Strong exhibitors and under-the-radar names emerging from Watches and Wonders 2026
With even more exhibitors than last year’s edition, the annual timepiece trade show is full of new brands and makers to discover. Here we dialed in a few names to watch this year.
The 2026 fair brought together 65 watch brands – up from 60 last year. Perhaps the most anticipated of the additional entrants was Audemars Piguet, which returned to the fair after a six-year hiatus. Its new gold, turquoise and tiger’s eye Établisseurs Galets is part of its Atelier des Établisseurs initiative, introduced at Watches and Wonders.
The project is aiming to preserve the rare craft techniques of the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland’s famous watchmaking region.
Zenith, a lesser-known maison of the LVMH stable, is also gaining ground thanks to its illustrious history and ability to offer a mix of archive reissues and contemporary models, with strong ties to the design world. At this year’s salon, the house released its second GFJ, a watch that pays homage to Zenith founder Georges Favre-Jacot, with an 18k-gold case, bloodstone dial and guilloche pattern that nods to the brickwork of its manufacturing facility in Unesco-listed Le Locle, Switzerland. Romain Marietta, the chief product officer at Zenith, has great confidence in the maison’s direction. “Clients are becoming much more selective,” he says. “There’s less patience for products that feel overdesigned or overexplained. When a product is well designed, proportioned and coherent, you feel it straight away.”
Collectors and novices alike also kept a close eye on Vacheron Constantin and its new ultra-thin flagship Overseas model – a highlight of the salon, housing the maison’s new ultra-thin calibre 2550 movement. “Sport-elegant watches continue to appeal,” says Christian Selmoni, the heritage director of Vacheron Constantin and one of the fair’s best dressers, always standing out in his brightly coloured suits.
Collectors who are interested in names that are more under-the-radar headed for Czapek & Cie, a heritage brand revived by its CEO and co-founder Xavier de Roquemaurel in 2015. When asked about the house’s new Antarctique flying tourbillon titanium model, De Roquemaurel – a former marketing executive at Zegna and Louis Vuitton – says, “There’s no bezel, it’s extremely thin and the case is like a globe. There’s a beautiful symmetry with the alignment of the barrel at 12 o’clock, slender bridge and a flying tourbillon complication at the bottom. The trompe l’oeil effect on the dial gives the impression of a black hole – it sounds extreme but it’s too elegant to be that.”
Show of imagination
Unique and limited-edition watches highlight the industry’s ingenuity in difficult times, says watch specialist Kim Parker.
The watch community gathers at Geneva’s Palexpo exhibition centre to take in brands’ latest feats of ingenuity but also to sit around the lunch table and discuss the most important issues facing the industry.
Last year, in between marvelling at Rolex’s latest Land Dweller, watch experts were deep in discussion about US tariffs on Switzerland and the broader slowdown in luxury consumption. In 2026, discussions are no doubt continuing to revolve around the latest geopolitical turmoil, the skyrocketing prices of precious metals and the longer-term effects of the war in Iran. But the industry has proven its resilience time and again, always finding ways to safeguard the watchmaking craft.
This year is no exception: there are several milestones worth marking, including the centenary of the Tudor brand and Rolex’s groundbreaking Oyster case. “Whatever Rolex reveals is always worth celebrating because it sets the tone for the whole show,” says luxury editor Ming Liu. “The market is heading towards premiumisation, so I’m also looking forward to seeing all the gem-set, limited-edition pieces that houses such as Cartier will present.”
Van Cleef & Arpels always revels in ornate dials featuring pairs of kissing lovers or dancing flowers, minute gestures narrating poetry and emotion rather than simply the time. At Chanel, there was both sleek ceramic models that nod to its founder’s abiding love of sports (especially boating) and exquisitely detailed novelties that riff on couture, featuring ribbons, scissors, bows and, sometimes, even miniature versions of Coco herself. Keen riders made a beeline for Jaeger-LeCoultre, which produces novelties that often nod to the brand’s equestrian heritage, using ancient handcrafts such as wood marquetry, engraving or miniature painting.
These one-of-a-kind timepieces are wearable reminders that, come what may, the show does indeed go on and that human endeavour in a digital age is always worth celebrating.
Red signal
Every year at Watches and Wonders, a defining colour trend takes hold. In 2025, it was deep, oceanic blues. For 2026, however, the industry embraced bold, energetic reds, echoing fashion’s wider return to vibrant palettes. Leading maisons, including Vacheron Constantin, Chanel, IWC Schaffhausen and Montblanc, introduced timepieces with striking red dials, signalling a confident new direction.
