These Are The Watch Industry’s Dream Gifts For The Holiday Season

Each year, as I assemble our luxury holiday gift guides, I often wonder what watch I want to be gifted. Taking it a step further, I then ask, what watch would it be if money weren’t in the equation? After toying around with this make-believe decision for hours (actually, maybe even days), I turned to some of the watch industry’s most influential voices to discover what dream watch they would pick. From leading editors with distinct opinions and directors at some of the biggest auction houses to content creators and vintage curators, here are the industry’s dream watches this holiday season.

Paul Boutros, Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches, Americas at Phillips 

My 2024 “dream watch” is the Rolex Daytona Le Mans ref. 126528LN in 18-karat yellow gold. A superb, extremely limited variation of a modern Daytona, its art deco sub-dial fonts were clearly inspired by vintage “Paul Newman” Daytonas – not seen since the early 1970s. Combined with the gold-rimmed ceramic bezel insert with red ‘100’ as a nod to 100 years of the  24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, unique 24-hour indicator, and an exhibition caseback to see the state-of-the-art Rolex in-house caliber 4132 within, it’s a watch I would love to someday own.

We offered the same watch in white gold – lot 10 at last week’s The New York Watch Auction: XI.

Danny Milton, VP, Content at Teddy Baldassarre

I wrote about this watch for our own team’s end-of-year story about a watch we would want if money were no object. The same goes for holiday gifting! The Daniel Roth Souscription Tourbillon (in yellow gold) is a watch I haven’t been able to get off my mind since seeing it in person during LVMH Watch Week 2024. It is so hyper-specific and yet so freakin cool that I would have no issue if someone slipped this watch under the tree for me this year…

Eric Wind, Founder and Owner of Wind Vintage in Palm Beach, Florida

My dream watch this holiday season would be this Rolex “Paul Newman” “Panda” Daytona reference 6239 that has an exotic racing dial where the black paint has turned a “tropical” brown due to exposure from the elements. The watch came out of my home state of Wisconsin at the beginning of this year, and I sold it to a client. I hope I can get the chance to own it again one day.

Brynn Wallner, Journalist and Founder, Dimepiece

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas… that can only be delivered via the diamonds on this icy watch from Chopard’s L’Heure du Diamant Collection. I currently do not own a gem-set gala appropriate watch, and because it’s the holidays, I’m dreaming big.

Zach Blass, Editor at Time+Tide

By no means will anyone in my family purchase this for me, but it’s a ‘dream watch,’ right? 

I have lusted after the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Rattrapante GMT since its debut. It is a a sleek and stealthy if-you-know-you-know watch with a complication that is actually useful. I love the poetry of the hidden ‘home time’ hour hand, rendered in rose gold to represent the warmth of home.

Rebecca Ross, Christie’s Watches, Head of Sale

As I am exposed to some of the rarest watches in the world, I am propelled to study the nuances that make them so special.

 One that caught my eye throughout my studies is the unusual cushion-shaped Audemars Piguet Jump Hour minute repeating wristwatch, which was made in the mid-1990s. I instantly felt drawn to this watch due to its sleek aesthetic, complicated movement housed in such a small case, which you are able to admire through the transparent case back, and scarcity.

Here’s an example was recently sold in our December 9 Important Watches auction in New York — Limited to only 25 examples, this Audemars Piguet wristwatch is an extremely rare and coveted timepiece as not only does it feature an unusual pink gold cushion-shaped case with jumping hour and minute apertures, but also a minute repeating complication. It is a superb and seldom seen example of top watchmaking in classical sizing that was offered by Audemars Piguet and can only find in vintage timepieces. Discreet, legible, and wearable for a wide array of wrist sizes, this watch is perfect to sport on any occasion. From 1906 until the 1920s, Audemars Piguet manufactured approximately only 35 minute repeating wristwatches including a cushion-shaped timepiece made especially for John Wallace Schaeffer, the vice president of the Allied Chemical Corporation located in Morristown, New Jersey. Decades later in the 1990s, the brand created an entire line of repeating wristwatches inspired by the original ‘John Shaeffer’ wristwatch, such as the above lot. This example was limited to only 25 pieces.

Craig Karger, Founder, Wrist Enthusiast

If I could receive one watch this holiday season, it would be the Berneron Mirage Sienna. This watch is probably my favorite watch released in 2024. With the asymmetrical case and movement, it really showcases how independent watchmakers are leading the way in innovation and design. Unfortunately for me, it is sold out, and there is an incredibly long waiting list.

Ben Cook, Content Creator

This holiday season, my dream watch would be the Rolex GMT Reference 1675. This is one of the greatest Rolex references ever made and has been a grail of mine for the last year.

Chad Alexander, Content Creator

Tom Brady’s 1917 Patek Philippe Grand Complication Pocket Watch — I had the pleasure of being hands-on with this recently at Sotheby’s; it was truly incredible.