Watches & Wonders 24: How the latest timepieces measure up

That said, when it comes to the fair’s most talked about pieces, it was the usual order of things with the world’s best known – and best-selling – brands triumphing.

First up, Rolex with a textbook trio led by a tool watch no one expected, thanks to its rendering in gold. The massive Deep Sea is now an 18-carat ingot, with a dash of ceramics and titanium for the case-back. It was joined by a revamped GMT-Master ll in steel with black and grey toning and a fresh version of the Crown’s ‘dress’ watch, the guilloche-dialled Perpetual 1908 cased in platinum. All bases covered then: bling, everyday and special occasion.

Patek Philippe’s standouts both have denim-look calf-skin straps, an unexpected contemporary touch. The spanking new Nautilus Flyback chronograph in white gold with blue-grey dial has a new-generation World Time – in a first, it synchronises the date and local time. But it was the Golden Ellipse, a Patek Philippe model that harks back to the 1970s with a sunburst ebony dial mounted on a chain bracelet, that stole the show.

Dragging us back to the present was Cartier, using the past as a springboard rather than a crutch. Its carnelian stone-dialled Santos Dumont Rewind turns time-telling into an anti-clockwise exercise that, while hardly intuitive, is unusually involving.

If these pieces were the conversation starters, other surprises included Cartier’s Tortue Monopusher and a Santos Dual Time bringing a neatly incorporated complication to a long-time favourite; Hermès’ new range, called the Cut, neatly sized timepieces (36mm) with interchangeable straps that could well become the next ‘it’ watches; Montblanc producing the Iced Sea Oxygen Deep, which can indeed dive as deep as the famed Swiss mountain peak is high (4810 metres); and Bremont launching a new compass-like logo and a new Terra Nova range, bringing a chunky aesthetic to the party.

Not every brand went to such extremes to gain attention. The big and bigger turned to that old stand-by, colour, to add pizzazz.

The most successful: Chanel with a version of the BoyFriend in brilliant pink; Zenith’s chunky retro Defy Revival with vibrant orange accents; Grand Seiko’s vivid red-dialled chronograph; and Cartier with quite stunning Santos Dumont models in various and glorious shades.

Of course for real va-voom it’s jewels and decoration rather than mere colour that do the trick, and there was no shortage of wonders on display. Serial offender Cartier featured (yes, again) with an over-the-top Reflection bracelet watch larded with up to six carats of brilliant-cut diamonds.

In a more traditional vein, the Cartier Crocodile Jewellery watch is set with mother-of-pearl, sapphires, brilliant-cut diamonds (3.1 carats), and has an enamel dial motif featuring cabochon-cut emerald eyes.

Van Cleef & Arpels proffered a brace of compelling confections, the Lady Arpels Jour Enchanté a 41mm statement in white gold, diamonds and yellow sapphires showcasing numerous skills: enamelling, miniature painting, marquetry of precious and ornamental stones, sculpting and engraving.

Could you cram anything more into a wristwatch? Unlikely, but it illustrates the challenge facing every brand; while we’re spending more than ever on furnishing our forearms, we’re buying half the number of watches we were 10 years ago. Meaning they have to be special to earn their tick.