Collectors’ picks: Best new watches of the year

From a show-stopping chronograph to a limited edition collab between two Parisian watchmakers, these are the pieces that turned collectors' heads this season

Matt Chung

“My favourite release is The No. 8 by Otsuka Lotec. Honestly, this isn’t my favourite model by Otsuka, but I have been a big fan of the brand ever since I got introduced to their No. 6, the industrial design makes the brand stand out among the independent watchmaker brands. I feel like for a small scale brand like this, sometimes you support the founder’s vision by trying to support every release, given its retail is still very reasonable and affordable compared to any other brands out there. As for No. 8, my favourite thing about it is the design language – that it’s more of a control panel than a dial.”

Wil Fang

"I’ve always been an AP guy, so my favourite release this year was the new Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Openworked. What stood out to me is that it feels incredibly modern while still staying true to everything that makes a Royal Oak special. The mix of materials, the level of craftsmanship, and the way the watch comes together just feels really thoughtful. It’s not the loudest watch in the room, but the more time I spend looking at it, the more I appreciate all the details. For me, that’s what great design is all about."

Jackie Ho

“The Aaron Becsei Pameus is easily my favourite release of 2026. For two decades, Becsei operated as watchmaking’s ultimate éminence grise, hand-crafting a minute number of highly ornate, ultra-exclusive pieces under his historical banner. The Pameus marks a massive milestone, seeing him step into his full name and deliver his very first round series watch, a stunning stylistic collaboration with artist and designer Mo Coppoletta.

Named after the Latin Patronus Meus (‘My Patron’), the watch is a direct tribute to the collectors who preserve disappearing, elite manual crafts. It is a masterclass in clean, neoclassical restraint. A beautifully proportioned 38mm platinum case houses a deep, faultless onyx dial, pulling back on the baroque lines of his past work to shift the focus entirely to pure symmetry, flawless countersinks and hyper-clean Art Deco layout choices. Turning the case over reveals a completely new, proprietary in-house time-only movement. While the layout leans minimalist, the execution is opulent, featuring the multi-layered depth, sharp interior angles and flawless hand-finishing that places Aaron’s work at the absolute summit of modern artisanal watchmaking. In my opinion, it is one of the best three handers to be made in recent times and a future GPHG winner – a legendary watchmaker stepping into his defining era.”

Johnathan Chan

“My favourite release is the Baltic x Spaceone collab, the Seconde Majeure, because it’s the perfect embodiment of both brands – it combines Baltic’s classical aesthetic with Spaceone’s signature jump hour. It’s also extremely well priced at 2500 euros, featuring an interesting complication, great proportions and relatively good finishing for the money. My personal preference is the special edition with Theo Auffret’s finish, as it captures his signature style. It’s a bit more expensive at 3500 euroes, but I think it’s worth it.”

Carson Chan

“Honestly, there were too many strong releases this year to land on just one. But if I had to pick, for balance, I’d go with the Tag Heuer Monaco Evergraph. It’s not the watch that won me over, it’s what’s inside it. Tag Heuer replaced the column wheel and cam-lever switching that’s run chronographs for over a century with a compliant mechanism – flexible structures that just bend to fire the function. That’s not a refinement, that’s a different way of thinking about how a chronograph works. Most ‘innovation’ talk in watches this year was finishing or material swaps. This was actual engineering innovation, in a watch you can walk into a boutique and buy.”

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