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STYLE

13 Best Men's Luxury

Watches of 2023 So
Far
These luxury watches from some of the
biggest names in horology would make an
incredible addition to any collection

Nicholas Hegel McClelland • May 18, 2023 4:33 PM EDT

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Nearly all the major luxury watch brands

have released an epic timepiece for
2023. Rolex's Yacht-Master was our favorite
from this year's Watches and Wonders
trade show (more on that below). But the
long of the short of it is, any time is a good
time to invest in the best men's luxury
watches. They make gifting a breeze,
whether you want to celebrate a major
milestone in a man's life or splurge on a
luxury watch for yourself.

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The best luxury watches are iconic and

timeless, but that doesn't mean you have
to eschew color and personality for
something mainstream (think blue dial
watches). From days in the office to big
nights out to weekend adventures, there's
a watch to match every occasion. If you've
been walking around with bare wrists
lately, now's the time to change that.

While there are plenty of great men's

watches under $500 and field
watches with a utilitarian sense and
sensibility, we're putting the spotlight on
luxury watches for men.

Content continues below

So, let's cut to the chase and get to the

wrist candy. Whether you're looking for an
ultra-complicated horological wonder or a
cool everyday tool watch, here are our 13
favorite launches of 2023 so far.

1. Rolex Yacht-Master Titanium

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Rolex released some cracking new

watches at this year’s Watches and
Wonders, but our favorite, hands down,
was Yacht-Master 42mm in full titanium.
Previously, the piece was only available in
white or yellow gold, but the new titanium
construction gives Yacht-Master a tool
watch vibe that's more workplace
appropriate for sailors. The watch is
waterproof to a depth of 100m (330ft), and
while Rolex makes some of the most
comfortable bracelets on the market, we’d
swap it out for a NATO style strap for
added security on your next regatta.

[$14,050; rolex.com]

GET IT!

2. Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF

Minute Rattrapante

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There was a time, not long ago, when

brands like Patek Philippe and Audemars
Piguet were relatively unknown to folks
outside the watch enthusiast community
and the ultra-wealthy. For a variety of
reasons, those days are gone, but for those
who want an under-the-radar, high-
horology sports watch, look no further
than Parmigiani Fleurier’s Tonda
collection. The brand’s PF Minute
Rattrapante uses a new complication to
give the wearer a function usually
operated by the graduated bezel on a
diver’s watch. The watch features a second
minute hand in 18k rose gold that can be
used as a timer. A pusher at 10 o’clock
advances the hand by one minute while
another at 8 o’clock moves it forward by
five minutes. When the rhodium-plated
minute hand catches up with the gold
hand, the timer has elapsed. The function
can be stopped and reset with a gold
pusher set in the crown.

On the face, PF Minute Rattrapante’s gray

dial is adorned with a grain d’orge hand-
guilloché decoration, applied indexes, as
well as an applied logo, and a coined
platinum bezel. Flip the piece over and a
see-through caseback reveals a 22k gold
micro-rotor decorated with guilloché and
Côtes de Genève finishing on the
movement. It’s simply stunning from every
angle.

[$31,500; parmigiani.com]

GET IT!

3. Norqain Independence Skeleton

42mm Blue Steel

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Micro-brand Norqain is celebrating its fifth

anniversary with a collection of its
Independence model. This skeletonized,
time-only version peeks into the Sellita
automatic movement as it beats away at
28,800 vibrations per hour. Shock resistant
and rated to a depth of 100 meters, the
42mm case is finished with brushed,
polished, and sandblasted treatments,
while the hours, minutes, and second
hand are painted in a blue lacquer.
Independence is available on a micro-
adjustable bracelet, as well as a Milanese
textured rubber strap for a nice pop of
color.

[$3,990; reeds.com]

GET IT!

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4. Tudor White Dial GMT

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Tudor Black Bay GMT was a helluva watch

when it was released in 2018. But for 2023,
House of Wilsdorf has paired the design
with a fresh new white dial. The 41mm
case is still waterproof to 200m (660 ft) and
the 48-click, 24-hour bezel has the blue
and red, day to night treatment. But the
galvanic-finished opaline dial gives GMT a
touch of added elegance that really sets it
off.

[$4,300; tudor.com]

GET IT!

5. H. Moser Endeavour Perpetual

Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel

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Honestly, there’s a bit of a learning curve

to reading Moser’s simplified perpetual
calendar dial. It’s almost too clean. A small
center hand moves around the dial to
represent one of the 12 months, while a
large date window at 3 o'clock provides an
instant date change at midnight. There are
four other hands on the face: Two central
hands tell the hours and minutes; at six
o’clock, there's a seconds hand; and at
nine o’clock, an indicator displays the
seven-day power reserve for the in-house,
hand-wound caliber HMC 800. This
Endeavor is cased in tantalum, a rare
metal sometimes used to block radiation
on spacecrafts. Very cool, but the pièce de
résistance is certainly the “Abyss Blue” dial.
Four different colored pigments fixed to a
hammered gold plate are kiln-fired to
create an almost pulsing effect.

[$82,500; h-moser.com]

GET IT!

6. Ming World Timer

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It’s well documented, but we're suckers for

world timers and this one from Ming ticks
nearly all the boxes. The gorgeous case is
sculpted in grade 5 titanium. Inside you’ll
find a micro-rotor automatic caliber built
by Swiss movement maker Schwarz-
Etienne just for Ming (ASE 222) visible
though a sapphire case back. On the
sapphire dial, cities, indices and hands—
also in sapphire and filled with HyCeram
X1 lume—seem to hover, each at their own
level, above a 24-hour disc coded in blue
and black to represent day and night.

If you want one of these, you’re going to

have to wait and pick one up on the
secondary market. Currently they're all
spoken for, with deliveries slated to begin
in early 2024. But there is a waitlist. You
never know, you could get lucky.

[$22,000; ming.watch]

GET IT!

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7. TAG Heuer Monza Flyback

Chronometer

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Tag Heuer is a brand that’s quite nearly

synonymous with racing and the new
Monza looks like you’ve opened the engine
compartment on the latest Red Bull F1 car.
The swirling carbon-fiber case evokes
straight-up speed, while a skeletonized
dial gives a peak at the engine: an in-
house caliber Heuer 02 flyback
chronograph.

The 42mm-wide case is a nice size for

chronograph legibility. At roughly 16mm
tall, it's a thick piece, but thanks to the
lightweight carbon construction, you’ll
never feel the girth on your wrist. The
watch boasts 100 meters of water
resistance and an 80-hour power reserve,
so it’s good for more than one race.

[$13,850; tagheuer.com]

GET IT!

8. Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th

Anniversary Act I

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Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary

Act I celebrates the watch’s legacy as one
of the first dive watches. Limited to 210
examples, Act 1 features a 42.3mm case
(the standard size is now 45mm, while the
original was 41mm) in polished stainless
steel; a domed sapphire bezel insert with a
lumed timing bezel; and a depth rating
of 300m.

The piece comes on a NATO-style strap

made from fabric comprised entirely of
upcycled fishing nets. Also unique to Act 1,
the platinum rotor is engraved with “Fifty
Fathoms 70th.” Seven decades on, it’s still
an easy-to-wear, tough-as-nails tool watch
that looks the part, wet or dry.

[$17,400; blancpain.com]

GET IT!

9. Audemars Piguet Code 11.59

Universelle RD#4

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This RD#4 is AP’s most complicated watch

thus far. In fact the new Calibre 1000
includes a staggering 23 complications
including a split seconds chronograph
with a flyback function, a minute repeater,
grande sonnerie, a semi-Gregorian
perpetual calendar, an accurate
astronomical moon phase, a tourbillon,
and automatic winding.

It represents an insane level of watch

making but what’s crazier still is the fact
that Maison was able to cram all 1,155
components into a case that's merely
42mm wide and 15.5 mm thick—a true
marvel of craftsmanship.

[$1.63 million; audemarspiguet.com]

GET IT!

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10. Cartier Tank Américaine Large

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For 2023, Cartier bent the curves a little

more on Américaine—the largest offering
in the Tank line—making it even more
sultry on the wrist. But tweaks to the case
weren’t the only updates. The new version
loses the date function, making it a time-
only piece. Maison also deleted the
seconds hand but the two remaining
pointers are still cast in Cartier’s traditional
blue and the dial is now finished with a
vertical satin brushing.

Inside the curvy 44.4 x 24.4mm case sits

the automatic Cartier caliber 1899 MC,
which provides a 40-hour power reserve.
The watch is water resistant to 30 meters,
but as it comes on an alligator strap, you’ll
want to swap it to rubber or nylon before
hopping in the pool. Available September
2023.

[$6,200 (steel), $17,000 (gold); cartier.com]

GET IT!

11. Breitling Navitimer B01

Chronograph 43 Boeing 747

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Boeing recently delivered the final 747, a

plane that helped get the modern jet age
off the ground. For those who've never
flown on the "Queen of the Skies," that
news may not hit that hard. But for
aviation geeks, the end of the 747 era and
its retirement is an occasion to mark and
there's no better way to celebrate than
with this Breitling Navitimer B01
Chronograph 43 Boeing 747.

Limited to a rather obvious 747 pieces, this

version of the iconic pilot watch features a
creamy dial with black subdials, and a red
inner-slide rule scale, a hallmark of the
Navitimer. Turn the watch over and you
can see the Breitling Caliber 01 with its
column wheel and vertical clutch. But,
along the sides, the brand has engraved
the words "The Original Jumbo Jet” and
“One of 747.” All in all, it's a send-off fit for a
queen.

[$9,400; breitling.com]

GET IT!

12. Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Skeleton

6-15

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Another OG dive watch that celebrates its

70th anniversary this year is Zodiac Sea
Wolf. This version doesn’t commemorate
the jubilee, rather it demonstrates the
brand’s expert use of color and its new
automatic STP 6-15 movement.

Both trendy and playful, the crystal bezel

features a rainbow effect that Zodiac calls
“Super Chroma.” Legibility on skeletonized
watches can be an issue, but the hands on
this time-only, 200-meter rated diver are
easy to read and its price point would
make it a pretty rad daily beater. Like
many of Zodiac’s limited releases, the
watch is sold out on the brand’s site, but
you can still order one from Exquisite
Timepieces.

[$1,895 zodiacwatches.com]

GET IT!

Content continues below

13. Zenith Pilot Big Date Flyback

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Stealthy, seductive, and monochromatic,

Zenith Pilot Big Date Flyback in ceramic is
part of the brand’s re-imagined pilot
series, which employs a new silhouette
better fitting the brand’s contemporary
lineup. The watch’s black dial features
horizontal grooves, large contrasting
Arabic numerals in white, and large
chronograph counters at 3 and 9 o’clock.
The black 42.5mm ceramic case houses an
updated automatic El Primero movement
(3652). The caliber offers 60 hours of power
reserve and a date function with a near-
instantaneous jump. The disks take a mere
0.07 seconds to flip.

To keep the piece secure on your wrist,

Zenith includes two cordura-style straps,
one in black and one in khaki, with triple-
folding clasps made of PVD-coated
steel. Though we can’t imagine why you’d
want to throw it on a green-brown band.
Black is always the new black.

[$13,500; zenith-watches.com]

GET IT!

FASHION STYLE WATCHES

By Nicholas Hegel McClelland

Nicholas Hegel McClelland is an

auto, watch, and golf journalist who
obsesses over whiskey, fast cars,
and sandwiches. No matter what
he's doing, he's always mentally
planning his next round of golf.

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