Fratello’s Top 5 Dress Watches Of The First Half Of 2025 — Featuring Rolex, Cartier, Patek Philippe, And More

Another Friday, another list. Freshly back from two weeks of holidays, I’d like to properly kick off our overview of the first half of the year. This week, we’ll focus on our five favorite dress watches of 2025 so far. While that may not be the first category you think of, it’s certainly a good one. We have seen a great number of brilliant dress watches that impressed us, which made choosing this category easy. Picking our five favorites, however, was a much harder task.

There have been so many great releases at different price points. In the end, we selected a series of watches from renowned brands. That doesn’t mean we didn’t look at more affordable options, though. Some are so good that you will see them pop up in one of the lists for other categories in the upcoming weeks. For now, this is the list of dress watches that made a lasting impression on all of us. Let’s dive in!

Patek Philippe Calatrava 6196P

Our first pick for the best dress watches of the first half of 2025 was a no-brainer. The Patek Philippe Calatrava 6196P marked the return of the classic Calatrava silhouette to the brand’s collection. It was a bit of a surprise, and as Mike explained, after last year’s double-denim exercise, this relatively simple watch was a breath of fresh air. The follow-up to the long-discontinued Calatrava 5196 was welcomed with open arms. But it was not just a simple continuation of a familiar xx96 series. Quite a few surprising details make the watch stand out even more.

The new 6196P has a 38mm platinum case with a 9.33mm profile and a 44.9mm lug-to-lug. As it is a platinum Patek, it features a diamond set into the case band at 6 o’clock. The familiar three-part case has not changed much in its overall presence and features a polished flat-edge bezel and beautifully brushed case bands. Patek Philippe paired the case with a rose-gilt opaline dial displaying contrasting dark anthracite markers and dauphine hands. This surprise move gives the watch a contemporary relevance. The matte salmon-pink dial and the anthracite details create a beautiful aesthetic that honors the traditional style while bringing a touch of modernity.

The classic Calatrava style executed in a modern way

Patek equips its famous dress watch with the 30‑255 PS caliber. This manual-winding movement operates at 28,800vph, has 27 jewels, and offers a 65-hour power reserve. As we expect from Patek, the movement is beautifully finished and adjusted to five positions.

A chocolate-brown alligator strap with a platinum buckle completes the wonderful aesthetic. That’s not to say the watch wouldn’t also look great on various other straps, though. The new Patek Philippe 6196P, available for €46,800, is a brilliant next step for the classic Calatrava and our immediate first pick as one of the best dress watches of the first half of 2025.

Chopard L.U.C Quattro Mark IV

Our next pick for our favorite dress watches of 2025 so far is, in fact, a pair of them. Chopard presented the two new L.U.C Quattro Mark IV models during Watches and Wonders, and they quickly garnered attention among the brand’s fans. Daan explained that the Chopard L.U.C Quattro Mark IV is available in 18K rose gold and platinum versions. Both watches have a 39mm case with a 10.4mm thickness and a 46.5mm lug-to-lug. The so-called bassine-shaped case is characterized by a bezel wider than the case back. Combined with the heavily curved lugs, it ensures great wearability.

The case features a mix of polished and brushed finishes that increase the watches’ visual appeal. Both versions house a textured brass dial with concentric graining on the minute track. The rose gold version features a dark blue dial, whereas the platinum version comes with an ice-blue dial.

Both dials include a recessed sub-dial at 6 o’clock that contains both the running seconds and a pointer date. In terms of finishing, the sub-dial features a concentric-grained center and a brushed outer ring, with elegant chamfers separating the two. The beautiful beveled dauphine fusée hour and minute hands feature a polished finish and, fittingly, match the color of the case.

The impressive in-house caliber 98.09-L

Inside the case, the watches feature Chopard’s in-house 98.09-L movement. This COSC-chronometer-certified manual-winding caliber operates at 28,800vph, has 34 jewels, and offers a whopping 216 hours of power reserve. As we have come to know from Chopard, the movement is finished beautifully.

It makes it tempting to take the watch off the wrist, admire the movement in a quiet moment, and check the power reserve indicator on the back. But the watches also make a lasting impression on the wrist. We adore the well-proportioned looks of these new Chopard L.U.C Quattro Mark IV models. The rose gold version sells for €41,300, while the platinum version costs €51,400. While they are not particularly affordable, we wholeheartedly feel they are among the best dress watches of the first half of 2025.

Rolex 1908 on the Settimo bracelet

Can the simple addition of a full-gold bracelet justify a spot on the list of best dress watches of 2025 so far? We think it can! The new Settimo bracelet that Rolex introduced during Watches and Wonders received nearly unanimous praise from the press and enthusiasts alike.

The beautifully designed and wonderfully machined bracelet gives the 1908 a stunning look. As Lex explained in his hands-on review, when the Midas touch works, it works wonderfully well. The seven-row gold bracelet has a beautiful retro feel emphasized by the curved end links. This addition truly completes the Rolex 1908, which is why so many fell in love with it.

The 1908 features a 39mm case in yellow gold with a 47mm lug-to-lug, a slim 9.5mm profile, and a coin-edge bezel. It is available with either a white or a black dial, both featuring gold Arabic numerals and stick markers placed inside a railroad minute track. At the 6 o’clock position is the sub-seconds register, and hovering over the dial are the characteristic hands. If you ask me, the layout creates a nicely balanced dial that works best in black. There is something special about the combination of gold and black that works so well.

The automatic in-house Rolex caliber 7140

If you turn the watch around, you can see the slim in-house caliber 7140. The automatic movement operates at 28,800vph, has 38 jewels, and offers 66 hours of power reserve. Additionally, it features a Chronergy escapement with a Syloxi hairspring for optimal resistance to magnetism. As mentioned on the dial, the watch is a Superlative Chronometer, meaning Rolex regulates the caliber to ±2 seconds per day. The Rolex 1908 on the new Settimo bracelet is a wonderful addition to the brand’s lineup. It costs €36,200 and will surely place high on many fans’ year-end lists.

Cartier Tank à Guichets

Our fourth pick is another widely praised release from Watches and Wonders. This year’s Tank à Guichets marked the return of another Cartier classic that die-hard fans love. The brand treated us to four variants, three of which are unlimited (yet hard to get) models in platinum, yellow gold, and rose gold. The fourth is a 200-piece limited edition in platinum with offset hour and minute windows. All four watches have a 24.8mm diameter, a 37.6mm lug-to-lug, and a 6mm thickness.

Cartier equipped these watches with its caliber 9755 MC. As Thomas explained, it is a Cartier adaptation of the Piaget caliber 430P. The caliber runs at 21,600vph and offers 43 hours of power reserve. Cartier modified the movement to enable the jumping hours and scrolling minute displays typical of the Tank à Guichets. Despite the modification, the watch is still super slim thanks to the caliber’s svelte 2.1mm profile. The thinness of the case, combined with the heft of gold and platinum, makes wearing the four watches an absolute joy.

Out of the four models, most of us prefer the yellow gold one with the green accents. That color combo looks simply stunning. Many enthusiasts also agreed that the layout of the 200-piece limited edition is less attractive than the vertical layout of the regular versions. Overall, the Cartier Tank à Guichets models completely disregard the “normal dress watch” label, but they make for a quartet of stylish watches that fit this list perfectly. The platinum LE is most likely sold out despite its US$61,000 price tag. The two regular gold versions cost US$47,700, while the platinum model comes in at US$55,000. Style doesn’t come cheap, but these watches look superb.

Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds

Our last pick for this list is another Fratello favorite and probably easy to guess. We were sold from the moment we laid eyes on the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds in full rose gold. In a year dominated by the Reverso, this brilliant version was the star of the show during Watches and Wonders. The full-gold Reverso follows in the footsteps of gold statement pieces, like Vacheron’s yellow gold Historiques 222 from 2022 and last year’s Piaget Polo 79.

The watch features a well-proportioned pink gold case with a 27.4mm diameter, a 45.6mm length, and a lithe 7.56mm profile. Inside it lies a grained 18K pink gold dial and pink gold polished hands and hour markers. This aesthetic suits the Reverso very well and has plenty of small details to keep it from becoming monotonous.

The brilliant rose gold Milanese bracelet

Completing the monochromatic look is the stunning rose gold Milanese bracelet, which is the star of the show. It feels majestic and is crafted following the traditional method dating back to the 13th century in Milan. The mesh is made from two threads of precious metal twisted together to form a double layer of small, interlocking links. Not only does it look great, but it also wears like a charm thanks to the integrated sliding clasp, as Robert-Jan explained.

Inside the case, Jaeger-LeCoultre uses its hand-wound caliber 822, which is only 2.93mm thick. It’s the go-to movement for the Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds. The manual-winding caliber operates at 21,600vph and has a power reserve of 42 hours. The caliber sits safely hidden within the characteristic flippable Reverso case.

Because this watch is not about the movement, it’s a powerful statement that shows the Reverso works wonderfully well in a full-rose-gold attire. Even at €44,800 (including taxes), it is one of our standouts of 2025. Additionally, this Reverso is the perfect choice to close out our list of favorite dress watches so far this year.

Final thoughts on our favorite dress watches of the first half of 2025

There you have it — our list of five favorites from the first six months of 2025. But, of course, plenty more dress watches could have qualified for this list. Let us know in the comments section what your favorites are. We’ll see you next week with another Top 5 of the first half of this year.