Nostalgia will do strange things to you – and when retro-inspired watches are involved, those effects go wild. For years, brands like Cartier , Longines, Rolex and Audemars Piguet have reintroduced models that help reinforce their most precious assets of all – identity and heritage – while highlighting how their artisanal skills and technical innovations have evolved. This year, horology has gone madder than ever for its retro and vintage forefathers, with almost every big name dabbling in the archives in the hope of creating a future classic.
Breitling is busy spending 2024 celebrating 140 Years of Firsts. However much like marketing jargon that sounds, it’s impossible to overstate what the Navitimer and Cosmonaute models have done for aviation-leaning watchmaking over the years. With this 41mm hunk, that history lives on.
£17,900. At breitling.com New Bremont CEO Davide Cerrato has a sound effect buzzer on his phone that he presses whenever someone suggests a bad idea.
He certainly didn’t reach for it when the sketches for this rugged tool watch landed on his desk. As retro-inspired watches go, this one gets an A*. £2,500.
At bremont.com Anyone still reeling from Nestlé’s callous discontinuation of the Caramac chocolate bar will be heartened to see its unexpected visual reincarnation in the undulating face of a new Polo in honour of Piaget ’s big 1-5-0. But with that limited to only 300 pieces, the rest of us stand more chance of copping this 42mm rose gol.
