Predicting 2020 Watch Releases From Rolex, Cartier and Others

​Today, Christian dives into some of our predictions for some of 2020s potential huge releases from the likes of Rolex, Cartier, AP, and Patek!

First and foremost, let’s address Rolex. While many of the things we find so endearing about the brand are surely not going to come back any time soon (gilt dials, for example), there are some things we’d still love to see. The first is a totally redesigned Milgauss. The modern Milgauss, while undoubtedly a superbly built and attractive watch, is still miles removed from its heritage, so seeing some elements that made the 1019 Milgauss such a legend reintroduced would be a breath of fresh air for the line. We’d also love to see some more unique dials for the Day-Date line, whether that be in super rare boutique editions with marble dials or in a hyper expensive version with one made of wood.

From the Crown, we move to the legendary French jewelry house (and Christian’s favorite brand), Cartier. One of the things we’d most like to see from them going into this new year is some smaller size options for the updated Cintree collection, bringing back the line’s history as having a size for every wrist. Along with that, the Santos Dumont collection has been an incredible return to form for the brand, but those dials certainly need to be reimagined a bit. Something about them doesn’t quite match the starkly contrasted beauty of the vintage examples, and it’s a relatively easy fix all things considered. The bigger aspiration, though, is some kind of new, ground-up design that reminds the world what makes them some of the best designers on planet Earth.

For Patek, we have a pretty simple desire – another Calatrava with the Breguet dial of the 5196P, either in yellow gold with a yellow dial, or rose gold with a rose dial. While it might be a bit redundant with the platinum version currently in the catalog, something about a slightly more attainable, while still incredibly tasteful dress watch that reinforces some classic design language might really draw people to the style again, and perhaps away from the steel sport models, if only a bit.

Next, we have Audemars Piguet. The Royal Oak Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar was, without question, one of the best releases of the 2010s hands-down. So what would we like to see from the brand in 2020 and beyond? In short – more experimentation with alternative materials. We’ve seen them start going there with last year’s white ceramic Royal Oak, and they’ve shown a propensity towards it with the Concept line already, so it isn’t a massive leap by any means.

And finally, we move into the third Trinity brand, Vacheron Constantin. Their QDL (so abbreviated because it is near impossible to pronounce anyway) is one of the most interesting piece’s the brand has put out in a while. The case is wholly unique, and the dial integrates the date mechanism perfectly, but it falls short when it comes to sizing. At 41mm, it isn’t oversized in principle, but the shape of the case, it’s 50 someodd millimeter lug-to-lug, and its thickness all contribute to a watch that is simply too big. All we’re asking for? A smaller, thinner case that helps the piece wear more like you’d expect a watch of that style and size to wear.