Fratello’s Top 5 Most Surprising Watches Of The First Half Of 2025 — Featuring Richard Mille, Louis Vuitton, And More

Another Friday, another list! This week, our series of lists covering the best watches of the first half of the year comes to an end. We have reviewed the main categories over the past few weeks and will conclude our recap with our five most surprising watches of the first six months of 2025. We’ve seen several releases that surprised us for different reasons. Let’s find out which five left the biggest impressions on us!

Sartory Billard By Studio Underd0g SB05 Sunfl0wer

Right before Watches and Wonders started, Sartory Billard and Studio Underd0g released one of the most exciting watches of that release-studded week. As I explained in the article, the SB05 Sunfl0wer broke new ground for both brands. The concept behind this 10-piece limited edition is actually quite simple. Studio Underd0g founder Richard Benc wanted to create a sunflower dial, and Sartory Billard was the company to make that happen. The brand has a reputation for creating and collaborating on some of the industry’s most impressive dials. A great example is the duo of Sartory Billard SB07 models with maki-e dials I reviewed last year.

Sartory Billard’s SB05 is the canvas for the Sunfl0wer. The modern dress watch has a 38mm by 8.5mm case that comes courtesy of Voutilainen & Cattin SA. The curvy silhouette looks wonderful and is the perfect backdrop for the unique-looking sunflower-inspired dial. It features a grand-grain guilloché pattern with a brown “seed-filled” center and a gold outer portion.

The latter features 24 evenly spaced petals containing y-shaped parts, which are a Sartory Billard signature element. For some visual trickery, the golden hour markers and minute track are printed on a sapphire disk that floats above the periphery of the dial. If you zoom in, you will see that the minute markers continue until they hit the golden ring that divides the dial’s two main dial sectors.

The SMB01 movement by La Joux-Perret

Hovering over the center are the two-piece hour and minute hands. They both feature a green base and a silver-colored main portion to correspond with the small seconds hand, small seconds sub-dial ring, and two brand-name tags. Finishing the sunflower look in style is a green Epsom calfskin strap from The Strap Tailor. If you turn the watch around, you get a good view of the caliber SMB01 that comes courtesy of La Joux-Perret.

The manual-winding caliber is based on the La Joux-Perret 7380 and made exclusively for Sartory Billard. It operates at 21,600vph, has 21 jewels, and offers 90 hours of power reserve. It is a great caliber for an even greater watch. It’s not the first or the only Studio Underd0g collaborative effort this year, but it is the one that surprised us the most. It looks absolutely wonderful and is based on such a simple but effective concept. Sartory Billard and Studio Underd0g produced 10 of these SB05 Sunfl0wer models that have long sold out. But that doesn’t take anything away from this release’s pure brilliance.

Richard Mille RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat Terracotta Quartz TPT

If you had told me that I would be intrigued by a brick-colored watch at the beginning of the year, I would have surely laughed. But barely a month later, there it was, the Richard Mille RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat made from Terracotta Quartz TPT. The watch was part of a duo of RM 16-02 releases that brought back the RM 16 silhouette. It was first released in 2007 as Richard Mille’s first rectangular watch. Almost two decades on, the design proves to be just as relevant. Having said that, it was updated to fit today’s watch landscape.

The first of the two models is the more conventional titanium one fitted with a cream-colored strap. While certainly modern, it isn’t nearly as impactful as its brick-colored counterpart. The 36mm × 45.64mm × 9.5mm case is made of quartz TPT in a terracotta tone. The case front and back are created by layering 45-micron silica threads at 45º angles in a colored matrix. After that, it is heated, pressurized, milled, and connected to a creamy white quartz TPT case middle.

As a result, the watch immediately stands out because of its colors. Initially, the shape stood out to me as I recognized the RM 16, of course, but after that, it hit me that the terracotta/brick color is one we hardly ever see in watches. Richard Mille actually created a brick-inspired watch, and although it took some time to sink in, I like it a lot!

The new Richard Mille CRMA9 movement

The brand’s wonderful new CRMA9 matches the case’s unique presence. The open movement uses a rectangular titanium baseplate to match the case shape. As you can see, the caliber looks like a modern labyrinth of elements due to the 67 chamfered openings in the baseplate.

The bridges are made from colored titanium, and the caliber features a unique angular platinum winding rotor. This movement operates at 28,800vph and offers 50 hours of power reserve. A beautiful detail is the sapphire crystal on top of the movement, which has cut-off numerals and an angular line connecting them.

It’s a futuristic creation that stands out immediately. When I first saw this Richard Mille RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat Terracotta Quartz TPT, I had to let it sink in for a bit. But now, six months later, I can say that my initial surprise was replaced by admiration for this €225,000 timepiece.

Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence Pink Gold

For a far more traditional but equally eye-catching timepiece, we go to the wonderful Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence Pink Gold. As Thomas explained, it’s not often that a watch properly surprises us. In general, new watches fit certain categories with specific expectations. But the Tambour Convergence managed to surprise us with its montre à guichet layout. This watch was released in pink gold and platinum. The latter version is snow-set with diamonds, making it slightly too blingy for our tastes. But the pink gold model was truly a nice surprise.

The French term montre à guichet loosely translates to “window watch.” But the way brands create a “window” layout can differ tremendously. The most famous is, without a doubt, the Cartier Tank à Guichets. It uses different apertures to display the time digitally, which is the most common way to do it.

But this Tambour Convergence takes a different approach. At the top, you see two apertures that display the hours and minutes. The hours are displayed on the outer disc that continuously rotates slowly. The minutes are displayed below the hours thanks to a smaller rotating disc. But there is a way of reading the time that might surprise you, or at least takes some time to get used to.

A surprising way of reading the time

As Thomas explained, a watch like this can display the hours in two ways. By reversing the caliber inside the case, the time progresses forward. The second way is to leave the direction as standard and simply reverse the hours on the rotating disc compared to how they would sit on a traditional dial.

This is the option that the watchmakers at Louis Vuitton chose, creating a different way of reading the time. This means that, for instance, at 10:30, the lozenge-shaped marker sits behind the 10 rather than ahead of it. Despite the different way of displaying the time, the numerals for the upcoming and past hour are always visible and will help you out, making reading the time easier.

The new caliber LFT MA01.01 is responsible for making this watchmaking magic happen. The automatic movement operates at 28,800vph and offers 45 hours of power reserve. It is visible through the sapphire display on the case back and comes equipped with a free-sprung balance and an 18K gold oscillating weight.

The newly developed caliber is housed in a beautifully elegant 37mm × 8mm pink gold case full of wonderful details. Both its shape, with its elegant lugs, and the finishing had us gazing in amazement at this special watch. It truly is a wonderful display of the brilliant watchmaking skills of the team at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, resulting in one of the nicest surprises of this year so far.

Laventure Marine Type 3

When Clément Gaud announced his Laventure Marine Type 3, I wasn’t necessarily impressed at first. I am a big fan of Gaud’s past creations, as some of you might know. In particular, the Transatlantique GMT is a favorite of mine. Unlike yours truly, Daan was immediately a fan of this new Laventure Marine Type 3 that was inspired by the marine chronometers used on ships to determine their position in combination with celestial navigation. You can clearly see that Gaud used the specific design language to redesign the Marine case and come up with a new dial.

For me, the dial causes the initial doubts. For his previous models, Gaud showed an incredible eye for detail when creating his Laventure dials. The visual balance, the beautiful intricacies, and the overall retro vibes led to some of the best dials in the industry.

For this new dial, the balance seemed off, and I initially thought it was too simple for me. While not every watch a brand makes can be a personal favorite, I should have known better because, once we got the watches in for review, it didn’t take long before Daan, Lex, and I were smitten by the look of the white-lume-dial variant on the mint-green rubber strap.

A full-lume dial for big smiles

The lightweight Grade 23 titanium case measures 38mm in diameter, making it a perfect fit for a wide variety of wrist sizes. But what makes it even better is its slender 8.9mm profile with the 2.3mm-thick domed Plexiglas crystal on top, which adds a ton of character.

It also protects the full-lume dial that is a joy to see come to life as soon as it gets a bit darker. At first, I found the dial too small compared to the wide and flat bezel. Thankfully, that feeling quickly dissipated, and love for a beautiful tool-watch dial set in. Hovering above the dial is the sandblasted matte black handset. There is another one of those details that I adore. The hands contrast nicely with the dial, but examine them up close, and you will see the texture and great detail that they have.

Inside the case, Laventure introduces its caliber 4, a highly customized Sellita SW300-1 automatic movement. It operates at 28,800vph, features 25 jewels, and, thanks to an optimized barrel, has a power reserve of 56 hours. Thanks to a clever mix of finishes and a layer of 3N gold, the plates, bridges, and skeletonized rotor get some extra visual pizzazz.

You won’t see that, though, because the movement, protected by a soft-iron cage, is also covered by the watch’s all-metal back. But you won’t need the visual confirmation of the caliber to find out how good this new Laventure Marine Type 3 is. Just ask Daan, Lex, or yours truly, and we will happily explain it.

Hermès Arceau Rocabar de Rire

The watch that was probably the most surprising but also the most fun in the first half of the year was the Hermès Arceau Rocabar de Rire. If you know about this model, you are aware of how much fun it is. And if you don’t, one quick look at the dial will tell you why we lovingly renamed the watch “Licky The Horse” here at Fratello. Whoever imagined creating a version of the Hermès Arceau with a special dial with the image of a horse that can mechanically stick its tongue out needs a raise immediately. The playfulness of this dial is a breath of fresh air in this serious world of horology.

The dial is housed inside a 41mm white gold or rose gold Arceau case that we recognize immediately by its round shape and distinct lugs. The horse on the dial was modeled after Dimitri Rybaltchenko’s Rocabar de Rire striped scarf. The scarf was introduced in 2023 and is made of a mix of cashmere and silk in different color combinations, as Daan explained. On the scarf, you will find the brown horse that sticks its tongue out while looking over its shoulder.

The whimsical dial of “Licky The Horse”

That image was recreated on the dial. But instead of a static depiction of the horse, Hermès decided to animate it. The watch has a pusher at 9 o’clock that makes the horse stick its tongue out repeatedly. Just one click of the pusher will have you laughing out loud, and it is hard not to click it again and again. It’s such a lighthearted but brilliant mechanical animation that has brought us a ton of fun. The watch still pops up in many conversations to this day, showing its impact on the Fratello team.

Hermès will only produce 12 pieces of this watch. If you want one, you can choose between a blue or green dial with colorful stripes. Just look at the incredible detail of the backdrop for Licky. It’s a proper piece of art. Inside the case, Hermès equips the watch with its automatic H1837 movement.

It’s the same caliber that also powers the Arceau Le Temps Suspendu. It operates at 28,800vph and offers 50 hours of power reserve. That’s plenty of power to have fun with the animated horse on the dial. But “Licky” doesn’t come cheap, as it is priced at €163,000 in white gold and €168,000 in rose gold. But what you get in return is priceless, unadulterated fun.

Final thoughts on the most surprising watches of the first half of 2025

There you have it — our five picks for the most surprising watches that came out in the first six months of 2025. This is the perfect ending to the series of lists highlighting the best releases of the year so far. All of the watches featured certainly had their impact on the Fratello team, but I want to turn the question to you. What are some of the biggest surprises of this year so far? Let us know in the comments section, and we will see you again for a new list next week.