These statement watches are surefire conversation starters

Nothing seems to faze septuagenarian industry strongman Jean-Claude Biver. Coming from successful CEO positions at LVMH after reviving Blancpain, only to start from scratch in independent watchmaking was a bold post-pandemic move, and it worked, proven by the 39mm Automatique. In the space of three years the brand has almost doubled its artisanal workforce, now a family affair with a reputation as strong as JC’s unfiltered statements. After debuting with the mortgage-sized Carillon Tourbillon, the smaller Automatique is the brand’s most minimal design, but doesn’t take away from its hand-finished details, giving it big presence for its dressy size.

We do not doubt the power wielded by independent watchmakers in a market that seems saturated with big brands, but there is still a persistent image of the Old Watchmaker at his bench, working from hand-sketched drawings. This is dramatically challenged by the young team at Vanguart. With shapes and tech that could only be created with the aid of computer-aided design, their haute horology doesn’t hold back the futurist punches. But when it comes to hand-crafted bridgework and single-watchmaker assembly, the brand follows traditions and has been seen on big-time collectors like Michael Jordan.

Krayon watches are all crafted from 18K yellow or white gold, and offer a curated, mid sized 39mm view of independent statement watchmaking. Their Anyday debuted this year with a charming take on analogue time planning, offering a monthly adjustable overview of weekdays and weekends. This is a first, and appears on a lacquered sapphire disc sprinkled with gold dust, that encircles an intricate dial. But the statement here is mostly found through a loupe, and comes in the form of obsessive details like the fact that each of the hand-finished indices for each hour has 16 facets. Headed by the creative mind of Remi Maillat, Krayon proves that details do indeed matter.

A Richard Mille is a statement in itself – partly about the state of one’s bank balance – thanks to its signature curved tonneau case. It has acquired one of the few silhouettes in watch design that are truly unmistakable from across a room. The latest RM 75-01 comes in a solid sapphire crystal case, with the flying tourbillon movement within a symphony of contemporary mechanics.

Hublot marked the 20th anniversary of its Big Bang collection in 2025 with a slew of models that celebrated everything that the once-radical concept has achieved in its two decades. It bears significant responsibility for ushering in a new aesthetic of openworked, avant-garde watch design, and has consistently helped broaden tastes in terms of colour and materials. Fitting, then, that the brand should debut a full ceramic model in a completely new shade, a soft green that’s easier-going than the bold reds and yellows of Big Bangs past.

The thinnest tourbillon watch ever made. If that’s not a statement, we don’t know what is. Proof that less really can be more, the 1.85 mm-thin Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon set a new record at Watches and Wonders 2025 and emphasised Bulgari’s commitment to making astonishingly thin watches. In the brand’s now-customary matte titanium, it’s uncanny to wear and sensational to contemplate.

Creating high complications is one thing – and impressive enough in its own right – but H Moser’s real statement is that you can respect the mechanical expertise involved without taking the whole thing too seriously. Hence the ‘Pop’ collection, a range of watches in contrasting colours, each one a different semiprecious stone. The range-topping minute repeater in turquoise and coral is our pick.

Celebrating TAG Heuer’s return as the official timekeeper of Formula 1, the Monaco Rattrapante, in a limited edition of ten, is almost unrecognisable – save for that square dial – from the chronograph that debuted in 1969. Stainless steel has given way to white ceramic, the blue-and-white dial replaced by a skeletonised red and white structure that evokes racetracks’ Arnco barriers. It’s a thoroughly arresting design, of a piece with modem motorsport in every way.

Where once Piaget had to describe this watch as the ‘Black Tie’, it has now forged an official relationship with Andy Warhol’s estate and can make explicit the fact that for years, it was worn by the artist – who was also a prolific watch collector. With its wide stepped case, it takes up a lot of space on the wrist, but is made wearable by its thin height and soft curves. The tigers-eye dial is a firm nod to 1980s glamour.