Chronometer certifications and in-house quality seals reflect watchmaking’s longstanding pursuit of precision. Portable timekeeping emerged in the 16th century, but watches initially relied on a single hour hand; accuracy improved enough to support minute hands only in the late 17th century.
Van Cleef & Arpels is celebrating 20 years of its Poetry of Time philosophy in 2026. The approach has shaped the brand’s development of watch complications that combine mechanical watchmaking with poetic expression.
Hamilton has debuted the American Classic Cushion collection, powered by its new H-47 hand-wound calibre. The movement enables the brand to offer the collection in classically sized proportions.
Urwerk’s titanium UR-300 Time Quantum replaces conventional wandering-hour arms with two independent bars forming a T-frame and carrying four three-sided prisms. Each hour, the bars exchange positions, their supporting carousel advances 72 degrees, and the prisms rotate simultaneously. The active hour numeral tracks minutes along a 108-degree arc at six o’clock.
Why it matters: This represents a substantive reworking of the wandering-hours architecture that has defined Urwerk since 1997, rather than simply a new case or dial treatment.
Atelier Mephalie is returning with three in-house minute repeaters from Shanghai. The comeback revives a dormant watchmaking brand with roots in the late 19th century, choosing complicated chiming watches for its return.
Mido’s Multifort TV Big Date Chronometer introduces COSC certification to the series. Its 40 × 39.2mm stainless-steel case houses the automatic Calibre 80 COSC, with a Nivachron hairspring and up to 80 hours of power reserve. Blue and black-grey versions offer 100m water resistance and steel bracelets, priced at CHF 1,350 or EUR 1,550.
Ressence’s Type 10 DN (Dark Night) is its first oil-filled watch powered by the RW-01 manufacture calibre, unveiled earlier this year. A dark-blue titanium case pairs with a matching rubber strap. The rotating ROCS display operates in oil, magnetically coupled to the mechanical movement housed in a separate, air-filled compartment.
NOMOS Glashütte has launched the Metro Date Power Reserve Ice Blue with a new in-house movement. The release extends the German watchmaker’s Metro collection, introduced in 2014, which combines minimalist contemporary design with mechanical sophistication.
Renaud Tixier’s Monday Skeleton reworks its debut watch with the skeletonized RVI2025 calibre, featuring 262 components, 238 inward angles and at least 72 hours of power reserve. Its patented platinum microrotor system uses an inertia wheel and propulsion spring to capture energy from subtle wrist movements, while a decoupling mechanism protects against shocks. Finishing is performed by hand in Tolochenaz, Switzerland.
The Maltese cross mechanism serves several purposes in mechanical watch movements. Originally developed to restrict a mainspring’s working range, it is also used in perpetual calendars and unconventional jumping-hour complications, extending its application beyond its original role.
Ressence has unveiled the Type 10 DN, its first watch to combine the brand’s proprietary base calibre with its oil-filled display module. The debut edition is limited to 100 pieces and features an organically shaped titanium case with a dark blue DLC coating.
NOMOS Glashütte’s Metro Date Power Reserve ice blue, reference 1121, pairs a 37mm stainless-steel case, 8mm thick, with the new manual-winding DUW 4701. It offers quick-set date adjustment, a 52-hour power reserve and 50m water resistance. Priced at $4,500 in the US and from €3,280 in Spain, it accompanies a movement update for the white-dial version.
NOMOS Glashütte’s new Metro Datum Gangreserve eisblau uses the hand-wound DUW 4701 calibre, continuing a development story that began 23 years ago. Its patented power-reserve display dates to 2003, when 125 customers were invited to test the technology in everyday use.
Rolex turns the Padellone collector nickname into an official watch line with the Perpetual Padellone. The watch combines an annual calendar with jumping indications, a Dynapulse escapement and a meteorite moon, bringing these features together under the newly formalized name.
Why it matters: A new Rolex line combining calendar complications with the Dynapulse escapement suggests a broader application of the brand’s movement technology.
The Porsche Design Chronograph 1 Utility Hodinkee Limited Edition continues the brand’s military-watch heritage dating to 1979. Its new WERK 01.340 movement brings back a central 60-minute chronograph counter and a 24-hour display in a modern implementation.
Rolex introduced the Perpetual collection in 2023 with the new 7100 caliber series. These movements deliver the brand’s high chronometric performance through an approach that differs from much of its other watchmaking.
Rolex’s Perpetual Padellone revives the calendar styling of reference 8171 with a meteorite moonphase display and an annual calendar. Three versions in Everose gold and platinum use the new 5 Hz calibre 7190 with a Dynapulse escapement. The second model in the Perpetual collection draws on movement architecture introduced in the Land-Dweller in 2025.
Why it matters: This suggests Rolex is broadening its Perpetual collection into more complicated watchmaking while extending the movement architecture debuted in the Land-Dweller.
Watchmakers pursue demanding technical goals, including ultra-thin construction, complex mechanisms, extensive skeletonization and transparent movements. Those ambitions also include power reserves that extend far beyond practical needs.
Developed over more than three years, McGonigle’s Ogma features a 39.3 mm steel case and the in-house, manually wound McG01 calibre, with 186 components, 38 jewels and a 90-hour power reserve. A differential drives the dial-side power-reserve indicator. Frances McGonigle hand-engraves the barrel bridge in tribute to Irish deity Ogma. Water resistance is 50 metres.
MB&F’s SP One opens its Special Projects series with a 38 mm, bezel-free case and a new in-house movement. The manually wound calibre offers a 72-hour power reserve, arranging the barrel, balance and dial to appear suspended through concealed supports. An inclined dial at six o’clock incorporates conical gearing.
Venezianico’s limited-edition Redentore Utopia introduces the V5000, its first signed calibre, developed and manufactured in Italy with OISA. The hand-wound, 19-jewel movement runs at 3.5 Hz, offers a 60-hour power reserve and claims accuracy of ±3 seconds daily. Its four-bridge architecture includes a variable-inertia balance and separate gear-train branches for seconds and hours/minutes.
Why it matters: The Italian-developed and manufactured calibre suggests Venezianico is pursuing greater industrial independence through local movement-making partnerships.