Compared to the larger, more established watch fairs, Geneva Watch Days feels like something of a spiritual counterweight. Founded in 2020, when the world was turned topsy-turvy by the Covid pandemic, its deliberately decentralised format allowed participating maisons to present themselves across the city, rather than in a single convention centre.
From the outset, it was designed to feel very different from its larger peers. For a start, it has always accommodated brands of very different sizes and resources, allowing smaller independents and young watchmakers the opportunity to stand alongside the industry’s biggest names; something that can be considerably harder to do at the larger fairs. This combination lends the event a certain dynamism. I know what you’re thinking. ‘Dynamic’ isn’t one of those words commonly bandied about when it comes to horology. This is, after all, an industry that trades heavily in pedigree and provenance, where tradition and heritage are not merely virtues but are often built into the product itself. Wonderfully reassuring though that continuity is, it can also make the entire enterprise feel a tad formal; forbidding, even.
Which is perhaps why you tend to see some of the more daring, interesting and envelope-pushing releases at Geneva Watch Days. Brands have room to make slightly less conventional, more collector-oriented moves. It also sets the stage rather nicely for releases that are a little more playful and experimental.
Several of the trends we’ve been seeing across the industry make an appearance here, too: stone dials used in exquisite ways; the continued miniaturisation of serious watchmaking; and a renewed appreciation for the classic, dress-watch aesthetic. But above all, technical mastery and innovation are reimagined and reinterpreted for an audience increasingly gravitating towards timepieces that communicate authenticity and feel self-assured. Without further ado, here are (just) some of our favourite releases from Geneva Watch Days 2026.
BVLGARI OCTO FINISSIMO X VIANNEY HALTER
The wonderfully bonkers collaboration that shouldn’t work but somehow just does. Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani called the collaboration with Halter “a personal achievement”. Halter spent his early career restoring antique clocks and watches and worked alongside people who would become giants of independent watchmaking, including François-Paul Journe. His steampunk aesthetic combines surprisingly winningly with what is unmistakably the signature of the Octo Finissimo. Not one but two modern classics reinterpreted. This dual-time reference is limited and available in titanium and in pink gold.
ALTO ART 02
Creative director Raphaël Abeillo, formerly of Cartier, has released the ART 02, ALTO’s second watch, which treats its titanium case, integrated bracelet and clasp as one continuous architectural form. The striking geometry continues across the dial, where concentric octagonal lines frame the hour markers. The result is a study in precision, visual lightness and legibility. The seconds hand retains ALTO’s signature counter-clockwise rotation – a small but deliberate rejection of convention. It is the kind of design-led experimentation that independent watchmaking does particularly well.
ZENITH CHRONOMASTER SOLO SPORT
Another super interesting reveal. The first three-hand watch in the Chronomaster line. Wait, so it’s the iconic Chronomaster without a chronograph? The iconic three-coloured subdials are gone? This one opens up a new chapter for Zenith and the El Primero, albeit one that is grounded in the very essence in which it was conceived. Introduced in 1969 as the world’s first automatic integrated high-frequency chronograph calibre, the El Primero established its reputation around 5Hz precision. Now, Zenith has distilled that defining quality into a three-hand watch. The chronograph is gone; the high-frequency heart remains. It’s a daring move and deserving of our attention. It also places the Solo Sport in fascinating company. Grand Seiko, for instance, has long made high-frequency, time-only watches a proposition in their own right.
MB&F’S M.A.D.3
Based on the legendary and iconoclastic 82-year-old watchmaker’s Baladin jumping hour timepiece but reimagined to feel like a natural fit in the MB&F oeuvre. It’s a jumping hour complication with a Calabresian twist; the circular jumping hour window makes its way around the dial, indicating the minutes as well. Calabrese was inspired to create it to minimise the abruptness of a conventional jumping hour and more naturally evoke the passage of time. MB&F’s M.A.D. Editions tend to offer the brand’s trademark maverick creativity at prices that are relatively accessible and this is no exception. Beneath the charming elegance of this lies a technically accomplished calibre that has been meticulously adapted to ensure improved stability and efficiency. It will be available in two versions: a blue dial and a pink.
GERALD GENTA GENEVA MINUTE REPEATER GOLDEN OBSIDIAN
How could we not include it? After all, it’s named after the city. I jest. But the minute repeater is genuinely one of my favourite complications. My other favourite, the moonphase, is romantic, mechanically beautiful and, gloriously, rather useless. The minute repeater is all of those things, only amplified: it chimes the hours, quarters and minutes on demand, transforming the passage of time into sound. It’s a feat of imagination, artistry and ingenuity that no machine could conceive. And this one is rendered with a golden obsidian dial, in a case of yellow gold. Technically, this is sublime. The bezel is hollow and the sapphire crystal is intentionally thin, as are the walls of the case, to improve the acoustics.
DANIEL ROTH EXTRA PLAT ROSE GOLD GILT
Daniel Roth is one of the pioneers of independent watchmaking and a champion of traditional techniques. The brand has been revived with the support of La Fabrique de Temps Louis Vuitton and has been doing some truly noteworthy work. If you haven’t already seen it, look into the extraordinary lengths to which it goes to preserve traditional techniques, including the restoration of historic engine-turning machines for hand-executed guilloché. This new execution takes the Montre Objet d’Art further with a true gilt dial, requiring an elaborate multi-stage process. A pinstripe guilloché is painstakingly executed by hand on a rose gold dial. Successive stages of masking and electroplating then create the deep black surface, while the Roman numerals and brand signature are revealed from the gold beneath, rather than applied on top. The result is a wonderfully compact dress watch in Roth’s signature Double Ellipse case. Restrained magnificence and understatement.
ORIS PROPILOT X GONZO
Here’s yet another example of a serious watch that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I have long admired Oris timepieces for their build-quality and attention to detail. And in this instance, the third Oris × Muppets collaboration (following Kermit and Miss Piggy), charm and whimsy are available in spades. It’s a skeletonised ProPilot X with a 10-day power reserve, with Gonzo’s face laser-etched onto the mainspring, gradually appearing and disappearing as the watch winds down. Even the power-reserve hand takes the form of a red chilli, while the colour palette echoes his flamboyant wardrobe.
NAOYA HIDA TYPE 8A
Just a stellar example of obsessive Japanese craftsmanship, distilled into beautifully restrained and unusually compact proportions. Every aspect of this 31mm case ‘modern vintage’ dress watch feels considered. From the hand-engraved Breguet Arabic numerals to the blued steel hands with the tip of the minute hand bent by hand to align precisely with the minute scale (!) At 31mm, it feels almost radical in an era accustomed to 41mm and 42mm men’s watches. Produced in an edition of approximately 20 pieces across 2026 and 2027, it has also been nominated for the final round of the Time Only category at GPHG 2026. This really is less watch, more watchmaking.
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