Business & Industry
WatchPro
Johann Rupert strengthens succession path at Richemont towards his son Anton
Richemont chairman Johann Rupert is reportedly strengthening the succession path toward his son Anton, tightening the family's grip on the luxury group's future leadership. For an industry watching Rupert's every move, the signal matters: succession clarity at the owner of Cartier, IWC, and Jaeger-LeCoultre shapes strategy, dealmaking, and investor confidence for years to come.
WatchPro
Swiss watchmaking’s furlough scheme unwinds but more permanent cost cuts take hold
Deloitte data presented at Geneva Watch Days shows use of Switzerland's RHT short-time working scheme collapsing, from a peak of roughly 120 companies in January 2025 to just over 20 by April 2026, but the firm warns this reflects deeper permanent cuts rather than recovery: suppliers have already slashed capex, capacity and headcount to match a smaller market. Swatch Group stands out as the exception, having refused both furloughs and redundancies to preserve know-how, a bet Nick Hayek says is now paying off as May-July sales accelerate and factory utilization improves. The read-through for the industry: if the supply chain has right-sized to permanently lower volumes, the RHT decline is less a green shoot than confirmation of a structurally smaller Swiss watch business.
WatchPro
Hublot hopes Jeff Koons collaboration will blow-up
Hublot has named Jeff Koons its new Global Ambassador, linking the brand's Art of Fusion identity to one of contemporary art's most bankable names, with a hinted product collaboration to follow in coming weeks. The pitch leans on a shared 1980 origin story, but the commercial logic is plain: Koons is a proven engine for luxury art-world buzz, and Hublot under Julien Tornare wants that halo as it reasserts its case for "substance."
WatchPro
The Collector’s Column: The watches I regret selling, and what they taught me about the market and collecting
Bob's Watches uses its monthly Collector's Column to argue a self-serving but honest point: the best vintage pieces (he name-checks his own gold Rolex Paul Newman "John Player Special" Daytona, sold years ago to a persistent Asian collector) are worth more in replacement value than any market chart suggests. The commercial takeaway for the trade: scarcity compounds because exceptional watches disappear into serious collections and rarely resurface, which is exactly why dealers and price guides keep underselling the true cost of buying one back.
WatchPro
THE BIG INTERVIEW: Girard-Perregaux’s Marc Michel-Amadry cries freedom
Girard-Perregaux managing director Marc Michel-Amadry lays out an independent's strategy: cap production at 5,000 to 6,000 watches a year, skip Watches and Wonders in favor of owned spaces (a new Geneva showroom, Shanghai opening in November), and pour the savings into product, four all-new calibres in 12 months including the Laureato Fifty Tourbillon with platinum micro-rotor. The bet is that better finishing and storytelling beat volume and premiumisation, positioning GP against rivals who have pushed average selling prices to their ceiling. The subtext for retail: a deliberately small partner network and a customer courted through encounters rather than advertising.
Community & Culture
WatchPro
Nico Leonard receives death threat following criticism of Christopher Ward watches
Influencer and secondary-market trader Nico Leonard says he received a death threat after calling Christopher Ward watches "an embarrassment" and "a copy machine with a logo on it," and CW managing director Mike France condemned any such intimidation. The episode is a case study in the commercial value of an owned community: Leonard's Hublot-bashing usually draws cheers, but Christopher Ward's 17,000-strong forum and "Ward of mouth" army closed ranks instantly, which is exactly the brand loyalty every challenger label wishes it could buy.
Worn & Wound
Six From Seiko: A Roundup of Amazing Chronographs From the Depths of (Relative) Obscurity
Worn & Wound digs through six overlooked vintage Seiko chronographs, from the Japan-only 6138-8000 "Baby Panda" and the JASDF-issued 6139 Speed-Timer to the flyback 7018 (once the smallest automatic chronograph), Giugiaro's 7A28-5000 "Steering Wheel," the 1964 Tokyo Olympics 5718 "Counter Chronograph" (100 examples, priced above a Rolex Submariner), and the Kinetic-powered SLQ011 Sportura. It's a reminder that Seiko's midcentury and later back catalog still holds references that command real money as collectors chase rarity beyond the familiar 6139.</parameter> <parameter name="categories">["chronograph", "vintage"]
Fratello
Lancaster Watch Weekend Returns September 25–27, And I Think You Should Go
Lancaster Watch Weekend returns September 25-27 across Lancaster County, PA, co-hosted by the NAWCC, the Hamilton Boutique, RGM Watch Co., and Brent Miller Jewelers, with RGM debuting a special new watch at the Friday launch party. The 13-exhibitor Lancaster Watch Fair leans heavily American independent (RGM, J.N. Shapiro, Weiss, Towson, Vortic, 1776 Atelier (a Fitwell partner), E.F. Bowman, Love Hunter) with Czapek headlining and Seiko, Grand Seiko, and Bell & Ross rounding it out. That a real watch debut and this depth of US independents land at a community-run regional show, not just Geneva, signals where American watchmaking's momentum is actually building.
Watchonista
Watchonista’s 30 Under 30(ish) List for 2026, Part I
Watchonista has published Part I of its fifth annual "30 Under 30(ish)" list, spotlighting young collectors, editors, and watchmakers reshaping the industry. The cohort mixes horological heirs (Pierre Biver, the Grönefeld cousins Lynn and Tijs, Maxime Guenat of the Richard Mille family) with outsiders like Bonniksen co-founder Maximin Chapuis and Fam Al Hut's Dai, whose Möbius won the GPHG Audacity Prize. It is a useful map of who the trade should be watching, and a reminder that succession and independent talent pipelines are the story to track.
Reviews
SJX Watches
Girard-Perregaux Laureato Fifty Tourbillon Micro-Rotor
SJX Watches reviews the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Fifty Tourbillon Micro-Rotor, a 39 mm steel sports watch built on the all-new automatic cal. GP8410 with solid 18k gold bridges, priced at US$100,000 (blue grand feu enamel) or US$95,600 (pink gold dial). They come away pleasantly surprised, praising the thoughtful execution, the Donzé Cadrans enamel dial and the gold-bridge finishing, and rate it as holding its own against the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon: the compact size and enamel dial its edge, the bracelet its weakness. The trade takeaway: the GP8410 is one of four new automatic calibres GP has rolled out in about a year, a clear signal of the investment behind the brand's reboot since the 2022 management buyout.
Worn & Wound
Hands-On Impressions of the New M.A.D.Editions M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese
Worn & Wound went hands-on with the M.A.D.3, the MB&F spinoff's Geneva Watch Days release built around a wandering jump-hour complication lifted from indie legend Vincent Calabrese's Baladin series (re-engineered for reliability), in a 40mm Eric Giroud case with a La Joux-Perret G101 base at CHF 2,900. The reviewer calls it the most restrained M.A.D. to date and likely his favorite, "weird but not loud," a watch he could actually wear rather than a mere conversation piece. Worth noting: pink is Tribe-members-only while blue goes to general release, and M.A.D.Editions continues distributing via competitive raffles.
New Releases
Fratello
Gray Ceramic Debuts On Two New Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual Time Chronographs
Seiko debuts gray ceramic in the Astron line on two GPS Solar Dual Time Chronographs: the full-gray HAB007 (€3,000) and the darker HAB008 (€3,200), both in 43.24mm titanium cases with ceramic on the bezel, crown cap, and bracelet center links. Notably, both run the 2024 caliber 5X83 (6-9-12 sub-dial layout, 12-hour chrono) rather than this year's 5X63, both offering GPS sync across 38 time zones and a perpetual calendar to 2100. For retailers, it's Seiko keeping a two-year-old movement in active production alongside its newest, a reminder that the Astron's high-tech pitch still leans on look and material as much as caliber.
Hodinkee
Apple Announces The Apple Watch Series 12 And Apple Watch Ultra 4 (Live Pics)
Apple has announced the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, both carrying forward existing designs while adding the new S11 chip and a Health Sensing System that reads heart rate every five seconds, plus a daily Readiness score. Series 12 starts at $399 (aluminum), $699 (titanium), and $899 (new pearl white and night blue ceramic); the 3D-printed titanium Ultra 4 starts at $799 with everyday battery pushed to 50 hours. Both are up for pre-order now with general availability September 18th, a reminder that the world's best-selling wrist devices still keep the traditional industry watching the comments.
Monochrome Watches
The New David Candaux DC6 Wildfire, When Carbon Meets Sunlight
David Candaux adds the DC6 Wildfire to his inclined flying tourbillon line, a 45mm basin-shaped piece in titanium and UD carbon (weighing just 45 grams) with a vivid anodised orange sunburst dial and a 30-degree tourbillon in blue anodised titanium. The hand-wound in-house H74 calibre runs at 21,600vph with a 55-hour reserve; limited to eight pieces at CHF 248,000, each with a 10-year warranty. At that price and run size, this is haute horlogerie squarely aimed at the collector tier that already knows Candaux's Le Solliat output.
Also at: Fratello
Time + Tide
New dials for the Zelos Helmsman Diver make it a hard watch to pin down
Zelos has returned its Helmsman Diver in 316L stainless steel with five new dial configurations: Aventurine, Sky Blue, Carbon, Garnet and Teal MOP, spanning crushed stone, mother-of-pearl, aventurine glass, forged carbon and fully luminous surfaces. The 40mm case (46.5mm lug-to-lug, 12.5mm thick) runs an internal rotating dive bezel via twin crowns, is rated to 200 metres, and houses the Miyota 9015 with roughly 42 hours of reserve, all on a beads-of-rice-style bracelet. Now available from the Zelos online boutique, priced from US$549 (Garnet) to US$599 (Aventurine, Carbon, Teal MOP), with Sky Blue at US$569.
Monochrome Watches
The Jacob & Co. Brilliant Flying Tourbillon, with the First Diamond-Set Balance Wheel in Modern Watchmaking
Jacob & Co. has unveiled the Brilliant Flying Tourbillon Baguette Pastel Arlequino, a unique piece the brand claims is the first in modern watchmaking to set diamonds (54 of them) directly onto the balance wheel. The 42mm 18K white-gold case is invisibly set with 194 baguette-cut pastel sapphires and 32 white diamonds, housing the self-winding JCFA02 flying-tourbillon calibre (72-hour reserve, 184 components, bridges set with 234 diamonds). It's a one-off, priced on request.
Hodinkee
Five New Louis Vuitton Tambour Spin Time References
Louis Vuitton is moving its Tambour Spin Time into the permanent collection with five precious-metal references: the 39.5mm Spin Time Green in white gold ($85,500), the 42.5mm suspended-movement Spin Time Air in white gold ($94,500), the world-time Antipode in blue ($119,000), the gem-set Australian Opal dial in rose gold with baguette diamonds and sapphires ($189,000), and the salmon-dial Flying Tourbillon in platinum ($199,000). All run on in-house La Fabrique du Temps calibers and are available (not limited) through Louis Vuitton boutiques. Notable that after the 2025 Taiko limited editions, LV is committing this in-house-built jump-hour complication to its standing lineup.
Also at: Fratello
WatchTime
Hanhart Preventor HD12 Returns in a Compact 36mm Edition
Hanhart has shrunk its Preventor HD12 to a 36mm case (10.5mm thick, 43mm lug-to-lug, 20mm lugs) in a 200-piece run made with British collector Russell, aka "MAD Watch Collector," pairing a matte Schwarzwald-green dial with the brand's hardened HD12 steel (up to 1,200 HV) and 150m water resistance. It runs a Hanhart-regulated Sellita SW 200-1 (38-hour reserve, no date), priced at €1,140/$1,320 on strap and €1,340/$1,550 on bracelet. The smaller size answers repeated demand and positions Hanhart to capture the compact tool-watch buyer that larger cases had priced out on the wrist.
WatchTime
Meet the Tutima Flieger T5: A Lightweight Take on the Pilot’s Watch
Tutima has added the Flieger T5 to its aviation line, a 38.5mm Grade 5 titanium instrument-style pilot in black or blue dials, running the Glashütte-regulated Tutima 330 automatic (ETA-based, 41-hour reserve) at 12.5mm thick and 100m water resistance. It runs €2,350 (about $2,700) on the titanium bracelet and €1,950 (about $2,300) on a Horween leather strap. The pitch leans on Tutima's titanium credibility going back to its 1980s Bundeswehr and NATO chronographs, and the sub-39mm case answers the market's shift toward smaller, lighter pilots.
Monochrome Watches
The Ulysse Saint-Petersbourg by Beauregard x Vianney Halter
Beauregard and Vianney Halter return for a second Ulysse collaboration at Geneva Watch Days 2026: the Saint-Petersbourg, a Fabergé-inspired piece whose dial sets 85 hand-carved colored gemstones in rose gold lacework over a mother-of-pearl disc, with hands driven by a Halter-developed peripheral mechanism. The 41mm pink gold case houses an UhrTeil SA-30-based movement (21,600 vph, 56-hour reserve) with Halter's mysterious sapphire-disc winding system. Limited to 10 pieces at CHF 148,000 excl. taxes.
Time + Tide
Czapek returns to its Geneva roots with two very different shades of blue
Czapek marked its new Quai des Bergues 27 flagship in Geneva with two blue limited editions at Geneva Watch Days 2026. The Midnight in Geneva revives the 2019 name in a 40.5mm steel case with dark blue aventurine dial and the seven-day, manually wound Calibre SXH1, limited to 18 pieces at CHF 20,400 (US$28,600 excl. tax). The Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue, built with Bernhard Lederer, houses the open-worked double-escapement Calibre 8 in a 41.8mm platinum case, limited to 10 numbered pieces at CHF 103,000 (US$144,200 excl. tax), both sold through the flagship and authorised retailers.
Podcasts
Hodinkee
The Business of Watches Podcast: A Market Roundup Of Geneva Watch Days Releases With Tim Jeffreys And TanTan Wang
Tim Jeffreys, TanTan Wang, and Andy break down the Geneva Watch Days releases from Gallet, Bulgari, Oris, Frederique Constant, Girard-Perregaux, MB&F, Doxa, and Tudor, with particular focus on where Breitling's revived Gallet lands in the cut-throat $3,000 to $6,000 segment as Swiss volumes slide.
Fratello
Fratello On Air: The Trends At Geneva Watch Days 2026
Fratello On Air's Michael and Balazs recap the overarching trends at Geneva Watch Days 2026 (jump-hours, stone dials, deep-red dials, and ever-thinner cases) plus key releases from Gallet, Alpina, Frederique Constant, and Zenith, useful for anyone tracking where the market is heading into year-end.