I’ll be honest: Watches & Wonders is one of those events I semi-dread ahead of time but genuinely enjoy while I’m there. Sixty brands across five days is a daunting affair, but by the first Monday back in the office I always appreciate the time the brands gave and the people who make each year unique.
Releases-wise, 2026 felt muted – there wasn’t that one release that everyone was talking about, which honestly is probably a good thing. These are all watches I’ve handled in the metal and narrowing it to five was painful. Here are the ones I couldn’t stop thinking about on the flight home.
Grand Seiko Spring Drive U.F.A. Ushio 300 Diver (SLGB023 & SLGB025)
2026 is the year Grand Seiko finally nailed a wearable dive watch. The new Ushio 300 looks superb in its green and blue textured dial variants and wears beautifully thanks to a 40.8mm × 12.9mm High-Intensity Titanium case and a new bracelet. That bracelet has a lovely taper and a new locking extension clasp with 24mm of total adjustment, which finally brings it up to the standard of the rest of the watch.
Inside is the new 9RB1 Spring Drive U.F.A. calibre, accurate to ±20 seconds a year from a mainspring-powered movement – the most accurate mainspring-powered diver ever made. There’s 300m of water resistance, a 72-hour power reserve and, refreshingly, a dial-side power reserve indicator. Prices are punchy at £10,500, but for what you’re getting it can be justified.
More details at Grand Seiko Boutique.
Patek Philippe 5236P-011 In-Line Perpetual Calendar
The 50th-anniversary Nautilus and the Celestial Sunrise and Sunset grabbed the headlines, but for my money the 5236P-011 is the watch that shows Patek at their best. The trick is the patented in-line display – day, date and month aligned in a single aperture at 12 rather than across three sub-dials – and it still looks like nothing else on a dial. A polished platinum case at 41.3mm with the customary diamond at 6 o’clock, the in-house micro-rotor calibre humming away underneath, and proportions that somehow flatter despite the complication count. Simply the best-looking watch I’ve seen in a while.
More details at Patek Philippe.
Nomos Glashütte Orion Gold Neomatik Doré
Sometimes all you need is a gold case and a watch you thought you knew transforms. The Orion Gold Neomatik Doré is the perfect example: the familiar 36.4mm Orion shape, slim and beautifully proportioned as ever, only now in yellow gold with tone-on-tone indexes and hands on a white silver-plated dial. The steel version always read a little clinical; the gold warms it up without tipping into anything gaudy. Gold prices being what they are, you pay for the privilege at £12,600, but in the hand it feels every penny. An absolute winner.
Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture
Frederique Constant’s Classic Worldtimer has been the sensible in-house worldtimer pick since 2012, and 2026 brings the overhaul it’s needed for a while. The case drops from 42mm to a far more wearable 40mm, the awkward date sub-dial that always fought with the city ring is gone, and the new FC-719 calibre nearly doubles the power reserve to a weekend-proof 72 hours. My pick is the gradient blue on the new five-link bracelet. At £4,395, nothing from a Swiss manufacture with a true 24-city worldtimer comes close.
More details at Frederique Constant.
Cartier Santos de Cartier Medium “Ghost”
Not every highlight needs a press push. The new “Ghost” slipped quietly into Cartier’s touch-and-try and was the piece I kept drifting back to. In the familiar 41.9mm × 35.1mm medium case at 8.83mm thick, the varnished grey dial does all the talking – deep and glossy, reading almost black head-on before the pale printed markings surface as the angle shifts. The name is a direct callback to the 1980s Santos Carrée reference 2960, whose brushed grey dials earned the “Ghost” nickname because the text seemed to disappear and reappear on the wrist. The originals have climbed steadily on the secondary market for three or four years now, and Cartier has clearly been paying attention. Pricing isn’t confirmed but expect around £7,000 in line with the standard medium steel Santos.
