Best of the Best: 12 of the Most Innovative Timepieces of 2018

Swiss watchmakers have spent a full decade refining their classic models. In 2018, the Best of the Best watches are those that have broken through this paradigm with creativity. This year Bulgari imbued its Octo Finissimo watches—simple and complicated—with a new aesthetic that may be the most striking thing they have ever done for men. We were so impressed, we voted in the whole collection. On the women’s side, Van Cleef and Arpels did (for the second year in a row) what no other company does—use complicated watchmaking in a completely original way to charm everyone who sees the watch. Both companies made huge bets on creativity. Let the others try to match them.