Editors' Picks: The Biggest Surprises From Watches & Wonders 2026

Now that our editors have had time to digest the volume of new watches presented at this year's show, we're putting them to one last test: picking the watch that left them surprised and amazed amongst all others. From new collections, novel complications, and subtle changes to classic designs, down below, you'll find the watches that strike as the novelty-among-novelties at Watches & Wonders 2026, as told by each member of our editorial team. For full coverage of this year's show, head here. 

Danny Milton: Tudor Monarch

Coming into Watches and Wonders this year, we knew there would be something from Tudor to celebrate 100 years since the Tudor name was registered by Hans Wilsdorf. We didn’t know what it would be, but considering the brand’s tool watch heritage, it seemed logical that some form of Black Bay would be in play. Many had high hopes for the return of the Big Block chronograph (the year is young yet). I don’t think anyone saw the Monarch coming — a new watch, a new collection, a new case style, and an entirely new h-link style bracelet. And so, it has become my surprise of the show. At 39mm, it’s sized right, it’s not too thick, and it toes the line between everyday and something special. It’s error-proof California dial brings a heritage feel, especially with that almost bronze coloration. While it’s not overly marketed as the anniversary piece, it’s still a surprise and a fantastic way for Tudor to be celebrating this occasion.

Mark Bernardo: Patek Philippe Ref. 5249R-001 "The Crow and the Fox" 

While some sources found this year’s Watches & Wonders to be underwhelming in terms of big highlight releases, opining that most brands mostly played it safe, sticking to their strengths rather than taking bold risks, there were indisputably some surprises in 2026’s crop of new timepieces. Probably no one foresaw a collaboration between Moser and Reebok, a month-long power reserve from Panerai, or a California dial from Tudor, for example. And I’ll lay odds that no one had on their pre-W&W bingo card anything like Patek Philippe’s Ref. 5249R-001 "The Crow and the Fox" — the maison’s first automaton watch in its modern history, and one that (perhaps even more surprisingly) is not a limited edition but slated for the regular collection.

The inspiration for the watch’s unusual bi-retrograde time display, on two arc-shaped scales, is the 17th-century fable of the Crow and the Fox that you may remember from grade school. In the fable, a sly, hungry fox approaches a crow holding a piece of cheese and flatters the crow into showing its “beautiful voice” by singing. The crow promptly drops the cheese as it opens its beak to sing, the fox snatches the cheese, and the reader is taught a lesson about the dangers of empty flattery. On the ornately engraved and decorated dial, a fox indicates the hour on one scale, on demand via the push of a button in the case side, with its paw (from zero to 6 o’clock) or its muzzle (from 7 o’clock to 11:59). Maintaining pressure on this pusher activates the minutes display, represented by a cheese-tipped hand dropping from the crow’s beak along the other scale. Releasing the push-button after a check of the time allows both retrograde hands to return to their resting positions. This playful animatronic time display comes courtesy of a complex mechanism in the new, ultra-thin, micro-rotor-driven Caliber 31-260 PS HMD AU, which utilizes a large lever activated by the 2 o’clock pusher, and which appears behind a sapphire window accessible via a hinged “Officer” caseback. 

The case measures 43mm in diameter and is made of 18k rose gold, and the dial has an 18k gold base with 10 hand-engraved appliqués in rose, yellow, and white gold, with a combination of decorative and functional elements like the fox’s head and paws. The dial’s total thickness is a mere 2.5 mm despite its 3D elements and moving parts. The watch, a wrist-worn re-creation of a Louis Cottier-designed automaton pocket watch currently held in the Patek Philippe Museum, is mounted on a shiny, chocolate-brown alligator strap with a rose-gold safety clasp. 

Bilal Khan: Vacheron Constantin Overseas Cardinal Points

Way back in 2021, Vacheron Constantin dropped one of the best contemporary sports travel watches with the ‘Everest’ Overseas Dual Time, which was first teased by Cory Richards a few years before that. These were titanium iterations of Vacheron’s seminal sports watch that were gone as soon as they were announced. This year, Vacheron released what they dub the new Overseas Dual Time Cardinal Points that, unlike the Everest, also come with matching titanium bracelets. Each of these four “Cardinal Points” represents a compass direction: white for the frozen north, brown for the plains of the south, green for the forests of the west, and blue for the eastern horizon.

The Cardinal Points measure 41mm wide and 12mm thick, which is actually a hair thinner than the 12.8mm case of the Everest, as these are the slightly refreshed generation 3.5 cases. Inside is the 5110 DT/3 movement with a solid gold rotor and 60-hour power reserve. The asking price of $41,000 isn’t nothing, but hey, Everest models reached near six-figures on the secondary market.

Jonathan McWhorter: Raymond Weil Millesime The Fifty

There were a lot of interesting releases this year at Watches & Wonders. I could have written about any number of them for the superlative of “Most Surprising” as there are always tend to be some unexpected details across all releases, no matter how big or small. But, for me, one announcement that really struck me as very thoughtful and even surprising was the Millesime The Fifty limited edition chronograph from Raymond Weil.

Celebrating their 50 Year anniversary this year, the brand released a limited edition Millesime chronograph in a run of 50 pieces. On its surface, it seems rather trivial, but the notable point is that these watches all use new-old-stock Valjoux 23-6 movements from 1976, the same year that RW was founded. Each calibre has undergone complete restoration by hand and further decorated for the occasion. All housed in a 37mm steel case with a white gold bezel and beautiful silver dial, this restrained execution (albeit limited) continues to show that Raymond Weil understands what enthusiasts love, and is honing in on their modern catalog in

Erin Wilborn: Hermès Arceau Samarcande

In the past couple of years, much of the buzz around Hermès’ new releases has focused on its latest “Cut” collection, first launching in 2024, then followed up by the “Le temps Suspendu” rendition last year. As a fan of these watches, I was curious to see if the brand would continue its expansion of the collection or flip the script at this year’s show. Ultimately, the latter proved to be true, and Hermès managed to put out a piece that surprised and delighted me beyond expectation with the Arceau Squelette Samarcande. 

The dress-oriented, equestrian-inspired Arceau collection has been a part of the brand’s repertoire since the late 1970s. In the case of this take on the line, we’ve not only gotten a partially skeletonized dial, in the shape of a horse’s head, but the added novelty of a chiming minute repeater complication. I’m not afraid to admit that I was a horse girl growing up (I am from Texas after all), so the playful addition of the horse head, with a blued screw serving as the steed’s eye, is, apparently, right up my alley. Though the key stylistic hallmarks of the Arceau line are well at play, from the swirling typography to the stirrup-shaped lugs, Hermès has introduced an all-new movement here with the manufacture H1927 automatic movement. This one is also surprising in terms of its price tag, which stands at $301,300 for the white gold, non-diamond embellished model. 

D.C. Hannay: Tudor Royal 36

You might expect that my pick for the most surprising watch of Watches & Wonders 2026 would lean toward the outrageous or the exotic, like the  H. Moser & Cie. x Reebok Streamliner Pump, or Ulysse Nardin’s bonkers Super Freak, but no. Rather than dump gallons of gasoline onto the inferno of hype, I’ve gone in a different direction altogether. My pick as the biggest surprise is an attainable Swiss luxury watch that’s leveled up in several meaningful areas: the Tudor Royal, their take on the integrated bracelet genre. Tudor really went all-in on upgrades this year across several model families, but as one of their less-celebrated ranges, the Royal was not on my radar. When the contemporary rendition of the Royal launched in 2020, it was less of an enthusiast’s watch, aimed squarely at non-enthusiast consumers looking for an attainable alternative to front-page heaters from the likes of AP and Patek. 

And I think that mission was largely accomplished, although the Royal family was a bit spread out at launch, with four case sizes including 28mm, 34mm, 38mm, and 41mm, with dials that leaned into flashier looks. But this year, Tudor has streamlined things a bit, while making big gains in several key metrics that improve the Royal in a holistic way. Firstly, they’ve trimmed the case size options to three: 40mm, 36mm, and 30mm, which feels like a better play, with the big, small, and “just right” bases covered. The semi-fluted bezel and sculptural bracelet that define the Royal’s style are still present, but they’re less in-your-face at 36mm. In the previous generation, the 41mm felt comically large on my wrist, with the 38mm still angling in the direction of “notice my watch”, but an integrated 36mm Royal nails the bullseye: plenty of presence, without looking like I’m trying too hard.

Secondly, we have new dial choices, and while the Roman numerals and jeweled configurations are still there for fans of flash, for those that prefer more of a quiet luxury look, the simpler baton index variants go a long way in decluttering the smaller dials. My standout is the 36mm version in the rich sunray green dial, looking more refined and understated than some of its glitzier siblings. The baton index 36 can also be had in blue, two-tone with a brown dial, and ice blue with striking blue indices, sure to be a popular choice. 

Other upgrades include the inclusion of COSC chronometer-certified Manufacture movements across the lineup, with the Calibre MT5412 in the 36mm version a significant step above the previous gen’s Sellita-based power plant. Likewise, the reengineered bracelet is better integrated with improved end links, and it now includes the much-lauded T-Fit clasp and its on-the-fly microadjust. So while visually, the Royal retains much of the attitude of the previous generation, it's the sum of these not-insignificant upgrades that make it feel like a much more mature, more refined, and more complete integrated bracelet model within a crowded field of contenders. That these updates are so seamless and wholly successful is perhaps the biggest surprise of all.