According to 46 Experts, the Year’s Best Watch Brand Is…

Cam Wolf
·8 min read
1

Keir Novesky

This is an edition of the newsletter Box + Papers, Cam Wolf’s weekly deep dive into the world of watches. Sign up here.

I swear it was really close. Up until the final moments, it even looked like Cartier was going to walk away with a slightly surprising victory as the 2023 GQ Watch Survey’s Brand of the Year. And then I sent Eric Wind, of Wind Vintage, one last pestering text to complete his survey—and his final vote helped tip the results in another direction. .

That’s just one of the exciting photo finishes from the second-annual GQ Watch Survey. Things played out a little different for 2023. Rather than repeat last year’s exhaustive responses from over a dozen Watch Illuminati members, I decided this time to poll a wide-ranging panel of 46 experts. That led to more definitive answers on the most pressing horological subjects: Which brand had the biggest year? What was the single best release of 2023? Which trends mattered? Who was the best newcomer? And who is the most influential watchmaker in the world?

This story will focus mainly on the brands, with more posts focused on the year’s best individual watches coming up shortly. Let’s dive straight into the results—though if you’re curious about the members of our esteemed panel, you can scroll down to the bottom for the full alphabetized list.

The 2023 Brand of the Year

The final rankings are*:

It speaks to the year Cartier had that it came a whisper away from knocking off Rolex. What I find fascinating is that while Rolex built its lead on first place votes, Cartier shored up much of its support down ballot. Even if the Illuminati didn’t think the Parisian-based jeweler was the best brand, nearly everyone agreed it was on absolute fire this year.

I also appreciated the diversity beyond the top three mega maisons at the top. Simon Brette only debuted this year and still has just one (gorgeous) watch to its name, Louis Vuitton is a luxury retailer dramatically revamping its brand, and Rexhep Rexhepi is the next great independent. Here’s what voters had to say.

@Bazamu, GQ’s Watch Collector of the Year 2022: Rexhep Rexhepi. The hottest watchmaker in the world kept it going with two new watch releases and explosive results for his RRCC1 at auction.

Ben Dunn, founder, Watch Brothers London: Cartier. Price range to suit all budgets and timeless style makes it an easy choice for both the seasoned and new collector.

Geoff Hess, head of watches for the Americas, Sotheby's: Rolex. While this may be a surprise answer to many, the release by Rolex of the new Le Mans Daytona represents an exciting willingness to embrace vintage design, highlighting both the iconic Paul Newman and Big Red Daytona dials, the importance of which cannot be overemphasized.

James Lamdin, owner, Analog Shift: Simone Brette was definitely the darling of the Indie space in 2023. Now, please make some more watches!

Roni Madhvani, super collector: Berneron. The brand is refreshingly different at all levels and aesthetically and technically incredible.

Cameron Ross Steiner, founder and host, Collectors Gene Radio: Cartier is still on the come up. [They have] something for everyone at every price point, which is hard to find.

Zoe Abelson, founder, Graal Limited: Audemars Piguet is constantly coming out with more and more variety of their models throughout the year.

*A quick explanation of the methodology: I asked all voters to vote for their first, second, and third brands of the year. I then weighted those votes to come up with the final point tally. This is exactly how they decide the NBA MVP, so it’s super legit.

The Most Influential Watchmaker in the World…

Despite Rolex taking the top spot in the previous category, many of the voters were somehow less ambiguous about the fact that—love it or hate it—the Crown wields more influence than any other brand.

Adam Golden, founder, Menta Watches: The answer is always, sadly, Rolex.

Nick Ferrell, founder, DC Vintage Watches: Although I hate to admit it, Rolex. No one plays the watch game better than this company does.

Auro Montanari, author and super collector: Rolex, the number one for technical innovation, design consistency, marketing and financial independence.

Jasper Lijfering, owner and CEO, Amsterdam Vintage Watches: Objectively Rolex.

Robert-Jan Broer, founder, Fratello Magazine: Rolex. Even now that the market for luxury watches softens a bit, they remain strong. The demand for Rolex also gave other brands a lot of traction in the past few years.

Hess: Rolex. How many chronograph and dive watches have been developed in recent years based on the influence of the iconic Daytona and Submariner models?

Lydia Winters, super collector and watch photographer: Rolex is still the most well-known watch brand in the world, which makes its influence trickle across all parts of watches.

Sam Fremstar, super collector: Rolex has the formula and staying power almost all other brands want to emulate.

Ben Clymer, founder, Hodinkee: Rolex. Always and forever.

But despite all the Rolex love, panelists threw many other names in the hat—just none with such frequency.

Kelly Yoch, director of client relations, Watches of Switzerland: MB&F always breaks the rules and conception of what a time piece can be.

Mark Cho, owner, The Armoury and Drake's: Cartier is pushing the envelope in terms of new dial-making techniques (the Tank Louis Cartier with the mosaic pattern), complications, and movement aesthetics (their Santos Dumont skeleton with the little plane).

Kathleen McGivney, CEO, RedBar: Roger W. Smith. He is the preeminent independent watchmaker in the UK, and with the incredible auction result from his Pocket Watch No. 2 this year as well as his continued support of the British watchmaking industry, he is not only leading his own successful business, but shoring up the British watchmaking industry for decades to come.

Paul Boutros, head of watches in America, Phillips: F.P. Journe with his laser-focused vision and emphasis on precision timekeeping innovation, he continues to inspire independent brands and watchmakers.

Davide Parmegiani, co-chairman, Monaco Legend Auctions: F.P. Journe. Outstanding creativity and level of accuracy in the production.

Jessica Owens, founder, Daily Grail: Danièla Dufour, period, end of sentence. As impressive on the inside as she is on the outside. She is the future.

Sean Song, founder, S.Song Watches: Rexhep Rexhepi. The next generation after Dufour and it seems everything he is currently doing is perfectly executed.

Rexhep Rexhepi’s Chronomètre Antimagnétique for Only Watch.
Rexhep Rexhepi’s Chronomètre Antimagnétique for Only Watch.

Cameron Barr, founder and CEO, Craft & Tailored: Simon Brette and Richard Mille. Brette for the artistry and elegant ability to execute complications. RM is the top innovator pushing the boundaries of modern technical horology.

Brynn Wallner, founder, @Dimepiece: Living or dead? Gérald Genta still has an insane chokehold on the industry. And depending on how you define influence, Audemars Piguet has been very powerful in generating overall excitement about the watch industry at large.

Tim Mosso, media director, WatchBox: Rexhep Rexhepi. The legitimate heir to the mantle of Philippe Dufour.

Mike Nouveau, King of WatchTok: Rexhep Rexhepi seems to be the next "best living watchmaker." His watches are impossible to get and now he has teamed up with one of the biggest luxury brands in the world, Louis Vuitton.

The Next Great Brand

For this topic, I prompted panelists to name a brand that is on the rise in 2023. Not necessarily a new brand, but one that garnered much more attention in 2023 than they had in previous years. And although Simon Brette didn’t end up in the top spot for any individual category, the watchmaker might be the most mentioned name across the entirety of the survey results. The ascending superstar shows up near the top for categories like Best Watchmaker, Most Influential, Best Watch, and, obviously, Next Great Brand. Other favorites here include Cartier and Piaget.

Abelson: Simon Brette has already taken the independent watch collecting scene by storm. I think he will be doing some great things in the future.

Cho: Grand Seiko. I love that they're finally making a lot of sub-38mm watches.

Ronny Chieng, super collector and actor: Jack Mason is making some cool stuff out of Texas with Seiko movements.

Jeff Stein, founder, On the Dash: Berneron!! They have not produced a watch—or even a movement or a prototype—but its first three years of production are sold out. That's rising from zero-to-100 very quickly!

Eric Peng Cheng, super collector owner of Bait and Undefeated: Cartier. Been on the rise for a while now but really feeling it this year.

Arthur Pfister, vintage watch consultant: Piaget has really grown in overall appreciation this year as many young collectors have found incredible value in their vintage timepieces. The brand’s watches have technically perfect movements with incredibly crafted case designs and dial layouts.

The excellent Piaget Polo from the '80s
The excellent Piaget Polo from the '80s

Wallner: Piaget. I have high hopes for them as they celebrate their 150th anniversary [next year]. Hopefully they will phase out the modern Polo and re-launch the original along with their other archival pieces that defined the Studio 54 era.

Lijfering: Piaget. People are exploring and enjoying all these unique and funky designs from yesteryear.

Please meet our esteemed panel of experts, listed in alphabetical order:

Stay tuned for the rest of the 2023 GQ Watch Survey, launching on Wednesday, December 20th, in a special holiday edition of Box & Papers.

See all of our newsletters, including Box + Papers, here.

Originally Appeared on GQ