Time waits for no man, they say, a principle that is being sorely tested in 2020 as the impact of Covid-19 continues to be felt around the world. The luxury watch industry is no different. Major players such as Patek Philippe have decided to release nothing until 2021. Both of the industry’s trade shows – Watches & Wonders and Baselworld, set to be held back to back for the first time – have been cancelled, contributing to an already uncertain atmosphere.

Watches & Wonders took the decision to press ahead digitally and on 25 April, 17 brands, including Cartier, IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN, Panerai, Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre, announced their first new models for the year. It was our first chance to see what the horological year would look like. Here are some of the insights we’ve gleaned from what has been announced so far.

We’ve covered watchmaking’s ongoing love affair with unusual materials, from marine bronze to solid sapphire crystal, before. The drive to find new high-tech case materials continues with fervour into 2020. Panerai, in particular, is forging ahead with composites that make carbon fibre look old hat as it celebrates 70 years of its historic Luminor dive watch with a suite of new models. Where once your choices were steel or gold, you now have Carbotech, Fibratech and Goldtech to choose from.

Stealing the show, however, is Roger Dubuis, which released details of the Excalibur Twofold, a watch made from an all-new “ultra-white” silica-based compound named MCF. The watch’s case, strap and skeletonised movement have all been injected with luminous material (including another all-new compound for the strap) to give it a striking appearance both during the day and at night.

When we say practicality, let’s remember this is still the world of fine watches. You can still buy a watch that measures time with tiny tubes filled with liquid or a watch so wafer-thin it’s quite literally unbelievable from Piaget. Nevertheless, watchmakers’ priorities have been more in tune with our everyday needs of late. We’ve seen longer warranties and a focus on improving power-reserve duration, magnetic resistance and efficiency as well as the boundary-pushing horological experimentation.

This year, Panerai has debuted a limited-edition Luminor Marina that boasts a 70-year guarantee (roughly 10 times the industry norm) and, while we’re going to wait until later in the year for the real stars from Jaeger-LeCoultre, it has released an entirely new Master Control collection with 70-hour power reserves and silicon escapements. Our top pick for most user-friendly development comes from IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN, however, which has taken the simple but effective step of introducing a smaller, simpler Portugieser Automatic, which measures a sweet-spot 40mm and revives the six o’clock small seconds dial previously only seen on hand-wound models.

Normally, we would meet with 40 brands over the course of several days at SIHH (rebranded this year as Watches & Wonders) and see hundreds of new watches. This year, the impact of the coronavirus has meant that about a third of those brands are keeping their powder dry for later in the year and of those that have gone ahead with new product launches as planned, most have shown less than normal.

We’re still waiting to see what MB&F, Ressence, Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin, as well as a host of other independent brands, are going to do. Meanwhile, brands such as A Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Montblanc have dialled it down. There are some lovely pieces (Montblanc’s 1858 Geosphere in blue is a definite winner), but the focus is more on mid-price watches and variations on existing models.

This has meant that a few brands have been able to grab more of the limelight. Piaget showed the world a commercially available version of its record-breaking Altiplano Ultimate Concept and Vacheron Constantin has unveiled a host of high complications, including a tourbillon monopusher chronograph and some groundbreaking creations from its bespoke Atelier Cabinotiers, as well as this showstopping Overseas Perpetual Calendar Skeleton.

It’s no revelation that the watch world has belatedly embraced the idea of bold colours and expanded personal choice across the board. That continues with red and green Portugieser chronographs from IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN, a rich brown Fiftysix from Vacheron Constantin and some very 1980s combinations of green dials and yellow gold cases from Montblanc’s Heritage line.

Of the rainbow of dial trends we’ve seen in the past few years, blue has emerged as the firm favourite and become nearly ubiquitous. One very particular blue look is rising above the rest, however – a dark indigo blue, preferably deployed with a gradient-style fade. We’ve already namechecked Montblanc’s new Geosphere, which is one of the finest examples. See also last year’s Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris and the newly released Panerai Luminor Marina Fibratech.

It’s a bit early in the year – or rather, we’ve seen so much less than we normally would – to say whether certain types of watches are going to have a moment. Last year was a big one for perpetual calendars and GMT watches. So far in 2020, there are fewer ambitious complications among the new releases (with the notable exception of IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN’s unusual tide time tracker in the Portugieser Yacht Club Moon & Tide chronograph).

What we can say is that, in the absence of a sudden vogue for bi-retrograde displays or digital display minute repeaters, it looks like being another strong year for everyone’s favourite, the chronograph. The aforementioned efforts from Vacheron Constantin and IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN are well worth the effort, and away from Watches & Wonders we have the new Breitling Chronomat, a watch we’ll most likely be returning to in more detail before long. The brand arguably committing to new and exciting chronographs with most gusto is Montblanc. Alongside a new look for the 1858 Split Second, a new Heritage Monopusher and Heritage Pulsograph is this 1858 Monopusher with a wonderful black and beige dial design.