The Top 10 Watches of the 2010s

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New watches come out every year. Some have been anticipated for a long time, while others come as complete surprises. In the past decade, we’ve had those, and more.

It was a decade that gave us new classics — watches that would go on to define their category, or become landmark pieces of their brands, it’s hard to imagine they were created just years ago.

Here are our picks for the best watches of the 2010s, or ones that we think will set the standard for this decade’s timepieces:

The Tudor Heritage Black Bay is one of the most successful dive watches introduced during the decade. Tudor had been rebuilding their brand with a very clear strategy: to look into their iconic styles for inspiration and combine them with modern design and technology.

The Tudor Heritage Black Bay took the brand’s most memorable vintage elements (not from one watch, but from many), and with a harmonious combination, was able to capture Tudor’s heritage in a modern timepiece. Launched in Baselworld 2012, the Heritage Black Bay was a hit from day one, and was followed by successful iterations in the following years.

In 2005, Rolex launched the trailblazing Cerachrom – their patented ceramic production technology that makes bezels virtually scratch- and fade-proof. Used in their sports watches, they hit a wall with the bi-colored bezel of the GMT-Master, which was deemed impossible to produce with a single piece of ceramic.By 2013, Rolex outdid themselves with the first GMT-Master model to be equipped with a Cerachrom bezel: the Rolex GMT Master || “Batman” Blue Black Bezel Watch. Rolex uses a patented process to produce a bi-color, single ceramic ring, with no bleeding of color and gradual fading.

This wasn’t the first time that Rolex has used the Cerachrom on the Daytona (that honor belongs to the Platinum 50^th Anniversary Daytona 116506), but this was the watch that fans have been waiting for.

The ref 116500LN has the same technical capabilities as its predecessor, the stainless steel Rolex Daytona, but the use of the Cerachrom made it less prone to scratching and fading and gave it an edgier look. The ref 116500LN became the most talked about watch of 2016 and has a very long waiting list until today.

The Rolex “Pepsi” Blue Red Bezel Watch has always been on the must-have list of collectors, but in 2018, Rolex offered them what they have been waiting for, for a long time: the return of the Pepsi in stainless steel.

Not only did Rolex bring back the metal, it also resurrected the Jubilee bracelet in the GMT-Master line, which was last seen in vintage models. The 2018 Pepsi also introduced what seems to be Rolex’s strategy of making their tool watches more luxurious – last year, we’ve also seen the new GMT-Master II Batman don the Jubilee and the Sea-Dweller in a Rolesor steel and yellow gold model.