It is hard to believe that the Lange 1 watch is a mere 25 years old. It was in 1994, that Walter Lange and Günter Blümlein unveiled the first four wristwatches (including the Lange 1) to usher in A. Lange & Söhne's revival after the fall of the Berlin wall.

It’s been a little over a month since SIHH 2019 wrapped up. Now that the dust has settled, we can look back at the event’s novelties at a less frantic pace and highlight some of the watches that were overshadowed by the bigger releases. Case in point is the pair of new Vacheron Constantin Fiftysix watches in a fresh blue colorway.

When a couple of years ago the first bronze cased watches entered the mainstream watch scene, it seemed to be a trend. However, over the years these type of watches have proved their staying power, as a charismatic alternative to steel. Initially, bronze cases where mainly applied to dive watches as their non-corrosive qualities offer an added advantage there. However, this edition of the SIHH we saw that the trend of using this material into other categories of watches also continues.

With the introduction of the new Santos de Cartier, in 2018, it was to be expected that the collection would soon be expanded beyond the time-only and skeleton versions it was launched in. It is not surprising that Cartier picked for this extension a chronograph, as this is still one of the most popular complications. However, the way that they went about to integrate this in Santos is surprising!

It’s one thing to say you make robust watches; it’s quite another to challenge your clients to put them to the test. Panerai essentially put their money where their mouth is at SIHH this year by offering unique adventures as a perk to buying three of their new limited-edition Submersible models.

With reduced sizes, blankets of diamonds, and fresh marketing language that drops gender categories, it is clear that big watch brands have their eye on women’s wrists. It was difficult to pick just a few from the wide assortment, but here are some of our favorite ladies watches from SIHH 2019.

While master watchmaker Christophe Claret has been producing exceptional complications for leading Swiss watch companies since the 1980s, he founded his eponymous brand in 2009. To mark the 10th anniversary of the brand this year, the boutique haute horology manufacture unveiled the limited-edition dual time jump hour Christophe Claret Angelico, which combines a tourbillon with a long detent escapement and a cable-type fusee transmission system—a world’s first for a wristwatch.

From every aspect, the mechanical watch is an obsolete instrument, yet we continue to have a love affair with it. It is, therefore, a passion that drives the industry and that is also clear when you look at the creations of many of the exhibitors at de SIHH. Because of that passion, they went above and beyond to create movements, complications, finishes and decorations that were not possible before, or continue a tradition that is often almost forgotten.

At any watch fair, there is always the risk that you start at a high and then it is all downwards from there. With the balanced additions to the Pilot-collection of IWC, the super sweet Richard Mille's and Jaeger-LeCoultre who showed once again their prowess when it comes to highly complicated watches with a fine finish, that danger is very real. However, this edition of SIHH that fear is misplaced as on the second day, things continued at a very high level.

We already suspected it from the quality of the pre-releases this year, but all our doubts where further taken away at the first day of the 2019 edition of SIHH: the watch industry is thriving! It showed this not only by many new creations but also by the beautiful different interpretation of familiar models.

For 2019, IWC adds a handful of new models to the popular Pilot’s Watches collection. From a limited-edition Timezoner model and a bronze beauty to a gold tourbillon and a stealth Top Gun edition, there’s a little something for all types of pilot watch fans here. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the view.

With SIHH only a short week away some trends can already be established from the pre-releases of the brands participating. One of them is the continuation of a phenomenon that we have seen develop over the last few years; the rise of watches with a blue dial. In fact, we are getting to the point that we can hardly call it a trend anymore, but more the new normal as blue seems to be here to stay in full force. These blue dial beauties will hit the boutiques in 2019!

They keep on coming! Cartier just announced four amazing limited editions that will join their collection in 2019. They not only highlight La Maison's exceptional finesse when it comes to the shape of watch cases but also their heritage as one of the world's leading jewelers is perfectly showcased.

While many people are gearing up for the holidays, the watchworld is already preparing for the first big event of 2019; the SIHH. While only insiders of the participating brands know exactly what new products will be launched, by now, we can already tell what kind of year it is going to be. We can base this on two things: the pre-released watches, and the ones we already have all the details of, but cannot share yet due to an embargo.

When 2019 has barely started, SIHH is scheduled to open its doors. From January 14th to 18th the exhibiting brands will delight us with the most mesmerizing new creations. Traditionally many of those brands also launch a few new watches before the show. While impressive, they usually keep the real fireworks until the fair itself. Given the very high level of the watches that they have already introduced, 2019 is bound to going to be an amazing year in watches!