One of the surprise hits of this year’s Watches and Wonders – and arguably the biggest surprise of the entire year for watch fans – was the Rolex Day-Date “Jigsaw”, also known as the “Emoji” or “Puzzle” watch. It featured an enamel dial featuring a jigsaw puzzle motif, paired with sapphire baguette markers. And instead of the usual day and date, feelgood buzzwords and emojis respectively. One of the first people seen with one publicly was retired NFL quarterback and Goat contender Mr Tom Brady. The appearance of the showstopper watch was all the more eye-catching, coming as it did as Brady attended a football match between English Championship football teams Birmingham City and Leeds United. Brady became a shareholder in Birmingham City earlier this year, but even so, a mid-table, second-tier league clash is unfamiliar territory for such bling. It also confirmed that Brady’s IWC Schaffhausen days are long behind him.

Easily taking the title for “best watch sighting in outer space”, Saudi astronaut Mr Ali AlQarni made waves among watch fans when he photographed his Rolex floating in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station. AlQarni, who flew to the ISS as a Mission Specialist for the privately funded Axiom Mission 2 in May, spent eight days in low Earth orbit researching cancer treatments and cloud seeding in microgravity. During his time in space, he even found a moment to photograph the stainless-steel watch (originally designed for transatlantic flight) against the background of our planet. What a show-off.

Rolex rebooted its classical line of watches this year, with the introduction of the 1908 collection, a nod to when Mr Hans Wilsdorf registered the Crown’s brand name (he founded the company in 1905, under the name Wilsdorf and Davis). The first new watch released was the 1908 Perpetual, a dress watch with design cues taken from a 1931 Rolex with self-winding “Perpetual” movement. At the 2023 Met Gala, tennis legend, Rolex Testimonee and all-round good guy Mr Roger Federer had the honour of being the first person to been seen with one. The black dial version in 18kt white gold paired nicely with his tuxedo. Not a Met Gala look to turn heads, unless your eagle eyes were on his wrist. In contrast, we also have…

Mr Brad Pitt’s last big move in the watch world was taking a leading role in Breitling’s self-titled “Actor Squad”, a troupe of four brand ambassadors from the silver screen (alongside Ms Charlize Theron, Mr Daniel Wu and Mr Adam Driver). He made arguably the biggest buzz of the year, for watch-obsessives, when he started stepping out in Vacheron Constantin’s 2022 reissue of its much-loved late-1970s icon, the 222. First spotted wearing the revived 222 in yellow gold, he really broke the internet at the Men’s Singles final at Wimbledon, when it was noticed he was wearing a vintage 222 in stainless steel. It would appear he fell in love with the design of the reissue and had an urge to buy an older model as well.

We all got behind Barbenheimer as one of the cultural happenings of 2023, even if we did know it was simply savvy marketing. But in its own right, Ms Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was probably the biggest cinematic surprise of 2023, and to take nothing away from Ms Margot Robbie’s title role, we were also heavily invested in Mr Ryan Gosling’s Ken. Even the press appearances were iconic, as Gosling brought his best “Who, me?” deadpan expressions to a pastel-pink suit. On his wrist was a 36mm TAG Heuer Carrera 5 date in the more vibrant shade of hot pink. Released earlier this year, it was an opportunity too good to miss.

The first official painted portrait of King Charles III was unveiled in March. It showed the newly anointed monarch, in a navy pinstripe suit, with his left hand in a jacket pocket. Two items adorned his wrist. The first was a bracelet given to him by Amazon indigenous leader Mr Domingo Peas in February. The second was his wristwatch, a gold Parmigiani Toric chronograph, which has been the King’s regular watch for several years now. This wasn’t a new spot, a hype watch or a social-media flex (can you imagine?), but the fact that this niche haute horlogerie brand made it into the first portrait of a new British monarch in more than 70 years says a lot.