NYC Watch Week 2026 Recap: Watches I'd Actually Collect

I thought about how I wanted to write my recap of NYC Watch Week and scrapped a gazillion ideas. At first, I was going to review every watch I saw. But that's not me and, frankly, I'm not qualified to do that. There are awesome writers like Tony Traina who are amazing at that.

If you've subscribed to MidlifeCrisisWatches.com for a while, you know what resonates with me and what doesn't. (You can read my About section to learn more about me.) So instead of reviewing every watch I saw, I'm listing the ones I personally liked and wouldn't mind adding to my collection, with a story or two about each. Bear with me. I'm not technical, I don't geek out over complications, and I don't kiss up to brands. As a collector, I'm biased toward the "total package" of a watch, led by design and how it makes me feel.

Just to refresh: I'm in my 40s, I like understated luxury, and I put design over complication. I have about 40 watches in my collection, and price is secondary to how a watch makes me feel. That said, price still matters. I appreciate plenty of six-figure watches, but I don't own many.

Looking for the full schedule of events? Read my NYC Watch Week 2026 events guide or browse our NYC Watch Week page.

For the watches and people from the week, browse my NY Watch Week 2026 photo gallery.

Jump to: My two grails · Collectors breakfast · IndiesNYC · WatchTime New York · Biggest surprises · What’s next

My Two Grail Watches: Andersen Genève and Holthinrichs

I know the term "grail" gets thrown around a lot in watches. I've spent years fawning over these two: the Andersen Genève Jumping Hours Rising Sun and the Holthinrichs Ornament Nouveau. I've been talking with both Andersen Genève and Holthinrichs about these pieces for years. What blew my mind was that within a 24-hour period, I wore both of them, had incredible 1:1s with the brands and the people behind them, and came away very close to adding both to the collection.

Andersen Genève Jumping Hours Rising Sun

If you go back in MLCW history, you'll see I've written about the Andersen Genève Jumping Hours before.

Quick facts: a 50-piece limited edition with a platinum case and a hand-guilloché 18k pink gold dial, made as a tribute to Andersen's Japanese collectors.

Holthinrichs Ornament Nouveau

If you look back at my IG, you'll see plenty of Holthinrichs pieces... but none like the Ornament Nouveau. This is an incredibly beautiful piece and one of significant horological importance to its maker, Michiel Holthinrichs.

Both of these have been grails for me for a long time. In 2027 and 2028, they may just enter the MLCW collection.

The MidlifeCrisisWatches Collectors Breakfast: Four Standouts

Four watches stood out to me at our MLCW Collectors Breakfast on Saturday morning of NYC Watch Week. I'm not going to lie... I'd like to add all four to the collection. Each was brought by a different collector, I was fortunate to spend some time with them, and I gushed over every one.

Gerald Charles Maestro 2.0 Meteorite Silver

Let's start with the watch I couldn't stop showing people: the Gerald Charles Maestro 2.0 Meteorite Silver Limited Edition. My friend @timeprovider brought this beauty and I literally could not put it down. It fit and wore beautifully, and the artistic dial (a meteorite crashing into it, with the numerals slightly displaced) was super cool. I don't own a Gerald Charles, but I could absolutely see myself adding one down the line. Candidly, it's not high on my pecking order yet. But I thought this watch was awesome, and I love the story of the dial and numerals.

Quick facts: limited to 100 pieces, with a Muonionalusta meteorite dial and a 39 × 41mm polished steel case.

Sergey Chutov "Azure" Anniversary

Next up, I've been going back and forth with Sergey Chutov, a Russian watchmaker, for a few years now. I'd seen his watches online but never in person. My pal @throughthewatch brought his Sergey Chutov "Azure" Anniversary model, a limited edition of 5 pieces, and it was absolutely stunning. We took a selfie together holding the watch and sent it to Sergey. If this watch were available tomorrow, I'd find a way to acquire it (within reason, of course). Seeing it in person was 10x better than the photos online.

Universal Genève Tri-Compax Ref. 181102 (1970s)

@watch.galerie brought an incredible vintage selection, far more than one or two watches. He's a young collector with an incredible eye, and his 1970s Universal Genève Tri-Compax reference 181102 caught my interest. The case reminded me of what Zenith uses for its El Primero watches. An all-around beautiful piece: warm colors, inviting, and not one you see every day. I put it on my wrist for a while and it absolutely won me over. Spectacular.

Quick facts: the "Tri" in Tri-Compax stands for three complications: chronograph, full calendar and moon phase.

Ludovic Ballouard Upside Down Blue Meteorite

And last, @beneath_the_crystal brought a few incredible pieces, but he knew I wanted to see his Ludovic Ballouard Upside Down Blue Meteorite. I've seen this piece all over Instagram, since it seems to be one of the "hot" watches right now... and man, it does not disappoint. If my wife is reading this and wants to surprise me, I'd highly recommend this one. Unfortunately, she'll probably run from the price tag. But hey, we can all admire it.

In talking with my friend, he mentioned that if you visit Ballouard, you can choose from a variety of dials that give this piece completely different looks. That would absolutely be worth the trip for a piece this unique. It's a jumping hour watch that doesn't look like any other jumping hour watch.

Quick facts: every hour numeral sits upside down except the current one, which flips upright at the top of each hour.

Indies.NYC 2026: My Independent Watch Standouts

Indies.NYC held its fall salon on October 15, during NYC Watch Week. These five stood out to me:

1. Delaloye Renaissance

2. Stéphane Pierre L'Impétrant

3. Taos Tuxedo

4. Atelier Pieters Atelier 1

5. Bradley Taylor Ardea

To be honest, I'd only heard of about 40% of these watchmakers, and only through Instagram. One of the top independent watch sellers, Esperluxe, has an office close to me, but I've yet to take him up on getting together. That should change soon, because I'm fascinated by all of these independent pieces.

Stéphane Pierre L'Impétrant

I'd seen Stéphane Pierre's L'Impétrant online ahead of the festivities. It felt like a hype watch to me. That said, WOW. What an incredible piece. This may be one of the more complicated watches I liked. For a watch with so much open-worked complication, it was super sporty, and I loved the seconds display on the back. Such a nice (but useless) touch.

Quick facts: Stéphane Pierre's debut watch, with a double retrograde display for the hours and minutes.

Bradley Taylor Ardea

Next up, I'd heard of Bradley Taylor, but only after an MLCW community member mentioned him to me. I spent some time with his Ardea and it's a gorgeous piece. I appreciated the retrograde seconds, which is really kind of cool. This Canadian watchmaker is onto something, and I'm definitely keeping my eyes open.

Quick facts: made by hand in Taylor's North Vancouver workshop and limited to 50 pieces.

Atelier Pieters Atelier 1

Then came Atelier Pieters and the Atelier 1. I just LOVED their energy. So much. The Atelier Pieters logo repeats in the dial, which I thought was super cool. And the movement? Gorgeously finished. I also appreciated the positive energy they radiated and the "polaroids" they brought to give away, which have definitely made my Instagram stories at least once now.

Quick facts: the first watch from husband-and-wife team Maarten and Jessica Pieters, with a tourbillon, made in 8 pieces per colorway.

Taos Tuxedo

I'm not going to lie... I had never heard of Taos before. Never. I love art, and these watches reminded me of the kind of art I hang on my wall. The dials were magnificent. I watched some of their videos online explaining how they do such intricate dial work. Wow. Candidly, while I love looking at these pieces, they aren't ones I feel I need to own yet. That said, if you love art and unique dials, check them out.

Quick facts: a one-of-a-kind piece from Geneva-based Taos, founded in 2024. The dial layers fine silver paillons under grand feu enamel to mimic woven tuxedo fabric.

Delaloye Renaissance and Renaissance Origine

I'm saving the one I could see on my wrist for last: the Delaloye Renaissance, and the new Renaissance Origine. I was blown away by the tantalum case and how it felt on my wrist. I'm learning that I like heavier watches these days (maybe the gym workouts are working?). They felt solid. They had an off-white dial and a blue dial that stood out to me. They also had the Delaloye from Marteau & Co's The Encore auction, which had just been won by an Indies.NYC participant I met at the show.

These pieces were classy, exquisite and understated. I fell in love with how they felt, their dials and their numerals. Then I turned them over, and the movements were just as strong. So good! I could absolutely see myself owning a Delaloye at some not-too-distant moment.

Quick facts: Nicolas Delaloye relaunched his brand in 2024 after eight years as a restorer at the Patek Philippe Museum. The Renaissance runs on his hand-wound ND01 calibre. The 2026 Renaissance Origine moves to his proprietary gold, with a gold case or gold case and bridges.

WatchTime New York 2026: Highlights from Gotham Hall

We went to WatchTime New York at Gotham Hall and saw some absolutely spectacular pieces.

Artisans de Genève Val Viola

We spent most of our time with Artisans de Genève and the team at their booth. For those who remember, I'm building a piece with them right now, so we got to discuss it in person. The highlight was seeing the Val Viola in person, which blew me away. I also appreciated many of the other pieces we were able to see and hold. Some of the bespoke modern vintage Daytonas were beautiful too.

Quick facts: a bespoke Rolex Submariner 116610 with a hand-guilloché dial, a color-shifting turquoise-violet finish and an added moonphase module.

Chronoswiss Delphis Art Deco

We then spent some time with Chronoswiss, a brand I'm fairly confused about, since I'm not quite sure what they are. The piece that stood out to me was the Delphis Art Deco, which I was able to hold and wear. It was a bit thick for my liking, but the colors were gorgeous. The other colorways we saw were really nice too. It seems like Chronoswiss is playing the value game: lots of complications at lower prices.

Quick facts: jumping hour, retrograde minutes and rotating small seconds in a 42mm grade 5 titanium case, limited to 150 pieces at $17,500.

Sarpaneva and SUF

We saw our friends at Sarpaneva and SUF as well. Ville and Stepan had a packed booth by the time we rolled around, but we did get to hold some of the magnificent pieces. I also introduced some of my friends to the brand, which was a lot of fun. Again, the Lunations Eclipse in blue was the standout for me... but the others were incredible too.

Frederique Constant

The brand that shocked me most was Frederique Constant, which I feel is making a nice comeback. I've historically stereotyped them and have yet to buy one of their pieces, but I couldn't even get close to their booth. They were showing some beautiful pieces and it was absolutely packed.

Laurent Ferrier, Ming and Massena LAB

I stopped by Laurent Ferrier to say hi, but as you can imagine, their booth was crowded too. Ming was right next door, and we got to see some unreleased pieces that were hitting shortly after. The highlight of the upstairs for me was neither of those, though. It was Massena LAB, with its Raúl Pagès and Atelier Wen collabs. Seeing the Atelier Wen tantalum collab, the Inflection Shuò, was awesome. It's a piece I absolutely admire. I'm not sure which version I like more, but only the two-tone is available to me.

The Booths That Mailed It In

I felt a few brands mailed it in, including two I love: Zenith and Moser. I wasn't overly impressed with their booths, especially given their central location. I'm sure there was a rhyme or reason to it, but they were ho-hum.

The Biggest Surprises of NYC Watch Week 2026

OK, these are all nice pieces. But what were the surprises of the show for me? By surprise, I mean to the upside: watches or brands I'd heard of but hadn't seen in person, that pleasantly (or more like greatly) surprised me.

Felipe Pikullik Mondphase 1 Meteorite

Felipe Pikullik is the young rage right now. Lots of love and flowers are headed in Felipe's direction, and I can understand why. I was fortunate to spend some time with both Felipes (confusing, I know), see some new releases, and I was super impressed. A bunch of people at Indies.NYC were wearing Felipe's watches, and they were beautiful, including one of the original HTH (Homage to Harrison, his tribute to John Harrison) pieces. The Mondphase Meteorite stood out to me. I think the Klassik 2.0 is going to be a fantastic piece, and I know there's a lot of love for the next-gen HTH.

Quick facts: a 20-piece edition with a meteorite dial and a 3D moon set for the southern hemisphere, a nod to Pikullik's Brazilian roots.

Sartory Billard SB04

I spent some time with Sartory Billard, a brand I often see on IG but had never really tried on or spent time with. The Jump Hours were fun, but I enjoyed the SB04 previews more. They haven't launched yet, but the red gold and yellow gold versions were exquisite, and I think they're going to hit really well. The Holthinrichs x Sartory Billard watches are beautiful as well. I bet one of those ends up in my collection at some point.

Tan Zehua

Then there's Tan Zehua, a similar story for me as Sergey Chutov. I've admired Tan's watches online but had never seen them in person. They were beautiful. The dials were really colorful, and I loved the off-center seconds. I could absolutely see myself adding a Tan Zehua alongside the Qian GuoBiao I'm waiting on. There are some beautiful pieces coming out of China. Tan's movements felt a bit more raw and less finished than most others, but I think they had character.

Quick facts: Tan Zehua became a member of the AHCI, the academy of independent watchmakers, in 2019.

Sarpaneva Lunations Eclipse (Blue) and the SUF Vetehinen Blue Labradorite

And last, the Sarpaneva and SUF team. I'll be honest: I was never a Sarpaneva fan. I had stereotyped their watches as too big for me and assumed I'd never like them. Well, @taupography changed my mind by enticing me to purchase a SUF Vetehinen Blue Labradorite, and I finally did through @horologybythesea. I'm so glad I did, and I'm even more glad I ignored what my watch data told me I should wear.

I'm excited to dive deeper into this family of watches and add a Sarpaneva to my collection. I have no idea which one, but the blue Lunations Eclipse is absolutely spectacular, and there are others that speak to me as well. Shout out to Ville for joining us at the MLCW Collectors Breakfast and bringing some beautiful pieces to show the group.

Quick facts: the Lunations moon phase is accurate enough to need a one-day correction only once every 14,000 years.

What's Next for the MLCW Collection

If any one of these pieces found its way to my watch box, I wouldn't be unhappy. Frankly, I'd love to see all of them in my collection at some point. I'm stoked to add another Holthinrichs, my first Andersen Genève, and eventually a Delaloye, a Pikullik, a Sarpaneva, and who knows what's next.

I had a spectacular NYC Watch Week and really enjoyed everything.