We’ve just gotten back from the horological heaven that is Watches & Wonders 2026, and to say that Ben Esden and I saw a lot of watches would be an understatement. Between private appointments with the world’s best watchmakers and simply walking down the affluent streets of Geneva, we saw many hundreds of watches in the last week, leaving us both with the question: which were the best?
Obviously, it’d be impossible to write about every watch we loved, so instead, we’re each picking five of our favourite pieces that we haven’t been able to stop thinking about since we begrudingly handed them over at the end of our meetings.
From well-known winners like the Cartier Santos-Dumont and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, to a few more under-the-radar picks like Baume & Mercier’s Clifton and Zenith’s GFJ, we’ll cover a solid range of designs and price points, so you’ve got a bit of an idea about what to check out the next time you’re in a boutique. Let’s get into it.
IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet Le Petit Prince
Complicated watchmaking is always a challenge, but doing it simply is a skill only the very best in the business are capable of doing. That’s exactly what we’ve got here with the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ProSet Le Petit Prince, crafted in 42mm of white ceramic and equipped with the Schaffhausen-based watchmaker’s all-new ProSet perpetual calendar movement.
Why is it so impressive? In short, the biggest issues with most perpetual calendars is if you accidentally set the calendar displays past your current time, the only way to fix it is to visit a watchmaker or simply wait for the necessary time to pass. IWC has solved this problem, arriving with a perpetual calendar that can be set both forward and backward, all via the crown.
No need to memorise complicated setting programs, and no need to worry about breaking your watch. It’s beautifully simple, near-perfectly proportioned as far as size, and a genuinly impressive watchmaking achievement from IWC.
Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Chronographe Mystérieux
If there was only one watch brand that I could see during my first Watches & Wonders, it would almost certainly have been Parmigiani Fleurier, a watchmaker that has consistently proven that you don’t necessarily need to have the biggest name in the game (or even booth) to produce the best watches.
This year, all eyes were on the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF CHRONOGRAPHE Mystérieux; what the brand calls an “invisible chronograph.” At first glance, there’s no sign of a stopwatch function. No subdials, no date window. Just a clean, three-hand layout and a discreet monopusher at 7:30.
Press it once, and the chronograph hands separate from their hidden alignment and swing up to the 12, tracking elapsed seconds and minutes across the full dial, leaving orange hands in the original positions for a truly unique 5-hand chrono. Press it again, and everything stops, leaving the measured time sitting clearly on the main markers. Press it a third time, and everything resets: the hands snap back into alignment, effectively disappearing, and the watch returns to its minimal three-hand look.
It’s peak Parmigani: sleek and stylish with no unnecessary clutter, and my absolute number one pick for best watch at Watches and Wonders this year.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked BMG
It’s not often a watch takes your breath away when you write about them for a living, but this latest Royal Oak Jumbo from Audemars Piguet had that effect on me. Featherweight on the wrist thanks to its titanium and Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) construction, it’s also a visual mechanical masterpiece thanks to its intricately skeletonised dial and movement.
Cartier Santos-Dumont
For a reference as iconic as the Cartier Santos-Dumont, it’s almost unbelievable that 2026 would be the first year that we’d see the French watchmaker pair this cult-favourite with a dressy bracelet as delicate as this. But after seeing it for the first time at Watches and Wonders, I’m glad they waited. It gave me just enough time to pick my jaw up from the floor.
Available in three distinct aesthetics – two 18-carat yellow gold and one platinum – the options for 2026 are among the best releases I’ve seen from the Maison for a long time, giving this revered collection a contemporary evolution that still feels uniquely Cartier. An absolute winner that, once again, dominated W&W conversations this year.
TAG Heuer Evergraph
While IWC was busy revolutionising the perpetual calendar, TAG Heuer was doing it to the chronograph, revealing an all-new Monaco collection powered by a movement that effectively removes all springs and levers from the moving components. The Evergraph arrives in 40mm of titanium and is powered by the Calibre TH80-00, a movement developed by the TAG Heuer LAB alongside Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier that uses two LIGA-fabricated flexible bistable components.
It’s a massive step forward in the way that chronograph movements are designed and manufactured, and flawlessly debuted inside one of the most iconic chronographs in history: the Monaco. With 70 hours of power reserve, 100m of water resistance, and your choice of a blue or black skeletonised dial, it’s a sports chronograph for the 21st century.
Zenith G.F.J. Calibre 135
While plenty of deserved attention goes to Zenith’s chronograph line-up, the watchmaker’s G.F.J. collection is quietly one of its most beautiful timepieces. This year, we’ve got a new version with a green-flecked bloodstone dial and a 39.5mm yellow gold case, powered by the Calibre 135 that was originally developed in the late 40s for timing competitions.
Truly spectacular on the wrist, perfectly sized, and paired with one of the most storied movements in horological history, this one is an obvious winner. However, it’s a limited edition of 161 pieces, and from what I’ve heard, only a few dozen remain unsold.
Panerai Luminor 31 Giorni PAM01631
For the sheer audacity of it, Panerai’s all-new Luminor 31 Giorni has to make this list. It’s watchmaking at its very best, utilising a hand-wound skeleton calibre (with 3.3 metres of mainspring) to deliver an inconceivable 31 days of power reserve on a single wind, all housed within the Luminor’s signature nautical design. Bravo.
Chopard L.U.C 1860 “Areuse Blue”
This latest 1860 from Chopad is L.U.C watchmaking at its very best: unpretentious, understated, and devastatingly beautiful on the wrist. Created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the collection, it’s crafted from Chopard’s proprietary Lucent Steel, measures 36.5mm in diameter (8.2mm thick), and boasts a hand-guilloché blue dial that’s mesmerising in the right light.
Baume & Mercier Classima 10880
With an automatic movement, a refined bracelet that punches well above its price point, and a deep blue dial, Baume & Mercier has just shown you don’t need to break the bank to land a genuinely high-quality Swiss timepiece at Watches and Wonders.
With nearly two centuries of Swiss watchmaking behind it, the brand continues to lean on the workhorse Sellita SW200 movement for the latest generation of Classima novelties, delivering impressive precision alongside a solid 38-hour power reserve. For me, this was the ultimate value proposition in Geneva this year.
Piaget Polo 79 “Sodalite”
From day one, Piaget approached the sports watch differently than its contemporaries, opting to create something that felt closer to jewellery than pure mechanics. And the 2026 release of the Polo 79 collection, released last week at Watches & Wonders, feels no different.
For the first time in the Polo 79 line, this latest evolution introduces a striking sodalite dial. Deep blue, flecked with white, it’s a pearler of a release from the Swiss luxury watchmakers. And more importantly, adds a touch of continuity between all of Piaget’s collections, lifting the stone dial aesthetic, made famous by the brand’s Andy Warhol collection, and adding it to one of Piaget’s most popular designs.
