Three Brands To Watch in 2025

If the DWW team could accurately tell the future, we would all have bought F.P. Journe well before they were cool and would currently be spending our days on a beach, sipping something icy. Sadly, this isn't the case, but that's not to say that we don't have our finger on the proverbial pulse. With that in mind, here are three brands — from smaller players to the almost impossibly vast conglomerates that we think might well pop off in 2025.

First cab off the rank — Christopher Ward. This might sound like an odd choice, but the British brand has spent much of its 20-year history making well-priced, conventionally designed timepieces that perfectly suited the brand's accessible, direct-to-consumer business model. So far, so unremarkable. However, in recent years, one model has leapt out from the brand's assortment of divers and aviation watches, a watch quite unlike anything else on the market: the Bel Canto.

Developed in 2019 and released in 2022, the C1 Bel Canto is, essentially, a chiming watch, a sonnerie au passage that strikes the passing of the hour, and does so in an aesthetically appealing open-worked package that will be familiar to fans of MB&F and other high-end indies. The real story, though, was the price. In keeping with Christopher Ward's mission, the Bel Canto launched at a remarkable price point under $4000 USD, and today still retails for under $5000, an unprecedented price for a chiming watch.

The launch of the Bel Canto was remarkable, doubling the brand's revenue in the 2023 and 2024 financial years. This popularity catapulted Christopher Ward into entirely new territory, winning a GPHG award in 2023 and seeing the release of a 'Classic' model in 2024, complete with a guilloché style dial. The question is, flush with success and cash, where will Christopher Ward take the Bel Canto in 2025?

The market position of Audemars Piguet couldn't be further from that of Christopher Ward's — the Le Brassus-based brand is an industry behemoth, one of the 'Holy Trinity' brands capable of doing everything (and anything) they want. Of course, you're likely familiar with the brand's playbook, which leans heavily into celebrity and pop culture, especially around the iconic Royal Oak collection. However, 2025 might hold a few surprises in store. CEO Ilaria Resta has formally been on the job for 12 months, allowing her plenty of time to find her feet and start making her presence felt on the strategic direction and commercial output of the brand. On top of that, 2025 marks 150 years since 1875, the year of the brand's founding. All watch brands love marking an anniversary, and 150 years is a genuinely significant one, so there's no doubt Audemars Piguet will pull out all the stops with celebratory releases.

Finally, when it comes to corporate-scale players, LVMH's watch division is the one to watch, The group, which includes TAG Heuer, Hublot, Zenith and Bulgari, along with newer additions like Daniel Roth, Gerald Genta in addition to Louis Vuitton's own watchmaking has been making big plays recently, investing heavily in independent watches as well as shuffling up its CEO team late last year, and most recently, penning a multi-brand, 10-year partnership with Formula 1. Unsurprisingly, TAG Heuer is leading the charge in this space as Offical Timekeeper, and it's a smart play as F1's stocks are on the up thanks largely to Netflix's Drive to Survive. On its own, it's a big move, but taken within the broader context, it's another example of how the LVMH group seems especially focussed on raising the profile and market share of its watch segment. Who knows what surprises this year might hold?