Forbes Life‘s newest watch writer weighs in on those releases dominating the horological zeitgeist – from downsized takes on familiar favourites to crucial new technical breakthroughs.
In previous years, insiders tended to alternate between describing the vibe at Watches and Wonders as one that’s either significant or transitional. Truth be told: the reality is probably somewhere closer to the middle.
That’s certainly the feeling we got parsing through all the new Watches and Wonders 2026 releases. On the one hand, the luxury watch industry’s biggest annual showcase was marked by more than a dozen historical anniversaries – for brands, individual collections, and proprietary technologies.
Conversely, amid a wider climate of geopolitical instability, many maisons chose to pursue a policy of incremental improvement; refreshing or refining old favourites with a track record of broad appeal among consumers.
Whatever overarching theme watch enthusiasts choose to take away from this year’s showings, one thing is certain – times have never been more exciting, nor eclectic, for lovers of horology.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Ref. 2500V
Superficially similar to the Ref. 2000V that preceded it, Vacheron’s latest Overseas is – in actuality – a crucial technical milestone for the maison. Its release coincides with the 30th anniversary of the original Overseas collection; marking the first instance of a simple time-only reference powered by a movement which has been manufactured and developed in-house.
Among tech nerds, the move carries huge symbolic significance. In 2021, peer competitor Audemars Piguet made the transition to in-house movements through its current generation of Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’; and so it has been a question of ‘when’, rather than ‘if’, Vacheron Constantin is going to bring its signature sports watch up to par.
Wisely, the new Overseas’s designers have chosen to pull focus toward the mechanics within. The watch itself is a refinement on the proportions of aforementioned 2000V: wearing smaller (39.5mm) and thinner (7.35mm) thanks to the movement’s use of a micro-rotor architecture.
Speaking of that movement, dubbed the calibre 2550, the functional improvements are bound to be appreciated across the board: no matter if you’re a deep-cut Vacheron VIC, or simply looking to buy one iconic sports watch for the rest of your life. With an 80-hour power reserve and bidirectional winding, the 2550 is effectively a launchpad to a new realm of possibility. This salmon-tone number in platinum is just the beginning.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo 37mm
Seemingly in conversation with the new Overseas 2500V, Bulgari’s hero addition to the Octo Finissimo collection goes small(er) on scale with a 37mm x 6.35mm form factor.
Going into Watches and Wonders 2026, it was already something of an open secret that the vaunted Roman jeweller would be shrinking its signature avant-garde sports watch – exactly what collectors have been clamouring for, for a good couple of years.
Aside from the 37mm sizing, which will endear the watch to a plethora of new unisex consumers, Bulgari’s watchmakers have made an effort to ensure the technical side of things is equally improved.
The watch’s new engine – the calibre BVF 100 – is constructed with a micro-rotor, sunburst-style Côtes de Genève decoration and, much like the Overseas, has gotten an additional 12 hours of reserve power. Despite physically downsizing, that makes it more than 15 percent more energy-efficient than the 40mm Octo (which remains in the collection).
Chopard L.U.C 1860, ‘Areuse Blue’
Among the strongest core commercial propositions to debut at this year’s edition of Watches and Wonders (to this writer’s mind, at any rate) the L.U.C 1860 ‘Areuse Blue’ is Chopard’s follow-up to the historic, time-only dress watch of the same name – relaunched by the maison back in 2022.
Four years ago, the watch came on an elegant salmon-tone dial; and the good news, for that release’s numerous fans, is that this Areuse Blue take is practically identical – notwithstanding the addition of a new dial colour, inspired by the river which abuts Chopard’s picturesque watchmaking studio in Fleurier.
Incidentally, 2026 marks the 30th birthday of the movement powering this watch – the calibre 1.96. Thin, chronometer-certified, and made exquisitely enough that it bears the same ‘Geneva Seal’ as the watches of Patek Philippe, the 1.96 is among the most important watchmaking developments of the 1990s.
That such a movement is wed to a handful of seemingly normie ingredients with plenty of everyday appeal, including a 36mm steel case and blue guilloché dial, is an act of strategic prescience – something that a number of veteran journalists working the salon floor have already cottoned on to.
Tony Traina, author of the newsletter UNPOLISHED, writes (via GQ) that the new 1860’s success stems from the fact that it doesn’t wear like “a special occasion watch”. “The combination of the casual blue dial and stainless steel makes this an 1860 that can be worn every day.”
Tudor Monarch
Even before the doors at Palexpo opened this year, one of the go-to topics of conversation was how Tudor – of Rolex sibling fame – would ring in its 100th anniversary. A revival of the Monarch, an oddity of a collection released during the 1990s, probably wasn’t on most attendees’ bingo cards. However, it is in keeping with the spirit of a brand that has shown, at various times in recent years, that it’s unafraid to take risks. Here’s looking at you, P01.
Closer in aesthetic to the Rolex Bubblebacks of yesteryear, the Monarch combines vintage cues like a champagne-hued “Error-Proof” dial with some of the very best that industrialised Swiss watchmaking has to offer. Even though the hodgepodge of Roman and Arabic numerals, and the sharply faceted 39mm case carry a whiff of old-school cool, the Monarch benefits from Tudor’s formidable scales in precision manufacturing.
Swiss watchmaking may be many things in 2026 but, by and large, it is not a business synonymous with affordability. The Monarch is one of just two releases in our shortlist that clocks in under $10,000. And thus, what is offered for its four-figure price tag becomes doubly compelling.
Beyond the fact that the movement is weekend-proof (offering 65 hours of power at full wind) it has both COSC and METAS certifications – meaning that the Monarch is accurate to a rate of +0/+5 seconds per day. Arguably the ultimate companion piece for the FashionTok crowd.
Cartier Santos-Dumont, 15-link bracelet
With three or four other notable exceptions, the Cartier booth is invariably the hottest ticket at Watches and Wonders every year. 2026 proved no exception: in large part, because of the frenzy surrounding a new, braceleted version of the Santos-Dumont LM.
So-called because of its “Large Model” sizing (43.5mm x 31.4mm), the watch itself will be familiar among fans of the Parisian maison. What is novel, in the context of the platinum and yellow gold releases, is a new 15-link bracelet – supple, mesh-like, and made in precious metals that match the corresponding model of Santos-Dumont.
We’ll spare you a lot of speculation around the current volatility of gold prices, but for now, it’s fair to say that if you’re the sort of collector who has gravitated toward lavish designs in recent years (like 2025’s Reverso ‘Milanese’) then the allure of a solid-gold Santos-Dumont, with an obsidian dial to boot, should be self-explanatory.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40, ‘Jubilee’ Gold
While this year’s Rolex-related headlines were dominated by centennial celebrations of the patented waterproof ‘Oyster’ case, the Coronet quietly revealed an “exceptional” new release that is another in the canon of broadly significant watches…that only a small handful of collectors are ever going to own.
Part of Rolex’s illusive “off-catalog” program, the present Ref. 228235 looks like a bombastic 40mm version of a gold Rollie, fitted to the iconic ‘President’ bracelet – in short, like a Day-Date. A closer inspection however, reveals several novel features: most notably material, for the case and bracelet, that commingles flashes of yellow, pink, and white gold.
Rolex has dubbed this metal ‘Jubilee’, and it is the first proprietary gold recipe Rolex has developed since the debut of Everrose in 2005. In tandem with the watch’s green aventurine dial, what collectors are presented with is a very different animal to the archetypal Day-Date.
In its more conventional yellow gold guise, the 40mm version comes across unequivocally as a ‘flex’ watch: evoking imagery of politicos, rappers, and Texas oil barons. This off-catalog take promises a much subtler wearer experience; and with that, the potential for Jubilee gold’s integration, albeit gradually, across other classic Rolex collections.
Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse Ref. 3738G
For consumers who’ve come into the watch hobby in the post-pandemic era, there’s a good bet that you’ll recognise the iconography of Patek Philippe’s Golden Ellipse – even if that name itself doesn’t ring many bells.
A font of inspiration for slightly more (read: very) accessible watches like the Raymond Weil Toccata, the Golden Ellipse nevertheless remains in a class all its own. You know the old saying: “frequently imitated”, et cetera et cetera.
Now, amid all the pomp and ceremony of the Nautilus’s 50th anniversary, Patek has quietly resurrected the Ellipse of the 1970s, complete with period-correct 31.1mm x 35.6mm sizing. Originally intended as a showcase for the maison’s calibre 240 movement, this new incarnation of the Golden Ellipse is essentially a 1-to-1 revival.
That, depending on your worldview, might be considered a bit derivative. Though it’s hard to argue with the appeal of an ultra-thin dress watch, matched to a sunburst-olive dial – the kind of elegant artefact of a bygone era that gets its own set of matching cufflinks.
Grand Seiko U.F.A. Ushio 300 Diver
Occasionally, the people who write about, photograph, and enthuse over luxury watches for a living tend to forget that – among the paying public – the idea of $200,000 tourbillons is laugh-out-loud insane. That’s why it’s so crucial to hold space for releases like the Grand Seiko Ushio (“current”) diver: a twofer of blue and green sports watches that, at long last, bring the Japanese marque’s meditative Spring Drive technology into the 40mm size range.
Aside from the engineering tolerances that have made a smaller, thinner Spring Drive movement possible, there isn’t anything that is fundamentally groundbreaking to discuss here. What’s impressive is the way in which Grand Seiko has marshalled all of these familiar elements together – in service of what enthusiasts are treating as the brand’s most cohesive dive watch to date.
The subtle ombré effect of the blue and green colourways complements each dial’s wave motif well, and the “Ultra Fine Accuracy” movement, which also provides the watch with its acronym, holds a world record for mechanical accuracy.
Put simply: at each edition of Watches and Wonders, there are releases people love to talk about, and those they immediately start saving up for. These Ushio divers are the latter.
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