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11 Overlooked New Watches from Rolex, Grand Seiko, IWC and More

These Watches and Wonders sleepers are worth a second look.

Close-up of Tudor watch dial with green luminescent markers, silver wristwatch with leather strap, side profile of watch with brown leather strap, and back of white IWC Pilot's watch with engraved case back.Gear Patrol
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By now, you’ve likely seen all of the headline new releases that came out last week at Watches and Wonders, the watch industry’s biggest event of the year.

Rolex launched an Oyster Perpetual with a crazy dial. Vacheron Constantin created an unexpected sequel to its coolest watch. Grand Seiko finally made the dive watch we’ve wanted all along. IWC made a futuristic space watch (and a lot more).

Watches and Wonders Geneva: Rolex, Grand Seiko and dozens of other heavy hitters gather in Switzerland every year to release their biggest watches. Catch up on all the new novelties.

But just as interesting as these flagship releases are the watches that fly a bit more under the radar. With over 60 brands participating and hundreds of new references launched, there are simply too many new watches launched at Watches and Wonders for any one to keep track of all of them.

That’s why we’ve gathered the following 11 sleeper watches as models that managed to get our attention without generating quite as much buzz as more publicized releases.

Reporting by Ben Bowers, Johnny Brayson, Brad Lanphear and Jack Seemer. This list is in alphabetical order.

Silver stainless steel Chopard wristwatch with light green textured dial and date window at 4 o'clock.Chopard

Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 AM

Chopard continues to improve its Alpine Eagle sports watch with its first anti-magnetic model. The AM boasts an anti-magnetic hairspring, which serves to protect the movement from interference by the common magnetic fields produced by everyday electronics. The 41mm watch in lustrous, scratch-resistant Lucent Steel also features a Moss Green swirl-textured dial with a color-matched date window at 4:30 and a non-magnetic symbol above 6:00.
Grand Seiko stainless steel wristwatch with a textured dark blue dial and silver hour markers on a matching metal bracelet.Grand Seiko

Grand Seiko Spring Drive Iwao Blue SBGY043

Indigo is a natural dye with a deep history in Japan, from bringing luck to samurai armor during the Edo Period to setting the standard for modern denim production. The Iwao Blue dial features a hand-engraved texture inspired by natural rock surfaces, and dyed with katsuiro, a rich indigo developed over centuries. The 38mm stainless steel case features an exaggerated elliptical shape, common for the brand in the 1960s but seldom used today, and is finished with the trademark Zaratsu polishing. It is powered by a Caliber 9R31 hand-wound Spring Drive movement that offers a 72-hour power reserve courtesy of the Dual Spring Barrel system.

I love the Iwao Blue because it delves into the history of Grand Seiko with the case shape and dial, as well as  Japanese culture in the use of katsuiro indigo.

Brad Lanphear, Associate Editor
Silver watch with a smooth gray dial, date window at 3 o'clock, and gray leather strap.H. Moser & Cie.

H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Concept Tantalum

Moser’s ultra-minimalist perpetual calendar gets even stealthier, and heavier, thanks to the abundant use of tantalum. The heavyweight, notoriously-difficult-to-machine metal is used for both the case and sunburst dial here, giving serious heft to this sneaky-good dress watch. Devoid of indices and logos, the sparse dial displays the date at 3:00, power reserve at 9:00 and month via a tiny center-mounted hand. The rear side of the movement, visible through the sapphire caseback, displays the year on a wheel, and the in-house HMC 800 manually wound movement can be adjusted forward or backward at any time without risk of damage.
Silver IWC Schaffhausen wristwatch with a metal link bracelet and multiple subdials on the face.IWC

IWC Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar 41 Titanium

In 2025, IWC debuted its first perpetual calendar in the reborn Ingenieur with a blue-dial version in stainless steel. For 2026, the brand ups the ante with this titanium version featuring a matching gray dial and tonal subdials. The monochromatic stunner combines Gerald Genta’s iconic design and Kurt Klaus’s groundbreaking complication with a futuristic material, adding up to what just may be the ultimate Ingenieur.

Tantalum is almost becoming commonplace in watchmaking today, but I’ve never seen it rendered with such beautiful simplicity as Moser has done here.

Johnny Brayson, Editor
white chronograph wristwatch with blue dial, white numerals, and white rubber strap.IWC

IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Le Petit Prince White Ceramic

IWC celebrates 20 years of its relationship with the classic French literary work Le Petit Prince with nine new themed models in 2026, with none more striking than this beautiful take on the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41. For the first time, the Petit Prince’s trademark midnight-blue sunburst dial is combined with IWC’s pure white ceramic “Lake Tahoe” case, a stunning combination that instantly puts this model in contention as one of the best-looking chronographs on the market.
Round silver Oris Artelier wristwatch with a blue textured dial, silver hour markers, and a black leather strap.Oris

Oris Artelier Date

The Artelier Date is the flagship of Oris’s new daily-dress watch collection, sporting an elegant mid-century modern dial. The sleek 38mm stainless steel case is capped with a double-domed sapphire crystal, and the dial is available in blue, white and brown. It comes on a brown leather strap with a deployant clasp or a steel H-link bracelet.

By combining Le Petit Prince’s signature hue of midnight blue with IWC’s white ceramic case, IWC has created an unexpectedly beautiful tool watch.

Johnny Brayson, Editor
Stainless steel Panerai Luminor watch with brown dial, gold hands, and brown leather strap with beige stitching.Panerai

Panerai Luminor PAM01731

For 2026, Panerai debuts the Luminor Vintage collection, a series of five 44mm, manually wound versions of its flagship tool watch that take aesthetic inspiration from the company’s early days as a maker of underwater tools for the Italian navy. Arguably, the most fetching of this quintet is the reference PAM01731, which features a striking tobacco dial. The new dial shade proves a perfect match for the watch’s vintage aesthetic, perfectly complementing its beige lume, sandwich dial and high-domed sapphire crystal.
Green leather strap wristwatch with a green sunburst dial and silver rectangular hour markers.Patek Philippe

Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse 3738/100G-014

Patek was in its 1970s era at Watches and Wonders 2026 as it celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Nautilus with three commemorative versions of the 1976 sports watch and a booth decorated as if Saturday Night Fever were still in theaters. But flying under the radar was this ’70s-inspired take on the Golden Ellipse that combines a white gold case with an olive green sunburst dial. Equal parts understated and elegant while also being just a bit playful, this is the sort of dress watch that seemingly only Patek can pull off convincingly.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust watch with green dial and stainless steel bracelet reflected on water surface.Rolex

Rolex Datejust Green Ombre Dial

Rolex refreshed its classic Datejust line with a striking new green lacquer ombre dial that impressively rich and deep. The new dial color is available across most traditional Datejust variations, including a range of sizes with both Jubilee and Oyster bracelets, and with bezel options such as domed, fluted, and brilliant diamond-set. Inside, the Calibre 3235 movement delivers roughly 70 hours of power reserve and Superlative Chronometer accuracy. The result is a compelling new take on one of watchmaking’s most recognizable everyday classics.

“Neat, tidy and now blue, the updated Black Bay 54 is yet another compelling daily driver in Tudor’s quiver.”

Jack Seemer, Executive Editor
Stainless steel Tudor dive watch with blue bezel and dial, luminous markers, and metal bracelet.Tudor

Tudor Black Bay 54 Blue

While the original Black Bay 54 is pure 1950s vibes like its name suggests, this blue version is all about the ’90s. The saturated “Tudor Blue” literally shines on the sunburst dial and polished aluminum bezel, looking like a diver Tudor or its sister company Rolex would’ve trotted out in the early ’90s. But make no mistake, this is a modern dive watch, with Tudor’s quick-adjust T-Fit clasp on the bracelet and a COSC-certified manufacture movement with 70 hours of power.
Black Tudor dive watch with matte finish, black dial, and black bracelet.Tudor

Tudor Black Bay Ceramic (2026)

Tudor refines its Black Bay Ceramic for 2026, outfitting its original METAS-certified watch with a new dial and, for the first time, a full ceramic bracelet. The matte-finished three-link bracelet is secured with a butterfly clasp and adds a more premium element to the watch, while the new dial featuring an anthracite sunburst finish and bright white lume gives a crisp and contemporary edge that’s more befitting the high-tech ceramic material.
About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.

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