Seven Watch Brands to Watch in 2026

2025 was a big year in the watch industry.

Despite the swirl of economic challenges the industry took on, from the uncertainty in the U.S. market caused by President Donald Trump’s temperamental tariffs to the Swiss franc’s dramatic rise in value to the skyrocketing price of gold, several brands managed to make quite an impact over the past year.

Rolex unexpectedly released its biggest watch in a generation with the controversial Land-Dweller, which is powered by a radical new escapement. Cartier continued to rise in popularity and showed its own willingness to experiment with a full-titanium Santos. And several brands marked big anniversaries with an impressive array of releases, including Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and, most notably, Breguet, which practically underwent a soft reboot in honor of its 250th birthday.

But 2025 is in the rearview now, and it’s time to look toward 2026. So, which brands are bound to break out over the next 12 months? I’ve chosen seven below that I’m keeping a close eye on, and I suggest you do the same.

Longines

Photo by Johnny Brayson for Gear Patrol

From an enthusiast perspective, Longines has been on quite a hot streak.

The brand’s renewed focus on collectors had never been as evident as it was in 2025, when the brand launched a number of new models for the most informed and picky customers. These included the white-dialed Legend Diver, the vintage-inspired Ultra-Chron Classic and, best of all, the Spirit Pilot Flyback Chronograph, which set a new standard for chronographs priced around $5,000.

In June, Longines got a new CEO in Patrick Aoun, and 2026 will mark his first full year in that role. But Aoun is no newcomer to the brand; he’s been with Longines for nearly two decades and knows the company inside and out.

In an interview with Time & Tide, Aoun described what he saw as the three pillars of the brand — professional timekeeping, professional instruments and elegance — and how we can expect all three tenets to be incorporated together in future releases. He also stated a focus on smaller, thinner cases and more Longines-only movements from ETA.

The Spirit Pilot Flyback is cited as an example of a watch that features all of these elements, and Aoun signaled it’s just the beginning of what we can expect from his tenure. Considering that I called that watch Longines’ best in decades, I can’t wait to see what 2026 brings.

Patek Philippe

Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

Patek had a strong showing in 2025, with one of the best lineups of any brand at Watches and Wonders, including the most perfect Calatrava in a generation.

But the brand’s creative output in 2025 is not the reason why it’s on this list. Instead, Patek is included here for one reason and one reason only: the Nautilus.

Patek’s iconic Gérald Genta-designed sports watch turns 50 years old in 2026, and the smart money says Patek will do something big to honor its most famous watch.

What that something may be is anyone’s guess — Patek launched a platinum version to commemorate the 40th anniversary back in 2016 — but I, and many other enthusiasts, are hoping the occasion will mark the return of the Nautilus in its original, most popular form: a time-and-date stainless steel model.

We haven’t seen a three-hand steel Nautilus since the discontinuation of the 5711 in 2021, and if Patek brings us a new generation this year, it will instantly be in contention for the most-talked-about watch of 2026.

Seiko

Seiko

Nobody loves celebrating anniversaries quite as much as Seiko.

In the past four years, we’ve seen the brand celebrate its 110th, 100th and 145th anniversaries. That’s because Seiko is always pointing to a new reason to celebrate.

The 110th in 2023 was in honor of the brand’s first wristwatch from 1913. The centennial in 2024 marked 100 years of the Seiko name. And this year, 2026, is the big one, as it’s been 145 years since the brand itself was founded in 1881.

Seiko has already launched a quartet of watches commemorating the occasion, and while they were mostly underwhelming, one of them — the pocket watch-inspired Presage SPB538 — was pretty interesting and unique.

Presumably, Seiko is just getting started, and I expect to see a lot more big releases from the brand before its monumental year is over.

Tudor

Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

Speaking of anniversaries, Tudor has a huge one this year.

Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, wanted a more accessible sister brand for The Crown, so he launched Tudor in 1926 — though it would be another six years before the first watches bearing that name would hit the market.

Regardless, Tudor considers 1926 the year of its founding, and the brand even has a product line bearing the name of its founding year. Unlike Seiko’s odd-numbered anniversary, 100 years is about as perfect an anniversary number as can be. Tudor has been around for a century now, and I have to believe the brand has some major surprises in store to celebrate.

As to what those surprises might be is anyone’s guess. The return of the Tudor Submariner is a pipe dream — modern Rolex would never let that happen — but other beloved vintage Tudors, like the Montecarlo, could make a comeback. Or maybe Tudor will look to the future with something contemporary and unexpected. Hell, maybe we’ll get both!

All I’m saying is I don’t think there’s any chance Tudor lets its centennial go by without doing something exciting.

Ulysse Nardin

Ulysse Nardin

Although it’s certainly a lesser-known brand than the previous four I’ve discussed, Ulysse Nardin has been on a roll lately.

In the face of 2025’s aforementioned economic headwinds, UN still managed double-digit growth in the U.S. market — a remarkable feat that drives home just how in-demand the brand’s offerings have been lately.

Last year, its flagship release was the Diver Air — the lightest mechanical watch ever made — and it’s proven to be a blockbuster, with a waitlist running well into this year.

But UN’s flagship line, without question, is the Freak. It’s the watch the brand is best known for, and one of the most important watches of the 21st century. It’s notable for its revolutionary design that utilizes the movement itself to tell the time instead of hands on a dial, along with being the first watch to use silicon parts in an escapement, a practice that has since become commonplace.

UN debuted the original Freak back in 2001, meaning 2026 marks 25 years since its first appearance. This anniversary has not been lost on Ulysse Nardin, with the brand already declaring 2026 “The Year of the Freak.”

So buckle up; things are about to get very freaky.

Universal Genève & Gallet

Universal Genève

Universal Genève and Gallet are two different brands with two different, unrelated histories. But they have a few things in common, too.

Both brands were highly regarded for their chronographs. Both experienced a heyday in the mid-twentieth century. And both were victims of the Quartz Crisis.

But the reason I’ve grouped them together here is that Universal Genève and Gallet are now sister brands after Breitling purchased the former in 2023 and the latter last year. More importantly, both of them are set to officially make their highly anticipated comebacks this year.

Little is known about what these brand revivals will look like, save for a loose pricing structure. Breitling has stated that Gallet will be its entry-level luxury brand while UG will sit at the top of its new corporate pyramid, with Breitling in the middle.

Universal Genève has tipped its hand more than Gallet about its future plans, launching highly exclusive and very faithful recreations of its most popular models, the Polerouter and Compax, over the past two years. Those extremely limited watches seemed more about honoring UG’s past than pointing toward its future, but I would be shocked if we didn’t get new versions of both models when the brand relaunches in ’26.

As for Gallet, 2026 marks the 200th anniversary of the brand — even if it’s been defunct for a chunk of that — so I expect the revived version of the brand will also play into its heritage, which is heavy on chronographs and counts 1939’s Flying Officer pilot’s watch as its greatest icon.

Chronographs and pilot’s watches? Sounds like Breitling is the right brand to bring Gallet back.

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