The Best Vintage-Inspired Watches of 2025

If 2024 showed that vintage design is still popular, 2025 proves it can still surprise us. While watchmakers continue to explore new materials and bold designs, vintage inspiration remains a significant creative influence. From Art Deco digital revivals to post-war classics, this year brought many exciting re-editions. Here are our picks for the six best vintage-inspired watches of 2025. When history is revisited with care and finesse, it never goes out of style.

Cartier Tank a Guichets Prive Collection

Among Cartier’s many shaped icons, this digital-display Tank from 1928 stands apart for its minimalism and mystery: a solid metal façade punctuated only by two apertures for the jumping hours and dragging minutes. For 2025, the Cartier Privé collection revives it in four versions: yellow gold with green accents, rose gold with grey, and platinum with burgundy, plus a limited 200-piece platinum model that twists the apertures diagonally across the case. All remain compact, measuring 24.8mm x 37.6mm x 6mm, powered by the new hand-wound Calibre 9755 MC, featuring improved jump stability. The case keeps the original 1928 design, with the crown at 12 o’clock, a vertically brushed top plate, and brancards that blend into the case. It is sleek, mysterious, and clearly Cartier.

For more details, read our article on the Cartier Tank à Guichets here.

Chronoswiss Neo Digiteur

Another digital display watch, a modern take on the brand’s 2005 Montre sans Aiguilles (“watch without hands”), resurrects the digital-jumping-hour format, refined here for the 21st century. The rectangular 48mm x 30mm steel case combines satin and polished finishes, with sandblasted sides and screw-in lugs that soften its shape. Time appears through three windows: jumping hours at 12, dragging minutes in the centre, and running seconds at 6. There are two versions: the industrial-looking Granit with an anthracite dial and blue numbers, and the warmer Sand with a gold-toned dial and navy numbers. The hand-wound Calibre C.85757 is based on a Peseux movement but has been heavily reworked in-house with a special jumping-hour module. It features hand-guilloché bridges, gold-plated wheels, and radial Côtes de Genève decoration. Limited to 99 pieces per version, the Neo Digiteur is bold, niche, and utterly engaging.

Discover more about the Chronoswiss Neo Digiteur in our story here.

Longines Ultra-Chron Classic 37mm

After the Diver model in 2022, this faithful remake of the 1967 high-frequency Ultra-Chron returns in a compact and period-accurate 37mm case. The design stays true to the original, with sharp 1960s lines, a crosshair dial, a trapezoidal date window, and black-lacquered markers on a domed silver sunburst dial. The multi-link bracelet and box sapphire crystal add to the vintage look. What makes the Ultra-Chron special is inside: the 5Hz (36,000vph) Calibre L836.6, a certified Ultra-Chronometer tested by TIMELAB in Geneva to ISO 3159 standards. It has a silicon balance spring and a 52-hour power reserve, staying true to the original’s focus on precision. Of the two sizes launched, the 37mm version feels most authentic. It is elegant, well-proportioned, and faithful even in its typography. Longines brings the past back and improves on it.

Read our complete review of the Longines Ultra-Chron Classic here.

Omega Seamaster 37mm Milano Cortina 2026

This 37mm Moonshine Gold edition is inspired by the 1956 Seamaster XVI “Cross of Merit” and the 2008 Seamaster XXIX. It brings back the “dog-leg” lugs and the mid-century style of the earlier models. The polished gold case and domed white Grand Feu enamel dial give the watch a vintage look. Gold markers, dauphine hands, and the classic “Seamaster” script reflect the 1950s style, while the solid caseback features a Milano Cortina 2026 logo. The watch runs on the Master Chronometer-certified Calibre 8807, which resists magnetic fields up to 15,000 gauss and offers a 55-hour power reserve. Even with its Olympic link, the design stays classic, with no colored rings or extra logos on the dial, just timeless style. This is a beautifully understated commemorative watch and one of Omega’s most elegant modern Seamasters.

Explore the Omega Seamaster 37mm Milano Cortina 2026 in our full feature here.

Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 in Steel

Few returns were as eagerly awaited as Vacheron Constantin’s Historiques 222 in steel, following the full gold model. First released in 1977 for the brand’s 222nd anniversary, the 222 was Vacheron’s response to the era of integrated sports watches like the Royal Oak and Nautilus. Measuring 37mm x 7.95mm, it matches the original’s size but adds a sapphire back, a more comfortable bracelet, and updated finishing. The blue matte dial recalls the early steel versions, with gold hands and a yellow-gold Maltese Cross at 5 o’clock. The watch is powered by the in-house Calibre 2455/2, a Geneva Seal automatic movement with a gold rotor, quick-set date, and 28,800 vibrations/hour operating frequency. The integrated bracelet, brushed and polished, fits smoothly from case to wrist. This elegant sports watch reflects the confident style of the 1970s and meets today’s standards for precision and quality.

Read our review of the Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 in steel here.

Zenith G.F.J. Calibre 135

Of all the 2025 tributes to watchmaking history, few are as meaningful as Zenith’s revival of its famous Calibre 135. The new G.F.J. watch, named for Georges Favre-Jacot, honours the most awarded chronometer movement of the 20th century, now re-engineered with impressive accuracy. The 39mm platinum case holds a blue dial with many textures: a lapis lazuli centre, a guilloché outer ring, and a mother-of-pearl small seconds. The real highlight is the movement, a careful recreation of the 1948 Calibre 135, now with a large balance, a swan-neck regulator, a Bioflex mainspring, a 72-hour reserve, hacking seconds, and COSC certification. The decoration is outstanding, with “brick” guilloché bridges inspired by Zenith’s Le Locle workshop, mirror-polished wheels, and fine anglage throughout. Only 160 pieces will be made, making the G.F.J. Calibre 135 a true link between past skill and modern watchmaking.

See our full story on the Zenith G.F.J. Calibre 135 here.