Our 12 top picks from Watches and Wonders

The ur post-Berlin-Wall disruptor, which brought watchmaking back to Saxony’s mountainous horological heartland, Glashütte, is finally breaking from its austere Bauhaus schtick with nine paired-up dial designs for Nomos’s delightful new ‘Twice Unique’ range: a steel and a gold model, whether it’s ‘his’n’hers’, weekday or weekend, it’s your choice. Our favourite is ‘Scribble: using her finest engraving tools, German goldsmith Saskia Licina has hand-engraved flowing loops into the brass dials of five pairs of steel and gold square Tetra 27’s - one of dance of lines proving that within freehand strokes, highly chic order can emerge.

A first for the indie scene’s most discerning #IYKYK breakout horologist, Laurent Ferrier (the man himself being ex-Patek Philippe complications maestro) ;a dual-time complication in a sports watch (cased in LF’s signature, ’TV screen’ pebble of a case. In ice-cool ‘slate grey’, its 42mm case is clad by Grade-5 titanium, the two pushers on the left allowing you to jump the hour backwards and forwards and its signature assegai hands (“iron-tipped spear” to South-African Bantu-speaking tribes) are filled with contrast-green SuperLuminova.

Developed quietly in cahoots with renowned micro-mechanical skunkworks, Concepto, the TYPE 11's pebble-like titanium case houses Ressence’s very-first ground-up, proprietary Swiss movement. The Belgian indie’s nigh-on iconic ‘orbital’ constellation of subdials now has its modular ‘ROCS’ system bedded into the underlying engine, making things sleeker than ever.

Venturer space watch in ceramic might have been the big story (the watchmaker from Schaffhausen having moved on from kitting-out SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn spacewalkers in 2024, to making a bid as timekeeper aboard ISS’s replacement, come 2030) but this new Big Pilot’s in super-sleek white ceramic is so much more real-world relevant. Only, admittedly, if your reality involves a lot of private-jet travel. It is a perpetual calendar on which all the functions can be set backwards as well as forwards using only the crown. To do this IWC found a way to stack the calendar functions rather than spreading them across the movement.

The original version of this timepiece was created to celebrate the victory of honorary chairman Dr Rolf Portmann over a 1934 Swiss anti-competition law that prevented brands from making any advancements to their watches. Despite only 50 brands being affected in the face of 450 big boys doing alright, thank you very much, Portmann’s insistence that Oris developed its own lever escapement in the background (still the mechanical standard) ensured that the Hölstein indie hit the ground running when the Statute was finally overthrown in 1965, and able to ditch the pin-lever escapement in favour of something future-proof.

Dr Portmann is still around, aged 96, still on Oris’s board, and clearly a legend.

Yet another pet passion project from L.U.C architect, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele – AKA Chopard’s co-president and solo superstar of the Jura’s Val-de-Travers revival over the last three decades. This 1860 is yet another exceptionally accomplished, reserved, contemporary yet reminiscent creation, since it distills every in-house L.U.C trope into a deceptively simple, everyday dress piece. Its hand-guilloché “Areuse Blue” dial—crafted in 18 ct gold is rendered in a shade that echoes the eponymous river flowing near the atelier in the Val-de-Travers region. This river, known for its dramatic gorges and ever changing shades of deep blue, symbolises continuity and connection to nature – a charming break from the ‘technicities’ and ‘savoir-faire’ oft-touted by manufactures operating at this level. Encased with an always-gleaming, hardy Lucent Steel case, inside beats the ultra-thin, Geneva-Seal and COSC-certified L.U.C 96.40-L micro-rotor movement with a 65-hour power reserve, showcasing flawless hand-finish.

Patek Philippe’s new Golden Ellipse updates the iconic elliptical dress watch with two 2026 white-gold models featuring striking olive-green sunburst dials. One is a larger “Jumbo” size and the other returns to classic mid-size proportions – a ‘his’n’her’ proposition, should Nomos’ Twice Unique not be quite luxurious enough. Both house the ultra-thin self-winding Calibre 240 and sit just 5.9 mm thick, preserving the Ellipse’s timeless, dandyish elegance (regardless of the fact its golden-ratio beauty was inspired by a US highway junction, spotted from a plane by a Patek exec back in 1968…).

Led by ever-avuncular product-development guru, Tony de Haas, the German geniuses of A. Lange & Söhne, up in Saxony’s Ore Mountains (eerily similar to their Swiss contemporaries’ reality) have once again focused on superb legibility in the new Saxonia Annual Calendar – programmed to only need adjusting once a year: either from 28 February or 29 February to the first day of March. The actual genius, here though? The button at ’10 o’clock’ that collectively advances day, month and date by a day – because sometimes you don’t keep what’s bound to not be your only watch wound and worn every day.

The new Tudor Black Bay Ceramic Bracelet Watch is a bold extension of Tudor’s stealthy diver theme, now fully embracing a blacked-out look with a matching matte black ceramic bracelet. Unveiled with its 41 mm ceramic case and monochrome dial, the all-ceramic bracelet enhances durability and unity of design, all the while its in-house Master Chronometer-certified movement ticking steadily in defiance of most any magnetic field the real world might throw at you.

Inspired by the frost-covered larch forests of the Kirigamine Highlands at first light of the day, this latest creation from Japan’s elite, nature-loving watchmaker extraordinaires bears a dial that captures, with subtle gold specks, a hypnotic glister, like sun pillars hitting ice crystals at dawn. Housed in a 37mm 18k yellow gold Evolution 9 case, it’s powered by the ultra-fine accuracy Calibre 9RB2 U.F.A., accurate to about ±20 seconds per year, and limited to just 80 pieces worldwide

The Master Control Chronometre Date is one of four new ‘Chronometre’ watches – a new capsule collection from the Vallée de Joux’ ‘watchmaker of watchmakers’. A quartet embodying contemporary refinement – but in particular this pared-back beauty. Crafted in 18K pink gold (750/1000), its refined 38mm case, measuring just 8.4mm thick, features a sleek design complemented by a seamlessly integrated 18K pink gold (750/1000) bracelet with brushed and polished finishes, and a captivating bronze-coloured sunray-brushed dial. Powered by the Manufacture Calibre 899, it boasts a 70-hour power reserve, essential date function, and a precision certified by the Jaeger-LeCoultre HPG Seal which completes COSC standards by testing the entire cased-up watch in real-life wear conditions. All under J-LC’s expansive roof, natch.

Switzerland’s most venerable horloger (266 years and counting…) unveiled a remarkable new addition to its ‘Les Cabinotiers’ métiers d’art range at Watches and Wonders - almost under the radar, if that’s possible, given the myriad creations displayed with such theatrical flair from the vitrines around VC’s huge W&W pavilion. Then again, it is a pièce unique. Housed in a 45 mm 18 k pink-gold case with sapphire dial and caseback, the sapphire caseback showcases an openworked Calibre 2755 TMR SQ manual movement combining a chiming minute repeater and tourbillon with around 58 hours of power reserve. The skeletonised architecture and exquisite hand finishing leave even the most hardcore collector in little doubt as to who’s top dog chez Genève cité…