Watches and Wonders 2026: Patrick's Highlights of W&W 2026
patrick_y
Watches and Wonders 2026 is off to a roaring start! We're celebrating THREE big anniversaries; 100 years of Rolex Oyster, 50 years of Patek Philippe Nautilus, and 30 years of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas! What an important year!
We also have some really important micro-rotor movements! A new Vacheron Constantin micro-rotor movement has come onto the market! Chopard brings back the much-loved micro-rotor L.U.C. 96 series in two of their latest novelties! Bulgari makes a new micro-rotor movement for a new Octo Finissimo! And the Patek Philippe 240 caliber (unflappable since the mid-1970s, and arguably the first micro-rotor movement that survived the Quartz crisis) is prominently featured in the latest 50th Anniversary Nautilus models!
Here are my personal highlights of Watches and Wonders 2026!
Popular opinion on the internet seems to favor the new Vacheron Constantin's Overseas collection; as the 30th anniversary for the new Overseas didn't disappoint most collectors. A new movement with a micro rotor is a fantastic offering for the high end Ultra thin-model that's limited to 255 pieces and in platinum. There is also another fan favorite, "Cardinal Points" is almost a re-release of the Everest models and is a well-received offering for a wider audience. Bravo to Vacheron Constantin! Photos below. Please visit www.vacheron-constantin.com to learn more!
Chopard's new collection (mainly 1860 with blue dial and Alpine Eagle with champagne) are well received. Congrats to Chopard! Photos below. www.chopard.com
Patek Philippe's new Nautilus collection is celebrating it's 50th birthday and it's a BIG HIT! Especially the watches! Many of you know I like clocks, but the core DNA of a Nautilus is that it has a hinged case. This clock does not have a hinged case! It's basically a clock with ears to have the shape of a Nautilus. Other Patek Philippe models are quite nice; with a surprise new futuristic version of the Patek Philippe Celestial, we should applaud Patek Philippe for making a sporty version of the Celestial - as this is a big departure for them! I think it's really well done too! Some very strong pieces from a very strong brand! The new Nautilus is just wonderful - and now endowed with a 240 caliber! And no date and no seconds! Diamond hour markers too! https://www.patek.com/en/collection/new-models (this page doesn't show the new Nautilus models, go to the Nautilus page for those new models). Photos below. The Nautilus is celebrating its half-century mark in great style! Photos below.
Rolex , superlative chronometers! Expectations were super-high because it's the 100 year anniversary of the Oyster, but the watch to celebrate that century was almost a little too subtle. Nevertheless, Rolex still had an overall strong showing; especially in the ultra-premium sector with more jewels, stones, and colorful dials. Some color has arrived! Please visit www.rolex.com
Cartier , a design powerhouse, brought back Roadster and has a few other models to share! Visit www.cartier.com to learn more! Strong showing from Cartier. (no photos, please go to www.Cartier.com )
Bulgari ! Wow! A smaller Octo Finissimo! With a smaller movement! So many of our readers have wanted a smaller Octo Finissimo and Bulgari's amazing team has finally delivered! The movement finishing on that new smaller movement looks SO GOOD TOO! You've made a lot of people very happy Bulgari! Photos of the new Bulgari are not out yet. But please visit www.bulgari.com in the coming days! Ciao Bella Bulgari!
Tudor , a quiet year. They're probably cooking something extra special for a future year!
IWC's press release on their new watch for space travelers waxes poetry on a bunch of features and superlatives but doesn't communicate the significance of those features. It doesn't convey any technical performance details neither. I guess I'll have to learn more about it in the coming days to get a better feel of this watch. www.iwc.com
Jaeger-LeCoultre - not sure how I feel about JLC's new integrated bracelet - I don't see it as a big win in design. But the high complication and Reverso art pieces are deeply impressive. You have to visit the website and see the new gyrotourbillon and the new Reverso art pieces! www.jaeger-lecoultre.com
Panerai , 1731 and 1732 look VERY GOOD! Photos below! Bella Bella Bella!
A. Lange und Søhne , super quiet year. A Luminous watch that will probably sell out very soon is the highlight.
Please see the photos below and share your thoughts! Did I miss anything significant? I'm sure I did! Please tell me what I missed in your comments below!
Vacheron Constantin is only making 255 of this "Overseas Self Winding Ultra Thin 2500V" model in platinum with the new micro-rotor movement. This new movement is significant, it's Vacheron Constantin's first micro-rotor movement. It's an all new movement and it has wonderful specs; 80 hours of power reserve at 21,600 VPH. The 222 only has 40 hours of power reserve at 28,800 VPH. Only 255 pieces will be sold, as it is a limited edition.
I really like this new movement! It has bi-directional winding. And a double barrel stacked. In many ways, it's somewhat similar to the Chopard 96-series movement. But better performing, more efficient in winding as it is 30 years newer than the already excellent Chopard 96 series movement. What a movement!
For those who weren't able to secure one of the 255 pieces of the ultra-thin model above, here is the next best thing. Remember the Vacheron Constantin "Everest" edition? This is the closest we've come to a re-edition of the Everest model - this all titanium Overseas is reasonably priced at $41,000 USD and comes in four color ways; brown, green, white, and blue. They come with a dial-matched strap, an orange rubber strap, and a titanium bracelet!
The New Chopard 1860 now comes with a blue face. The salmon face will be eventually phased out.
The new Alpine Eagle XPS will feature a champagne face. The Monte-Rosa Pink face will eventually be discontinued. The new Alpine Eagle also has a fine-adjustment clasp! A LOT OF Alpine Eagle customers are going to expect clasp retrofits! I have a feeling that Chopard will be very kind and give their early supporters clasp retrofits at a fair price! The width of the bracelet is very wide and the taper is very subtle, a wider bracelet increases the necessity of a fine adjustment clasp! Bravo Chopard! Strong showing!
The new Patek Philippe Celestial is a big futuristic departure for the brand. But I applaud this giant leap! The more I see it, the more I warm up to it!
The 50th Anniversary of the Nautilus brought about four new models including this clock. Some of you will recall I have a big bias towards clocks! But some of our eagle-eyed WatchProSite readers will recall that Nautilus DNA means that the case is hinged on the sides - and this clock doesn’t have a true hinge on the sides. But that's okay, it is still a beautiful clock!
A beautiful 50th Anniversary Nautilus in white gold (or platinum) will feature a full gold (or platinum) bracelet and a dial without a seconds hand nor a date! An incredibly handsome Nautilus. The most handsome Nautilus since the 3700!
The strap version comes with a diamond dial. The bracelet version does not! But I want the diamond dial AND the white gold bracelet! Unfortunately, I will have to choose which one to give up; the diamonds or the bracelet. I'd personally go for the bracelet version. Patek Philippe really did a great job here. Bravo. Also, notice the hinged case here, and notice the clock doesn't have the hinge.
All three variants of the watch will come with the 240 caliber! Micro rotor for the win! No pusher, since there's no date. Bravo Patek! Strong showing!
Aren't these two Panerais deeply handsome yet rugged at the same time? The Italians sure are stylish!
Comments:
SALMANPK April 14th, 2026-07:49
Very Nice Report Patrick 🙏, always enjoy reading your insights 😊👍
AuHavrePro April 14th, 2026-07:51
Thanks Patrick for the excellent report! So far, the VC novelties are my favorite. I also love some of the JLC novelties, but those are at the multi six-figure end of the scale . Looking forward to reading and watching further reports from the show, cheers, Filip
patrick_y April 14th, 2026-09:55
You're not alone in the Vacheron Constantin department! There's a lot of consensus that Vacheron Constantin had a great show this year!
K-G April 14th, 2026-08:04
Best report I've seen so far! And I agree; VC, Patek and Chopard are killing it this year! I found the Rolex releases rather disappointing, but perhaps my expectations were too high... Look forward to seeing the new Octo Finissimo, sounds very promising!
patrick_y April 14th, 2026-09:58
Very kind! Those three brands; Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, and Chopard all had the strongest showings this year. Hence they're in my top three. I think A LOT of people found the Rolexes to be underwhelming - especially the 100th Anniversary model. The stone...
Arronax April 14th, 2026-08:38
Thanks for the early report That new 44 luminor with the brown dial looks nice, the movement is not particularly nice looking. The VC price point sounds quite aggressive, maybe OK if they want to target AP ROO clients. JLC completely blew it with 50m WR on their integrated bracelet ...
patrick_y April 14th, 2026-10:01
Thank you for reading! I'd agree with you on the pricing of the Vacheron Constantin is high, but it is in line with the other product offerings. It's priced similarly to the Nautilus in platinum and is relatively equivalent in terms of brand positioning. Also, do note that new ...
Arronax April 14th, 2026-10:13
agreed on all counts! I was actually referring to the pricing of the am/pm model, not the PT which is indeed lovely!
patrick_y April 14th, 2026-10:19
Oh! My mistake! $41,000 USD was actually slightly lower than I expected - as I was expecting them to charge more than $7K for titanium case and bracelet over steel. I think that's about right for a Vacheron Constantin. The steel Chopards are around $30K a piece and have ...
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Gregineugene
Here's an interesting story regarding Cartier, JLC et al and the genesis of the Reverso. It's probably well known to most people here but it's news to me and maybe some other WPS-ers.
Gregineugene
It is from the Sotheby's catalog for an upcoming auction in Hong Kong April 24, 2026. https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2026/important-watches-4/tank-reversible-a-yellow-gold-rectangular?locale=en The Reverso case was developed by the designer René-Alfred Chauvot, who filed his patent in France under no. 712.868 on 4 March 1931. The patent application was described as being for: ‘[Une] Montre susceptible de coulisser dans son support et pouvant se retourner complètement sur elle-même’ – that is, a watch ...
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