There’s a strong argument that Only Watch is the most remarkable auction in the watch industry. Occurring every other year, every edition features ~50 unique pieces from our favorite watchmakers and brands. With such an exceptional catalog of unique pieces, it’s fun, exciting, and grounded in an even better cause. Launched nearly 20 years ago, all proceeds go to support the research of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – a genetic disorder that impacts 1 in every 3500 male births. Back again for its 10th time, Only Watch 2023 doesn’t disappoint in its offerings.

We’re diving into some of our favorites for the upcoming auction, hosted in Geneva on November 5 2023. Before walking through the list, we must say there are some notable timepieces that are missing – the MB&F x H. Moser & Cie. timepiece as well as a new creation from Rexhep Rexhepi. Both haven’t been unveiled yet. We will circle back with our thoughts on both timepieces when they release later this summer.

De Bethune – DW5 Seeking Perfect

Whenever De Bethune releases a Dream Watch, it’s an event. These timepieces are effectively special project watches – the result of an exploration in material science, mechanics, and horology by the polymath watchmaker behind the brand, Denis Flageollet. For anyone who read Flageollet’s book on watchmaking, Horological Alchemy, it’s clear that metals matter. He dove deep into metallurgy, forging his own alloys, working with base metals, crafting cases in-house to meet the requirements of the team’s designs.

With this DW5 Seeking Perfect, Flageollet created the case with iron and steel ores harvested in his village in Switzerland. A little piece of home, actually, he roasted it, crushed it into powder, reduced it through the glowing charcoal of his low furnace to obtain a mass of metal, then forged it into a compact material close to the shape to be machined. The operation took several weeks to complete, and the research took many months. Alongside the timepiece’s tourbillon, enjoyed through the caseback, the DW5 Seeking Perfect is another prime example of De Bethune’s extensive competencies on every level of watchmaking.

Ballouard x Brittany Nicole Cox – Upside Down Blue Feather

Approaching a decade since the release of Ludovic Ballouard’s Upside Down, the timepiece’s novelty seems to never wear off. It’s a quirky, innovative timepiece that brings a lightness or playfulness to the table that is rare in fine watchmaking. For Only Watch 2023, Ludovic teamed up with accomplished guilloché artist Brittany Nicole Cox to present a one-of-a-kind platinum edition Upside Down. Designed and executed by Cox, the guillochage pattern found its inspiration in the Emily Dickinson poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Depicting birds in flight, the guilloche pattern denotes optimism and resilience. Coupled with the ability to only read the time in the present, this edition of the Upside Down is very conceptually cohesive and aesthetically pleasing on the eye.

Urwerk – Space-Time Blade

One of the things that we love about Martin and Felix, the co-creators of Urwerk, is that they experiment endlessly. From the brand’s AMC Atomic Clock to the UR-1001 Pocket Watch, the duo has a long history of showcasing their technical and creative prowess far beyond wristwatches. For Only Watch 2023, Urwerk is far outside the classical wristwatch form with the Space-Time Blade.

Always one for avant-garde aesthetics, the Space-Time Blade is one of the brand’s most sci-fi leaning designs to date. Similar in shape to a lightsaber, this special project illuminates the time in a column that stands roughly 5’6” (1.67m) high. Showcasing not only hours, minutes, and seconds, the Space-Time Blade brings with it one of the explorations found in the UR-100 – a fast-whizzing indicator that shows earth’s rotational speed in kilometers. Created in collaboration with Dalibor Farny who created the glass enclosure for the Space-Time Blade, this timepiece is another prime example that Urwerk’s creative depths are much deeper than many imagine.

Czapek Genève – Place Vendôme Complicité

Since 2016, Czapek Genève has become a favorite amongst independent collectors. From the Place Vendôme to Antarctique Chronograph timepieces, there’s a lot of fanfare for the Genevois brand. For this year’s Only Watch, Czapek brings forward an evolution of their two first timepieces – the Quai des Bergues and Place Vendôme. The Place Vendôme Complicité retains the brand’s hallmark double escapements at 4:30 and 7:30 with the addition of a differential that connects both at 12:00. Xavier De Roquemaurel, Czapek’s CEO, struggled to find the right partner that would be capable of executing this idea while maintaining the timepiece’s desired architecture on the dial-side. Bernhard Lederer was ultimately the man for the job, creating the complication that began as an idea some five years ago.

Sylvain Pinaud – Origine Only Watch

The watch that established Sylvain on the map of modern indies, the Origine is distinguished by its neoclassical simplicity. A time-only watch, it feels as if it were highly complicated due to its unique, asymmetric dial layout. Simply saying time-only does it very little justice considering how elevated this timepiece is as well as all the in-house work done to create a gear-train and Swiss-lever escapement to fit the needs of Sylvain’s dial design. Here with this Only Watch edition, Pinaud showcases a unique blue dial, highlighted by its black-polished steel cartouche, accentuates depth and contrast of the dial.

Angelus – Chronodate Gold x Château Angelus

Inspired by the brand’s legendary Chronodato, the first chronograph with integrated annual calendar function, the Chronodate is a modern twist to the classic. From the lugs, movement architecture, color palette, and case shape, Angelus brought the Chronodato firmly into the 21st century. For Only Watch, the Chronodate Gold is playfully connected to another Angelus – the legendaryChâteau Angelus vineyard in the Bordeaux region of France. Connecting both namesakes, the Chronodate x Château Angelus features a unique dial made from freeze-dried wine lees of this Saint-Emilion estate, 2022 vintage. This powdered wine is used as is, delicately deposited on the base of the dial. These lees alone give the piece all its texture and color. At 6 o'clock, there is a red-gold applique bearing a faithful engraving of the Château’s bell.

Moritz Grossmann – Tremblage Only Watch

Since its revival in 2008, Moritz Grossmann has released a series of exceptional timepieces, one after the other. The Tremblage, one of our favorites from Moritz Grossmann’s collection, is the perfect timepiece for this year’s Only Watch. While the movement is well-finished and thoroughly German with its 3⁄4 plate architecture, the star of this timepiece is the tremblage dial. Tremblage involves a surface being finished by hand using a range of engraving burins. The tools are moved across the metal in a trembling motion, which is also where the name comes from, with the French ‘tremblant’ meaning ‘to tremble’ in English. The challenge in this is to create an even look. It gives rise to a rough but matt effect that dampens the incident light on the dial of the special model and makes the tremblage surface appear beautifully matt. With the “Only Watch” engraving in the seconds subdial, it’s a serious example of fine handmade watchmaking.

F.P. Journe – Chronomètre Furtif Bleu

It goes unsaid that a unique piece Journe is simply exceptional. They have a distinct aura. Their sheer existence brings them, pretty much de facto, into grail territory for collectors. That’s why Only Watch is something particular for F.P. Journe. Each of the last five timepieces that Journe has contributed to Only Watch have been heavy-hitters. From last year’s Francis Ford Coppola to 2019’s Astronomic Blue, each adds to Journe’s status as a living legend in modern watchmaking. This year, the brand’s contribution to Only Watch delivers no less.

The Chronomètre Furtif Bleu is an evolution of the cult-status Chronomètre Bleu with some notable additions. First, it’s the first Journe timepiece with a fully integrated tantalum bracelet. Notoriously difficult to work with, there is a reason that there are so few that venture to create fully tantalum bracelets. And lastly, the Chronomètre Furtif Bleu introduces an entirely new, exquisitely executed caliber. Caliber 1522 reimagines the movement of the Chronomètre Bleu (and Chronomètre Souverain before) from the ground up. With twin barrels and a 56-hour power reserve, it’s classically “Journe” in 18K rose gold with power reserve and moonphase indicators to retain an uncluttered dial.

On the side, a fun fact is that this is the first center-second timepiece from Journe. As was the case with previous Journe Only Watch timepieces, we fully expect to see aspects of this watch in the future collection whether it’s the base caliber or a permanent center-second time-only watch. Time will tell. What’s certain now is that the Chronomètre Furtif Bleu will make a huge splash on auction day.

Comment on our Instagram what your favorite timepieces are from the upcoming Only Watch 2023 auction. As mentioned in the intro, we will return to the catalog when a few more timepieces are shared publicly – the MB&F x H. Moser & Cie. as well as Akrivia timepieces. Stay tuned for both.

Another spectacular auction catalog for Only Watch 2023