1. Tennis and watch greats at Wimbledon

Meanwhile, Czech player Markéta Vondroušová became the first unseeded player to triumph in Wimbledon on the women’s side, besting Ons Jabeur in a decisive fashion. Though Vondroušová went watchless for her big win, it was pieces like Alcaraz’s yellow-gold meteorite dial Rolex Daytona that made the weekend for us, almost as much as the tennis.

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Other former grand slam champions showed up in force, too: Djokovic wore a Hublot Big Bang Integrated Green Ceramic while the Federers flexed Rolex – a gorgeous blue Sky-Dweller for Roger and a diamond-and-emerald Day-Date for Mirka.

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3. Louis Vuitton goes high horology with its new, sleek Tambour

Watches might not immediately spring to mind when it comes to Louis Vuitton, but this month the maison shocked the world of horology as it announced the upcoming release of a sleek, new design for its Tambour collection and an initiative to cut 80 per cent of its current watch line-up.

But the new 40mm Tambour is set to come in humble steel, steel-and-gold and solid gold. The move is reminiscent of – and should see success similar to – Bulgari and its own move into the integrated steel watch space with the Octo Finissimo, which exists in contrast to its jewellery-inspired watches like the Serpenti.

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On the vintage-inspired sector dial of the new Tambour, two hands tell the time with a subdial for seconds, and there are Arabic numerals for only the even numbered hours – a subtle but significant Bauhaus touch.

Most importantly, Louis Vuitton has called on Le Cercle des Horlogers to co-develop the LFT023 in-house movement for the rather thin 8mm release. It’s an understated release, but a radical new direction for Louis Vuitton – and we can’t wait to see more.

4. Automata, dress watches and other new releases

Louis Vuitton is not the only maison to release quality pieces this month. Jaquet Droz also pivoted from an intricate March release (The Rolling Stones Automaton) to the only slightly simpler Dragon Automaton Sapphire with a continuous piece of lapis lazuli for the dial – a rarity to be sure. Gucci also recently released the subtle and ultra-thin 25H, which Idris Elba wore at Wimbledon.

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5. Enthusiasts and brands show up for charity as events continue to resume

As the resumption of global watch events only continues to accelerate, watch enthusiasts were given a lot to chew on in July. At the beginning of the month, steam picked up as lots were announced for this year’s Only Watch charity auction in November, which sees a set of ultra-rare pieces from high horology juggernauts.

Bulgari is giving us an Octo Finissimo Tourbillon made entirely of marble; Gérald Genta makes its debut to the charity auction by marking Disney’s 100th anniversary with a Mickey Mouse watch; Richard Mille unveils its Talisman Origine tonneau sautoir watch; Tiffany & Co. puts up an also-sautoir Bird on the Rock piece; and Urwerk are building what essentially looks like a timekeeping lightsabre.

Meanwhile, numerous high horology houses are giving one-off versions of their famous collections to raise funds for research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Elsewhere, the Vicenzaoro watch and jewellery fair looks to resume in Venice, with the VO’Clock Privé watch lounge opening to the public in September.