Another year comes to a close. As we are just about to greet the new year, we reflect on what you, our reader told us what you loved about the work we churned out in 2025. Here are the Top 10.
Top 10 most popular posts of 2025
And in order of the highest view counts first, here is the list.
1. Casio Mechanical Watch – the Edifice EFK 100 – Press Release with commentary
Surprise surprise. The news release with our commentary of the first ever mechanical watch by Casio takes the top position. This is a remarkable watch. Beautiful to a fault. Excellent precision, superb build quality, and at a budget price. Casio showed the way that nice watches does not need to be expensive.
The only nitpick we had on this watch? That the movement could have been an in-house developed and manufactured one, instead of the Seiko movement chosen. Casio certainly has the financial prowess to manage this. Perhaps it is a stick in the mud to see if a mechanical movement will be well received. And with this top article, Casio has the answer.
2. Citizen JDM Watches: 7 new watches to buy now, from the Tokyo Flagship Boutique with video
I made a trip to Tokyo to visit Citizen and made this video when I was in the Flagship Boutique in Ginza 6. In it, I explored the 7 new watches which was available to purchase in that store. This was a fun video to make, and I am grateful that it has received great reception.
3. The hands on review with video of the Casio Edifice EFK 100
There seems to be a very strong signal on this very first Casio mechanical watch. Not only is the news announcement and our commentary became the top viewed article for the year, the full hands on review of the same watch with our video on it settled on position no 3.
4. Review: Grand Seiko SLGQ007 Moonlit Birch
A beautiful, magnificent watch, embodying all the wonderful characteristics of Grand Seiko. Grand Seiko has come a long way from its early, almost tentative entry into the world market. This, even after decades of high success within the domestic Japanese market.
But now, Grand Seiko is going full swing. Under the leadership of Seiko CEO Akio Naito and also Muneshisa Shibasaki as Global President of Grand Seiko, it is no longer the new boy on the block. It is now one of the established watch brands to include in every important collection.
5. Listicle: Peter’s Favourite travel watches
Compared to previous years, where listicles top the list, position no 5 is the first listicle this year. That is, if we do not count the Citizen JDM boutique video and writeup to be a listicle. And the topic is one which focuses on useful complications. Travel watches offer that additional complicated watchmaking to satisfy our mechanical fascination, and yet is functional.
6. Tissot COSC Ballade
The first Swiss made watch to make the list. Tissot’s Ballade is not only a stunningly beautiful watch, it now carries the qualification of being COSC certified.
The Ballade is powered by teh Powermatic mechanical movement, now with COSC certification. This is the first time a mechanical movement has been used in the collection, with the previous models being only offered with quartz movements.
7. Citizen Atessa Platinum Shine
A more detailed coverage of the Citizen Atessa Platinum Shine with the release notes and our commentary. The Atessa range has found itself into the hearts of the writers in Deployant, with Stanley and Robin waxing lyrical about the ease of use and precision as well as the build quality. Chester also joined in to echo these sentiments, and also bought two Atessa as proof of his love for the series.
GPS or Radio controlling the solar powered quartz movement. It is the best set it and forget it and still reference level timekeeping, coupled with the convenience of being able to show local time as well as home time globally. The series combines the top Citizen technology – GPS, solar, quartz in titanium cases and bracelets to present an exceptional watch with strong value for money proposition.
8. DeepSeek picks the perfect 6 watch collection with commentary
AI picks closed the 2024 list in position 10, and for 2025, it inches up to position 8. We ask the Chinese AI engine to pick a 6 watch collection, and the result is rather interesting. Robin discusses the picks, which were not totally surprising. Though DeepSeek’s rationalising for their selection is quite interesting, and not provided by the American AI bots like Meta AI and ChatGPT.
9. Citizen New Fall Winter releases
Another press release with commentary in position 9. This shows how strong the interest in Citizen watches have been this year. And why we are so bullish about this giant emerging from its slumber. We are seeing some very exciting watches coming from Citizen for 2026, and will keep you up to date with the latest.
This series is so enthralling, that I bought one for myself, and now am the proud owner of the AQ4100-22A in Duratech Platinum with a washi paper dial impregnated with platinum leaf applied by hand. Full ownership review coming.
10. Tissot PRC 100 Solar
Another strong showing from Tissot. The watch is a fascinating blend of tech and design. The solar power panels are integrated into the sapphire crystals, and can be seen as a matrix of hexagons below the underside. And at just USD 450, it is an an excellent value for the money.
Concluding thoughts
So this completes the list. Here are our observations. You told us what you loved about this year’s articles, as an indication on what you want to read more about. As usual we will strive to deliver. Japanese watch brands feature strongly in this Top 10 list. In fact in the Top 20, only one article on secondary brands from top independents was the only non Japanese on the list…and even then, Kurono Tokyo featured on that list. ! And there seems to be little preference on whether it is delivered as a news style announcement with our usual commentary in italics, or a full hands on review with our own photography and video.
Perhaps this is a sign of the times, but the top articles are all modestly priced. When we began Deployant some 11 years ago, the top articles were the mega-buck independent watchmakers. And detailed reviews and photography. Looks like the sentiments have shifted. And we hear you. We will move accordingly. But we will also not abandon the high end, especially independents. This is where our passion lies, and we will continue to cover these maisons in the depth you are used to.
We are extremely grateful for your readership, and truly appreciate every read, like, comment. Yes, even those comments which are not very kind, we take it all. As you may have noticed, we do not delete negative comments. We read them, hurt a little, but pick up what we can learn from those feedback and move on. With that, onward to 2026!
