shines with its own vibrant personality.

Jon De Siqueira – Grand Seiko SLGW003

For me it’s probably the Grand Seiko SLGW003 (AKA Birch Bark). It feels like a culmination of what GS has been building towards for years. It has a beautiful dial, a beautiful, 36000 VPH movement, it’s in the Goldilocks zone of 38-39mm and for once, thanks to the 9SA4 movement, it’s reasonably thin too. Oh, and it’s titanium!

Note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity