The Best Record-Breaking Timepieces From the World's Biggest Watch Show

After two years of the kind of exuberance and endeavor that brought a Rolex emoji watch, colored lab-grown diamonds, 3D-printed gold, light-sucking cases, and even a Stormtrooper metaverse watch, 2024's Watches and Wonders—the annual trade show of the international watch and jewelry industry—feels positively tame in comparison.

Perhaps this is because big-brand chief executives have acknowledged an increasingly uncertain market. Swiss watch exports are slowing after a record run. According to a Morgan Stanley report in collaboration with WatchCharts, prices on the secondary market decreased in Q4 last year for the seventh quarter in a row.

Yes, with all this in mind, it wasn't surprising to find many of the releases from the globally recognized names lining the halls of the Palexpo in Geneva to be more subdued. Still, thankfully, we managed to seek out the watches worthy of a WIRED mention. Here they are.

Bulgari Makes World’s Thinnest Watch (Again)

You may recall that last year Richard Mille took the title from Bulgari for the world's thinnest watch with its RM UP-01 Ferrari coming in at an implausible 1.75 millimeters tall, all in—practically the same as a 25-cent coin. Well, clearly somewhat peeved at being dethroned, Bulgari has hit back with the Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC, regaining the crown for creating the thinnest watch on the planet.

This new version of the Octo Finissimo pips the Richard Mille by 0.05 millimeters at just 1.70 millimeters thick. The 40-millimeter case contains a 170-component manually wound movement with a tungsten carbide back for much-needed durability on such a slender piece.

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The price for such lofty achievements in horology? Limited to only 20 examples, this record-breaker will set potential owners back more than half a million dollars ($529,000 to be precise).

IWC’s 45-Million-Year Moon Watch

With its Portugieser Eternal Calendar, IWC is dealing with some big numbers. The perpetual calendar function (showing days, months, and years), for instance, is set up to run without any correction for 400 years (traditional perpetuals need adjustments once a