Rather than a concentration around one single watch, 23 different pieces picked up first-place votes. Some honorable mentions include the Chopard L.U.C. Grand Strike, the Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence, the Ur-Freak from Urwerk and Ulysse Nardin, Petermann Bedat’s Reference 1825, the Vacheron Constantin Solaria, the Fam Al Hut Mark 1 Möbius, and both Urban Jürgensen’s UJ-1 and UJ-2. I’m choosing to view the huge spectrum as a positive sign: it means there were an immense number of worthy candidates this year.

Due to the unusually large spray of votes, I’ve kept this list rather trim, with just the top six watches that managed to marshal even a minor consensus.

1. Rolex Land-Dweller

Any new Rolex is always going to garner consideration for this list, but the Land-Dweller gets extra attention for being the baby in the Crown’s catalog. The LD is the brand’s first new “professional” model since the Sky-Dweller was released in 2012 (Rolex unveiled the dressy 1908 in 2023). So what did Rolex cook up in those 13 years? How about the first new approach to the escapement—the part of a movement that metes out energy—since the mid-18th century.

Still, despite the impressive mechanical accomplishment, you can sense a resignation among the voters, a majority of whom voted the watch second overall. “When the Crown unveils something totally new, it’s hard not to take notice,” said Geoff Hess, Sotheby’s global head of watches. Tony Traina, who writes the watch newsletter Unpolished, said, “The aesthetic isn’t quite there for me, but it’s well made and the escapement is important.”