Journalists, retailers and visitors crowd the Palexpo halls outside H Moser & Cie's booth (All photos: Watches and Wonders)
The whirlwind of Watches and Wonders Geneva (W&W) has finally come to a close. After a week of over-the-top fanfare, the legion of visitors — records show numbers as hitting nearly 60,000 — have departed the Swiss lakeside, leaving the quaint city to settle back into its role as the quiet, steady capital of watchmaking.
The salon evolves into a more formidable beast each year, this time extending its reach to assert the identity as a cultural hub. More than 10,000 people flocked to the city centre throughout the week to participate in guided tours, brand activations and the effervescent Montreux Jazz Club, which sold out every evening.
But for the journalists and retailers weaving through a relentless schedule of appointments, the Palexpo halls remained a familiar haunt. With a record-breaking roster of brands, exceptional timepieces were on display at every turn. Many of us were constantly torn, wanting to linger over every detail, yet forced to dart to the next viewing. Nonetheless, the internet had to see it first. The hashtag #watchesandwonders2026 neared a billion uses with plenty of eyeballs locked on this season’s novelties, though the star-studded guest list proved to be just as much of a draw.
The milestone edition
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A legend both on the court and in the salon, Roger Federer arrived to support Rolex as the brand celebrated the historic centenary of the Oyster case. The Oyster Perpetual 41 in yellow Rolesor, which combines Oystersteel and yellow gold, pays homage to its first waterproof wristwatch unveiled in 1926. Anniversary details include the number 100 in relief on the winding crown, the inscription of “100 years” at 6 o’clock in place of the usual “Swiss Made” marking, green squares denoting each five-minute interval and the brand’s moniker pad printed in the same emblematic hue.
Doubling down on the whimsy of 2023’s “puzzle” and “bubble” editions, Rolex has introduced another graphic look for the Oyster Perpetual 36 in Oystersteel. The dial offers a vibrant, modern take on the classic Jubilee motif from the late 1970s, where an explosion of no fewer than 10 colours are applied one after the other with utmost precision to make up the contrasting interplay of letters and shapes.
That said, collectors and enthusiasts were eyeing the new Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, which deftly pairs the luminosity of a white grand feu enamel dial with the metallic effect of an anthracite Cerachrom bezel enriched with tungsten carbide. The exclusive configuration is presented in Rolesium (Oystersteel and platinum) for the first time. The Daytona was also Federer’s choice of wristwear. During his visit, he wore an off-catalogue Rolex Cosmograph Daytona in yellow gold, made to mark the 100th anniversary of the 24 hours of Le Mans.
Also marking its centenary is sister brand Tudor, who revived the historical Monarch name. The new line encapsulates years of progress in a vintage-inspired timepiece with a finely faceted case and papyrus-toned dial. The latter incorporates two different numeral styles: Roman from 10 to 2 o’clock and Arabic from 4 to 8 o’clock. A full display caseback frames the COSC- and METAS-certified MT5662-2U movement, which is unique to the Tudor Monarch. It is also “weekend-proof”: 65 hours of power reserve allows the wearer to take the watch off on a Friday evening and put it back on Monday morning without fuss.
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W&W served as a grand stage for commemoration as select maisons took the opportunity to honour their legacies and the icons that define them. To mark the Nautilus’ golden jubilee, Patek Philippe introduced a total of four anniversary models. While the two new Jumbo Nautilus references certainly caught our eye, the medium-size Ref 5610/1P-001 in 38mm took the cake for sensible sizing. The case is crafted from 950 platinum with a brilliant-cut diamond set into the hinge at 9 o’clock — a first for a Nautilus. Meanwhile, the most unexpected model in the line-up is Ref 958G-001, which transposes Gérald Genta’s renowned silhouette into a two-part construction that doubles as a desk watch with an eight-day power reserve.
Vacheron Constantin may have celebrated its 270th anniversary last year, but its modern Overseas collection is only just entering its third decade. The Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin inaugurates the Calibre 2550, a tiny but mighty powerhouse measuring a svelte 2.4mm. Seven years of research and development was aimed at enhancing performance, which led to the design of an innovative architecture combining a micro-rotor, suspended double barrel and compact single-level gear train. The timepiece is crafted in a special 950 platinum alloy containing 5% copper and gallium, which offers 2.7 times greater resistance than its typical counterpart. A sunburst satin-finished salmon-lacquered dial tops it all off.
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If the fair had an overall winner, the consensus pointed squarely at Parmigiani Fleurier. It commemorated 30 years of independent watchmaking with the world premiere of the Tonda PF Chronographe Mystérieux, an invisible chronograph that appears only when you need it. By activating the monopusher at 7:30, the three rhodium-plated chronograph hands perform an instantaneous flyback to 12 o’clock and begin its sequence while rose-gold hour and minute hands remain on the dial, tracking civil time. A second press stops the ongoing sequence and a third snaps the rhodium-plated hands back over their rose-gold counterparts, resuming regular timekeeping. The complication displays purity and discretion at its highest form, capturing the true essence of the maison.
Should you require further proof of the brand’s current dominance, look no further than the celebratory Toric trilogy. The limited-edition dress watches — Petite Seconde, Quantième Perpétuel and Chronographe Rattrapante — are the epitome of elegance, each unified by the exquisite texture of a hand-hammered gold dial and magnificent movement finishing.
Dubbed the most complicated time-only watch ever made, Ulysse Nardin’s Super Freak is the result of 180 years of legacy and 25 years of R&D. The brand’s double celebration culminates in the new in house UN-252 calibre, a mechanical engine composed of no fewer than 511 components featuring the world’s smallest vertical differential and gimbal system. Two titanium flying tourbillons rotate in opposite directions on a flying carousel while a seconds display debuts for the first time in the collection. The Super Freak is destined to be the ultimate conversation starter for the lucky 50 quick enough to secure one.
Out of this world
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Following a successful 10-day mission, the Artemis II crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean just a few days before the fair, marking the first human trip around the moon in 50 years. Honouring the enduring curiosity that drives us towards the celestial frontier, IWC Schaffhausen ushers in a new era of space watches with the Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive. Purpose-built for the void, this is the first mechanical timepiece engineered entirely for the demands of life in orbit. All watch functions can be operated via an innovative rotating bezel system while a rocker switch on the side allows the wearer to switch between functions or set either of the two time zones. IWC also became the official timekeeper of Vast, a pioneering space habitation technology company currently constructing the world’s first commercial space station, Haven-1.
Meanwhile, Bremont will enter the history books as the first British watch brand to reach the moon as it announced a groundbreaking collaboration with American aerospace company Astrolab. Expanding its sea, land and air product universes, the maison launched a bold new collection inspired by space: Supernova. The Supernova Chronograph will fly aboard Astrolab’s FLIP rover, which is scheduled to land at the lunar south pole this year as part of the Griffin-1 mission. After that, it will remain as a permanent resident of the moon. The contemporary 41mm integrated-bracelet chronograph in 904L steel features a black ceramic decahedral bezel and a dial inspired by spacecraft solar array geometry.
For those of us who prefer to admire the cosmos from Earth, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Midnight Jour Nuit Phase de Lune spotlights two overlapping complications, the first of which animates the day/night display while the second illustrates the current moonphase. Set within a 42mm white gold case, a black Murano aventurine glass with copper flecks represents the sky. Over the course of the day, the guilloché golden sun gradually gives way to a moon fashioned in white mother-of-pearl. The story continues on the back of the case where the perspective is inverted. Here, Earth and its neighbouring planets are painted on the crystal atop the oscillating weight, displaying the celestial view from the moon.
The Stone Age
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For collectors and enthusiasts alike, 2026 is about refinement at the highest level, where heritage is actively reinterpreted through bold materials and sharper storytelling. A defining trend for this season’s novelties is the elevated use of natural minerals and hardstones. Audemars Piguet debuted a brand-new workshop dubbed Atelier des Établisseurs, building on the établissage system to create remarkable timepieces honouring collaboration and artisanal skills. One of the first models to come out of this workshop is the Établisseurs Galets, which draws inspiration from the water-polished stones along Lac de Joux. Small gold ball joints link irregularly shaped “pebbles” to one another, each set with natural stone such as turquoise and tiger’s eye.
Over at Piaget, ornamental stones were seen all throughout its collections, notably on the Polo 79, which uses sodalite to add depth and contrast to its unique gadroons, and the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, which integrates tiger’s eye fragments into its record-breaking 2mm-thin profile. During his visit to the Piaget booth, global ambassador Apo Nattawin sported a high-jewellery rose gold Andy Warhol piece with a bronzite dial framed with baguette-cut diamonds and a white-gold Swinging Pebbles necklace with a pietersite stone dial.
Zenith, on the other hand, dressed its GPHG-winning GFJ model in striking bloodstone and jet-black onyx with yellow gold and tantalum cases respectively. Meanwhile, Bvlgari’s sinuous Serpenti Tubogas Studs capsule collection embraces the likes of malachite, carnelian and sodalite. Over at Cartier, the new Santos-Dumont also features a hard stone dial, highlighting gilded obsidian. This volcanic stone from Mexico owes its iridescent reflections to tiny air bubbles trapped in the material. At just 0.3mm, its delicacy makes it comparable to glass. The new reference is paired with a flexible yellow gold bracelet that lays on the wrist like silk. This is achieved by the refinement of 394 links, measuring 1.15mm each, that form the mesh.
Speaking of bracelets, it would be remiss to not mention Jaeger LeCoultre’s new Master Control Chronometre collection, boasting a new integrated three-row metal bracelet — inspired by the watch’s slim dauphine hands — that complements the sleek proportions of the case. On the central row of links, flat, vertical-satin-brushed surfaces alternate with highly polished links in the shape of triangular prisms. These sharp angles are echoed on the outer two rows of links, which feature dramatic V-shaped bevels.
Ticking lightly
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While a sense of frenzy is par for the course when covering W&W, the experience was anchored by a shared lightheartedness. From Chanel’s Coco Game collection and Hermès’ Arceau Samarcande minute repeater to H Moser & Cie’s Streamliner Pump and Roger Dubuis’ Excalibur Brocéliande, a compelling case remains for horology embracing a more spirited touch.
The same can be said for timepieces that remind us of the current moment, such as the Grand Seiko SBGZ011, where fluid hand-engraved lines capture the glisten of a mystic waterfall while conveying time’s eternal flow.
Who can truly chart time’s course? Perhaps we would do well to embrace the ease of the now — and, of course, the thrill of those newly discovered holy grails.
This article first appeared on May 4, 2026 in The Edge Malaysia.
