As the calendar year begins anew, we find ourselves gravitating back to the question of now — that is to say, the question when is now? This first came up in an opinion piece that skirted around the issue of relativity, which when applied to time simply states that observers moving at anything other than the speed of light will not agree on when is now. To use this story as an example, when the story was written, it was “now” for the writer, but it unfolds before you in a different “now.” Thus, your present is the author’s future, and you will not agree with the author’s definition of now. As an aside, if you move at the speed of light, then time does not pass for you. It is a veritable eternity of present tense.

If the above preamble is on its way to convincing you that we have lost the plot here, we are grateful that we have not lost you yet. Allow us to provide some context — we considered the idea of the relative present in our last issue, when we zoomed in on the GMTMaster II — not this Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II in white gold with Cerachrom dial (overleaf) but you get the idea. All multi-time zone watches relay the idea of two or more different “nows” that are a part of a standard “now.” This shared standard “now” is what happens to be now for the entire planet, which rotates on its axis at 1,600 km/h at the equator and zooms around the sun at 107,000 km/h.

Before moving on, it is indeed annoying that our rotational speed is relative too, with apparent speed at the poles being, well, zero. And yes, for those of you who know us well, this segment is still about the 2025 watches that have not received enough attention or simply surprised us by existing. We will get there, we promise; in fact, we will get there post-haste because it is easy to see that this is a story about watches that are soon to be, or could be.

You might think that because we did not highlight this “lefty” GMT-Master II (previous page), that might merit the watch an honourable mention. Technically it does because it might be significant in future (the dial is the story here), and thus we have a neutral yet typically appealing image to open this broad-ranging story. Yet this watch is not on our list proper; it is here because our actual selections do not have great so-called hero images. For those who want more watches in this story, well we have selected some for this introduction just to support image needs, without drawing on the watches in the actual list. Enjoy!

ON MERIT ALONE

Last year, we went even further, narratively, and cited Patek Philippe models but we will forego that because we have narrowed our mandate. The point stands though that some watches will be forgotten or get short shrift because of poor image quality. This is unfortunate because the watches are not being judged on their own merits.

This year, a couple of Oyster Perpetual models slipped past us, so the Crown actually qualifies for a place on this list. After all, prominence is relative and take it from the professionals, plenty of brands executives think their watches deserve more coverage than they have gotten. No matter how many stories were written; engagements generated; and likes smashed. Truly, the publicity machine cannot be sated, and a watch of the moment — a “nowness” watch — must stay in that moment for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that is true even when the publicity machine itself does not support the watches in question. However, no watch is included here at the request of any brand or retailer.

In the context of both publicity machines and currency, coverage is always lacking and a great case in point here must be the Omega Planet Ocean makeover. Plenty of specialist and general media covered this audacious move, including us on Luxuo.com, but we cannot shake the feeling that the collection deserved more. Part of the problem has to do with when Omega revealed the watches, late into the last quarter of last year. While this meant the brand avoided having to compete with its traditional rivals and the major noisemakers of the year, but it also came at a steep price.

RIDING THE WAVE

Omega probably missed the cut for all the year-end round-ups, barring those that had chosen to stop the presses (metaphorically for digital). Crucially, it likely missed out on potential favourable notices versus all other dive watches. The brand may yet reap some dividends in the lead-up to Watches and Wonders Geneva, but it would have had a better shot of this had it debuted closer to the fair. Now, we and others have said that the way out of this is to participate in a watch fair and ride a wave that everyone is making. As Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Guido Terreni noted, a fair like Watches and Wonders Geneva is the one time that the world pauses to consider the strange and parochial realm of traditional watchmaking. When a brand chooses to operate from the sidelines, especially a large one that needs a lot of publicity, it is working against its own interests.

The obsession with news to report is not just an existential one, which of course it is in our context. There are practical concerns beyond this because how could you, the potential buyers, to be crude about it, be interested in what you are not up on? Even if you read everything out there and are on every mailing list, you will still miss something. A case in point that we discovered as we were putting this story together is the Ball Engineer III Endurance 1917 TMT. This is a watch that we did not know existed, and Ball is not some obscure Kickstarter microbrand.

More than anything else, the above example informs our faith that this entire segment, and stories like it, are aimed at and relevant to the broader enthusiast community. This remains true as long as we remain conscious that context rules. On that note, by way of convoluted segues, we can finally return full force for a recap of how this story has evolved. Normally this is not important, but we noted last year that we may not get into the hidden gems of 2025 because market realities have shifted in such a way that hype no longer rules the roost.

BEATING THE HYPE

Here we finally get into the “now” of things, delivering on the context that we promised. There is no longer a notion of an “It” watch or watches that everyone absolutely has to have. Cast your mind back to the heady yesteryears, with the MoonSwatch on one end and the Royal Oak or Nautilus on the other. Ardour in the world of watches has cooled even as the world heated up, and keeps heating up. While that will likely remain true in the longer term, thankfully, we are still in the business of generating warm and fuzzy feelings right now. Perhaps we should say right “now.”

When we call a watch popular or say it might be a game-changer, all that is reference to “nowness.” This can feel all-important but not so much for individual members of our community. This segment celebrates that fact. We have not lost sight that our discourse is still all about spending relatively large sums of money on objects that have little intrinsic value, other than what we (enthusiasts and collectors) bring to them. Those last sentences are a spin on what we wrote last year, and we hope we have given them added weight for this story.

For the record, we must once again note that this list is not meant to be negative; that is to say, a watch that appears here is not something that failed to launch, so to speak. While we do trust that our story speaks for itself clearly, we should also banish any untoward sentiments. This does not mean there are no criticisms to be had, as the passages about Omega and Ball demonstrate. All criticism here is, without exception, about general practices and not specifically related to a watch model, or family of models.

Beyond any doubts about shade, we should also note that the watches selected here are not surprise hits, in the way that Hades II or Clair Obscur might be for those not into gaming. Again, a general audience might be more than a little surprised by some of the watches here; this is not you, dear reader. Well, you might be surprised by our specific calls but no watch here will totally surprise you. Here, we have to acknowledge the superstar effect, as economist Felix Koenig noted, although he was writing about pop cultural products. We would argue that watches are also cultural products, and the looming shadow of a certain Geneva giant proves this product category has entities that function like superstars, as Koenig would have it.

MATTERS OF PERSPECTIVE

For some collectors, it will be news that a couple of current Rolex novelties are somewhat obscure. For other sorts of collectors, any sentence with the word Rolex in it has no relevance to them. This is fair enough — we acknowledge and embrace it. Our inclusion of certain mainstream numbers here will mean that deserving watches from independents get short shrift. This also includes our decision to situate Omega and even Ball in this introduction. This is simply a consequence of our still broad mandate, which is the very same one that led to our omissions in the first place. The irony is not lost on us.

That said, we have tried to be as strict as possible with ourselves here. Well, as much as we could given that we are still looking at watches through our own lens, or loupe if you will. We cannot know what we do not know, for example, just as we noted in this same special last year. Perhaps we will manage to recruit a guest editor with very different prerogatives to our own for a future Spring issue. But for now, allow us to continue with the story that we currently put together.

We immediately discount all watches and brands that have been on our covers, that we shot, or that received coverage more prominent than a single mention. We also omit special pieces that appeared towards the end of 2025, such as the unique piece from Parmigiani Fleurier, and all watches that bowed in towards the end of the last quarter. On the last point there, these releases have not had time to be properly ignored and we may yet get around to not missing them in our Vision issue.

SLIPPING THROUGH THE CRACKS

As is traditional, we will also omit releases from brands we covered last year in this special. Yes, even if we did not spend much (or any) time at all on novelties from those brands. That means no Tissot, TAG Heuer, Piaget, Mido, Montblanc, Hermes, Grand Seiko, Gerald Charles, Doxa, Citizen, Chanel, Bovet, Breguet and Armin Strom. It feels like we could make a list of perfectly lovely watches from Montblanc and Piaget in particular that do not receive the attention they deserve, but at least in the case of Piaget, the stone dial beauties and Andy Warhol moves have raised the brand’s efforts up past 2024 at least. We could have also chosen a Gerald Charles piece, but the brand is finally available in Singapore this year, at Emperor, so Singapore collectors will get to decide for themselves how they feel.

As always, there are many deserving watches that are not on the exclusion list that we will still be omitting. It is simply impossible to cover everything deserving attention and this brings us to another caveat here, this one related to blind spots in coverage from all parties. Such blind spots emerge organically and are not part of any specific bias, other than audience interest, partially. Even here, as demonstrated by the Rolex pieces, there will still be watches the media fail to even mention. Try as we might, we cannot account for all the reasons that explain why some watches slip through the cracks. Paradoxically, this is why some gems stay hidden and explains why there are always surprises.

Our intention with this annually recurring segment is to acknowledge our limitations, not correct all weaknesses. Any attempt at the latter amounts to arrogance that we cannot muster. Just to put it out there, we do not hold back on some watches just so this list can happen every year. Frankly, there is no need; there will always be watches we did not get to.

ROLEX OYSTER PERPETUAL 41

Just how does it happen that any Rolex can be overlooked? Unsurprisingly, the answer has more to do with how any given brand structures information about new releases. You might be used to thinking of maybe a dozen or so new watches from a single brand, counting all references. It seems reasonable and logical but has no real basis in evidence. Any brand could opt to release a new model in every existing collection, or throw in a new collection for good measure. Said brand could even do all that and more, while also not crediting all the watches as novelties.

For example, go to the Rolex website and look for the Oyster Perpetual 41 models with lavender and candy pink dials. You will not find these listed under the new watches of 2025 list. Instead, you will need to use the configurator page to spec out your potential Oyster Perpetual and look for the dial options available for 41mm models. Go ahead and take a look.

This has the very strange effect of making it seem like these dial options were always available for the Oyster Perpetual 41 models, but that is simply not the case. These big boys are new, and we confirmed this informally with retailers and Rolex proper. This makes the lavender and candy pink dial Oyster Perpetual 41 watches true hidden gems — hidden in plain sight that is! Well, relative plain sight because there are no print-quality press images of these watches. What we are using here are variants with the same dial colours, which is just wild. The obvious question is who might benefit from knowing about these relatively vanilla standards. To answer that, at least partially, it helps to know a little about the Oyster Perpetual collection.

Seasoned collectors will recall that the Oyster Perpetual (or OP for the OGs) is the direct descendant of the 1926 Oyster, the very first water-resistant wristwatch (that used non-perishable materials to do the trick). The Oyster case, a signature for Rolex, starts here, and Rolex does like to think of this as the gateway to the brand experience. It is a simple three-hander and does not even include a date, so it does make for a great starter. The case material is Oystersteel and the bracelet is the Oyster standard. Truly, it is oysters all around and all the way down. The movement is the same as other 41mm models, the automatic calibre 3230 with approximately 70 hours of power reserve. A note here about the lavender dial model — it is also new in 28mm as seen here, and that model is powered by a different movement, the automatic calibre 2232.

So, who is this watch for and who might be surprised by it? Well, everyone because Rolex appeals to so many people that we cannot even call the entire potential audience collectors or enthusiasts. There are multitudes of buyers for Rolex watches that do not exist for other brands. Consider yourselves informed!

ROGER DUBUIS HOMMAGE LA PLACIDE PERPETUAL CALENDAR

This one is an omission on our part, not the broader watch enthusiast world. More than any one watch, the brand Roger Dubuis itself can feel beyond reach. It shares this characteristic with some big names, including Richard Mille and F.P. Journe. Without the late founding watchmaker at the helm, though (Dubuis passed in 2017), the brand cannot quite leverage his own legacy in the same effortless way. Indeed, after Dubuis retired from the brand that bears his name in 2003, the Geneva firm’s ethos diverged sharply from the watchmaker’s. For example, the Excalibur series has little to do with the watchmaker himself, and this collection has come to define how people see and think of Roger Dubuis, the Richemont-owned brand.

Whatever is happening at Roger Dubuis, we are unabashedly enthusiastic about the Hommage La Placide Perpetual Calendar. This is the sort of watch that the brand has been missing, which is not to say that the ultra-contemporary style that has defined the brand for the last decades is a mistake. Not that we think this perpetual calendar is destined to become a game-changer but let us back up and explain by digging into the model. To begin with, the Hommage name refers to one of two original case styles by Roger Dubuis, with this one being in the classic round style (we have no room here to get into the Sympathie but if you do not know it, do check it out). Another signature here is the style of the perpetual calendar, with day of the week and date in retrograde form (at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock, respectively). When Roger Dubuis pioneered this sort of perpetual calendar module in the 1980s, it was novel — if you saw this display, you knew it was Roger Dubuis.

While this latest Hommage is limited to 28 pieces (classic Roger Dubuis there), it is very fitting for the present moment. The pink gold case is 38mm and the in-house movement, which rather incredibly includes the RD72 module from 1999, is probably just the right size here. Whatever direction the brand decides to move towards, we think the classic Roger Dubuis style can co-exist with the brand’s epic contemporary vibe. Bring on the fully reimagined calibre for the refreshed Hommage collection!

CHRISTOPHER WARD C12 LOCO

While the Loco part of this watch’s name refers to a certain locomotive vibe (according to CEO Mike France), it really hits when you learn the price: $6,550. Value judgement aside, we cannot recall the last time a watch looked so far beyond the cost. For those of you who love cars, think of this as a Toyota 2000GT or Honda NSX. If you know anything about the sort of watch we might cover, the Loco has the air of something special but that is not why it is on this list. Obviously, we have not covered this watch at all since its release so that plays into our rationale in this segment but the more important part is who should know about the Loco. The answer is everyone.

The Loco is a time-only watch that was to be the next Bel Canto for Christopher Ward, or at least that was the popular narrative. The landmark hour striker made everyone, us included, look hard at the British brand (in the best way possible). The Loco has some visual similarities with the Bel Canto, even though it does not have a surprise complication. This time-only model does pack surprises aplenty, though, including that prominently unusual position for the balance (and escape wheel too). If you worry about watches looking relatively generic while claiming to be genre-defining, the Loco will ease your mind. In fact, the CW-003 calibre here is an in-house development that boasts 144 hours of power reserve.

The clever bit is that this is a reworking or reimagining of calibre SH21, the brand’s first in-house effort in 2014; the brand is open about this and declares it in the press release. Observers note that it is even more clever that the SH21 is based on the workhorse Valjoux 7750, given that you will struggle to find these generic roots anywhere in the CW-003. Take a good look at the movement, front and back and revel in the delicious architecture that maintains a high degree of mechanical mystique.

As noted upfront, despite the great buzz surrounding the Loco, it needs to be seen and experienced by more enthusiasts. Go forth and spread the good news because this watch is very much still available. Hit us up with your thoughts on this watch if you get it.

F.P. JOURNE CHRONOMÈTRE FURTIF

We admit that for this watch, the name sold us and then we saw it…a literal dark horse for our story on dark horses. Is there anything more “stealth timekeeping” than an F.P. Journe watch? Well, the negative implications of the word Furtif in English aside, any Journe watch has to contend with a reputation for being unattainable, and the price is not the limiting factor. It always feels like there are secrets wrapped in an enigma when it comes to any given Journe watch. That there was a model called Furtif last year was just too on the nose to ignore. The stealth credentials here are reinforced by the black-on-black dial, where the brand name is heavily obscured. In a way, this also informed our interest in the Furtif for this list.

Of course, the Chronomètre Furtif is absolutely the wrong watch to wear for stealth purposes, if you will be surrounded by other collectors and the like. It is, in fact, a fine way to attract attention in that case. But we have gone on too long without saying what the Furtif is… In a nutshell, the Chronometrie Furtif is a time-only watch, where the rose gold (mostly) calibre 1522 is nestled within a tungsten carbide case. The beautifully finished movement with gold parts is only to be expected from F.P. Journe, but the case and the matching bracelet are exceptional. The brand says this is the first time in watchmaking that tungsten carbide has been used for both a case and bracelet (the bracelet also has tantalum elements, for those still pining for the Chronomètre Bleu).

For all that, we return to the dial for a measure of why this watch might be worth more attention than it received. It is a grand feu enamel dial on a base of white gold, and it features laser-engraved markings. This adds to the sporty and contemporary feel, which is very much juxtaposed against all that is traditional about the watch, and perhaps even the brand F.P. Journe. Something like this is very difficult for most brands to consistently pull off but Journe owns a dialmaker… Hence, this Furtif might be more significant than what might otherwise be expected. The same is true for the case and bracelet, as F.P. Journe also owns its own casemaker (although we are not certain about the Furtif bracelet’s origins).

More than anything technical, the low-key style of the brand name on the dial lends the watch a kind of gravitas. It confronts the reasons people buy watches in much the same way as the Christopher Ward model does. If you are truly passionate about F.P. Journe, this hefty watch is the proof in the pudding. That being said, getting your mitts on this piece will be a challenge no matter who you are.

TUDOR 1926 LUNA

If there is one mainstream brand we have been remiss in our coverage of, it must be Tudor. Well, we have two mentions for the brand this issue, although this one is the only true 2025 novelty. You would think that a Tudor with a moon phase display would be bigger news but that is not how it worked out. We expected our peers to be absolutely rabid about it — a dressy moon phase watch from Tudor merits nothing less. Teddy Baldassarre called the 1926 the most underappreciated Tudor range four years ago but he had a whole lot of silence on his YouTube channel on the Luna. Arguably, this is the most underappreciated Tudor since the North Flag.

To be clear, the 1926 has been far from the limelight for a long time but it remains more closely aligned with the contemporary Tudor ethos than the North Flag (which is more like a future Tudor, but we digress). In fact, this magazine has regularly made space in the Spring issue for a 1926 model of some kind because it is often the last of the brand’s novelties that we have not covered. Here we are again, in 2026, for the 1926 Luna, but this time it has more to do with the dressy moon phase aesthetic than anything else. Well, there is also Tudor’s prominent naming of Jay Chou here, as a bit of a creative force in the development of the watch itself. This has led some to speculate loudly about an East Asian vibe; it is common to ‘handwave’ those watches that are made for specific markets.

Of course, this unfairly sidelines the 1926 Luna while also making a fair point about who the watch might appeal to. It is an unusual watch, not only in the complication but also in that Tudor has gone with a Selita movement here, not a Kenissi one. Price ($3,840) might factor into this, and here market considerations really might be key. In short, the opportunity here is that a watch possibly meant for a specific market might find unexpected fans in others. This happens all the time, with models becoming so popular in some markets that collectors end up travelling to others to pick it up. We have no idea if that will be the story of the Luna 1926 and only time will tell.

This story was first seen as part of the WOW #83 Spring 2026 Issue

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