BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
We have loads of fun here at WristReview, where we nerd out over watches, take photos of them, interview the people responsible for them and get to chat with our audience in the comments section. But, as you know, we keep track of all of our visitors and viewers when they visit WristReview. We do this so we can get a clear picture of the content that resonates well with the audience and which topics are the most interacted with. Of course, viewership numbers don’t necessarily indicate sentiment. Lots of people really dislike the direction that Swatch is taking by partnering with established brands and remaking their most famous watches at a lower price. However, those articles are still read by a lot of people, and without asking you to fill out an inconvenient survey each time, it’s difficult for us to establish exactly whether you like something or are just reading it to pass the time.
Despite this, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve had another tremendous year. In 2023, we had 16.7m visits to the site and 68.3m page views, a new record!
We’ve also been amazed by how many times people commented on our work, we’ve had 8,951 comments on our articles this year according to metrics from Disqus, which just goes to show how much people love to talk about this amazing passion.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s list the most popular articles of 2023. Were there any surprises for you? There were for us!
IWC’s Pilot’s Watch is a classic in the watch community; it has good looks, it’s functional, and it appeals to many styles thanks to its industrial-esque nature. The new Performance Chronograph models are dashing and modern, losing some of the B-Uhr inspiration from their design but gaining a new elegance. Also, this article was published in November and was one of our most popular which speaks to the level of IWC’s popularity.
9 – Introducing The Re-designed Breitling Avenger Watch Collection For 2023
Another hit for November is our summary of the re-designed Breitling Avenger collection. These watches are timeless classics, but you don’t see them in watch forums too often. I expect they are more appealing to people who don’t buy watches for their horological value, but instead want a high-quality Swiss watch like their father may have had. I also said the three-hander was my favourite, but having seen some more photos of it the chronograph is becoming quite appealing to me. In fact, I’d say Breitling has had one of its best years yet in terms of design.
8 – Rolex Daytona Highlights at Watches & Wonders 2023
Some of you really didn’t like that we put the Daytona in our Top 10 Watches of 2023 list article, but we loved the changes they made, such as the addition of the protective metal ring around the ceramic bezel and the new movement, which is on display in some of the Daytona models. Jovan won out in the decision of which Daytona goes on our list (the white gold is really cool), but I thought the two-tone Daytonas looked the best. Then again, I’ve thought that for a long time, a two-tone Zenith-powered Daytona is a personal goal of mine, although these new ones are making that difficult.
7 – IWC Unveils The New Ingenieur Automatic 40 Watches
Another Watches & Wonders hit for us was the release of IWC’s new Ingenieur. The name Ingenieur (or engineer’s watch) is a classic in the IWC range but the watch has been re-designed to fit the current trends a number of times. This latest one is a fantastic watch to behold, I loved the design and quality of the piece when I saw it in Geneva earlier this year. Although, like so many of you, I was quite surprised by the retail price of the piece, the new in-house movement inside was reassuring, as was the choice of three dials for the stainless steel version as well as a titanium piece.
6 – Introducing The Blancpain x Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms Watches
Perhaps the most controversial release of the year is the Blancpain x Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms watch, a colourful and affordable version of the surprisingly expensive Blancpain Fifty Fathoms diving watch. I’m not saying that Blancpain’s prices are too high, but it’s understandable that this left some Blancpain owners on the fence as people could get a watch that looked quite a lot like theirs for under $500. But the Blancpain name isn’t a particularly recognisable one, so maybe this will go some way to spreading the word about this fantastic company.
5 – Hands-On: Glashütte Original Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2023 Watch
It’s not the first hands-on article on our list so far, technically, but it is the first one named as such. We liked the Sixties Chronograph a lot, and it ended up on our recent Top 10 Watches from 2023 list. When reading through the comments it appears that you really liked this one, too, so much that you came back to it and read it a lot. The dial, movement and overall look make this a very appealing piece, and the price point of under $10,000 just seals the deal.
4 – Rolex GMT-Master II Highlights at Watches & Wonders 2023
The GMT-Master II is one of our favourite Rolex models. In fact, it’s probably everyone’s favourite. The choices of bezel colours and metals and bracelets make these extremely versatile, and the appeal from the vintage watches Rolex produced decades ago bolsters their reputation today. The GMT-Master II has missed having a solid gold version on the iconic Jubilee bracelet for decades, until now that is, as we got both a solid 18k yellow gold and an 18k yellow gold Rolesor (two-tone) version with some delicious hands-on samples to see in Geneva. The yellow gold was my favourite Rolex release this year I think, and it’s easy to see why.
3 – WristReview’s Top 10 Glashütte Original Watches
Glashütte Original has been a popular one for you guys this year, it seems; our countdown list of the top 10 best models from them resonated with our readers. That article has a hundred comments on it at the time of writing this list, about five times more than articles usually get, so it’s clear you readers were very impressed with the Glashütte Original lineup. Considering the prices that Glashütte Original charges for its watches in comparison to other manufacturers of their calibre, you’d think that there’s something wrong with their watches. There isn’t; they’re just offering you a better deal instead.
2 – Introducing The Oris AquisPro 4000m Watch
Oris is a brand that’s very well-loved by the watch community. You guys generally shower their watches with praise when we talk about them. But, at the same time, you also give honest feedback about the designs and your experiences with their watches. Case in point, this was our second most-read article of the year, but the comments we did get weren’t particularly charitable about it, mostly due to the enormous proportions and questions regarding availability. I quite liked it; although it’s definitely a beast, I think it would be right at home rubbing shoulders with an Omega Seamaster PloProf.
1 – WristReview’s Top 5 Rolex Watches For 2023
Unsurprisingly, our most read piece was a Top 5 list article, those always do extremely well for us and have been a mainstay of our “most popular articles” lists for some time. Also, while we love watches of all kinds, Rolex is the name that resonates the most with readers. There were some stunning and unexpected models this year, such as the Oyster Perpetual “Celebration” motif and the Day-Date “Jigsaw” motif models. We also saw the Yacht-Master come storming back into focus with a 42mm titanium model, the newly-refreshed Daytona and GMT-Master II models mentioned above, and the all-new Perpetual 1908 dress watch, which takes Rolex above and beyond anything they could’ve done with the Cellini watches. With so much to offer, it’s understandable that the Rolex lineup got the most attention this year.
We’d love to thank each and every one of you for following WristReview in 2023. Whether you’re new to our website or you’ve been faithful for years, we really appreciate that you take the time to read our content and generate a positive, welcoming discussion in the comments section of every article. We wish you, your family and your friends a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024.
