In The Loupe: The Watch News To Know In May 2026

You’d think that the month following the blockbuster event that is Watches & Wonders would take it easy when it comes to new watch releases. Alas, much like a flyback chronograph, the watch industry has snapped back into motion, with manufactures and microbrands alike showing no signs of winding down. From another throwback Zenith Chronomaster Revival to the latest celebrity to acquire a stake in a watch brand, May 2026 brings with it a heady slate of new watch releases and industry news. Of course, we’re here to keep you across it all, with the latest instalment of In The Loupe, our monthly watch news series.

Table of Contents – May 2026 watch news

May 2026 watch news

May 2026 watch news

Below, all the latest and greatest releases and watch news to know in May 2026.

A. Lange & Söhne releases its Caberet Tourbillon in honeygold

A. Lange & Söhne has released a new version of its Caberet Tourbillon, this time in honeygold
Honeygold is the German watch brand’s signature 18k gold alloy, which has a warm tone and is known for being harder than other gold alloys
The material takes shape in a 39.2mm x 29.5mm rectangular case, complemented by a honeygold dial coated with black rhodium
The unique dial layout positions the hours and minutes in the centre, small seconds subdial at 8 o’clock, power reserve indicator at 4 o’clock, oversized date window at 12 o’clock, and the tourbillon at 6 o’clock
It’s powered by the in-house calibre L042.1, a manually wound movement with a 120-hour power reserve

Price: $POA
Availability: 50 examples
Model: Caberet Tourbillon Honeygold (ref. 703.050)
Case size: 39.2mm x 29.5mm
Movement: (automatic)
Water resistance: 3ATM
Functions: hours, minutes, small seconds, power reserve indicator, date
Power reserve: 120 hours

Explore Caberet Tourbillon Honeygold via A. Lange & Söhne.

Audemars Piguet experiences a taste of Swatch’s tomfoolery

Babe, wake up! The Swatch x Audemars Piguet pocket watch has dropped and the resellers are rioting!

In 2026, the month of May will be remembered not for the Met Gala, or the drop in the fashion pond that is Australian Fashion Week, but for being when 150-year-old brand Audemars Piguet capitulated to the bioceramic siren song of Swatch. While Swatch has previously collaborated with horological heavyweights Omega and Blancpain, luring Audemars Piguet in is all the more impressive considering the Le Brassus manufacture is not part of the Swatch Group. But we digress. The duo collaborated to create the Royal Pop, a modular pocket watch/bag charm that fuses the design language of Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak with Swatch’s bioceramic material and renders it in a pop colour palette. You can read more about that here.

As with all Swatch’s heavyweight collabs, the Royal Pop is exclusively available in Swatch stores, with punters camping outside for days prior to the 16th of May launch date. While Sydney and Melbourne seem to have handled the excitement pretty well, footage has already emerged of chaos around the world, with police deploying tear gas in Paris; Swatch boutiques in New York, Singapore, and several UK locations forced to shut their doors for safety reasons amid surging crowds; a brawl breaking out between prospective customers in Milan; and a stampede in Miami’s Aventura mall triggered by over 3000 people trying to enter the building at once. Launch events in Delhi and Mumbai in India were cancelled due to concerns over crowd behaviour, while Swatch cancelled sales in both Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates in Dubai altogether.

It’s worth noting that the Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop is not a limited edition collaboration. Like the MoonSwatch and Scuba Fifty Fathoms before it, it will be in Swatch boutiques for aeons to come; likely with hundreds of infinitesimally modified variations made to keep it in the news.

Anoma makes the A1 a permanent fixture

Anoma launched in mid-2024; to date, the British independent watch brand has has just one silhouette, the A1
While the brand’s previous releases have been ephemeral, iterating on the dial details, Anoma has now launched the A1 Core collection
The A1 Core collection comprises the A1 Abyss and A1 Stone, both of which are—naturally—housed within the triangular lugless A1 case inspired by a a 1950s free-form table by Charlotte Perriand
The dial of the A1 Abyss is crafted from three layers of lacquer—one green-blue topped with two deep midnight blue—an finished with a mirror polished centre surrounded by sunburst outer sector
Meanwhile, the A1 Stone pairs a grained blasted centre (intended to echo the surface of river stones) with a sunburst outer sector topped with silver printing
Both timepieces within the A1 Core Collection are powered by the Sellita SW100, an automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve

Price: £2200GBP
Availability: permanent, first run of 300 pieces delivered in June 2026
Model: A1 Abyss; A1 Stone
Case size: 39mm x 39mm
Movement: Sellita SW100 (automatic)
Water resistance: 5ATM
Functions: hours, minutes
Power reserve: 38 hours

Explore A1 Core collection via Anoma.

Daniel Roth’s Extra Plat goes extra Plat(inum)

Daniel Roth has released a new iteration of its GPHG-award winning Extra Plat, this time in platinum
The specs remain the same, with the platinum case measuring 38.6mm x 35.5mm, however the dial finishes have been modified for a monochromatic finish
As per the rest of the line, the exhibition caseback reveals the manually wound calibre DR002, which has a power reserve of 65 hours

Price: $65,000CHF
Model: Extra Plat Platinum
Case size: 38.6mm x 35.5mm
Movement: DR002 (manually wound)
Water resistance: 3ATM
Functions: hours, minutes
Power reserve: 65 hours

Explore Extra Plat Platinum via Daniel Roth.

Farer takes to the skies with new Pilot Series II collection

British microbrand Farer first released its stainless steel Bradfield and Morgan pilot’s watches in 2020
Now, the brand ups the ante with its Pilot Series II collection, which sees a quartet of pilot’s watches swap the stainless steel for titanium
The collection comprises the Curtis, Curtis Eastern Arabic, Barnwell, and Hewlett, each of which have a different dial aesthetic and subtly different layout, but are united in essentials
Each of the quartet arrives in a 40mm titanium case with a a matte bead-blasted finish, brushed bezels, and conical coin-edge crowns
The Curtis and Curtis Eastern Arabic (limited to 100 examples) have a blue-grey guilloche dial which is radially segmented into 12; the Barnwell interprets the Type B pilot’s watch layout in a warm bronze colour scheme with flashes of baby blue and orange; and the Hewlett pairs an untreated titanium case with a deep blue dial with white details
The quartet is powered by the Sellita SW300-1, an automatic movement with a 56-hour power reserve

Price: $1525USD/$2241AUD
Availability: Curtis Eastern Arabic limited to 100 examples, others non-limited
Model: Pilot Series II (Curtis, Curtis Eastern Arabic, Barnwell, Hewlett)
Case size: 40mm
Movement: Sellita SW300-1 (automatic)
Water resistance: 10ATM
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, hacking seconds
Power reserve: 56 hours

Explore Pilot Series II via Farer.

The Tudor Black Bay Chrono gets race ready with the Carbon 26

A follow up to the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Carbon 25 released last year in partnership with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula One team, Tudor has released the Tudor Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26
The specs of the newcomer remain the same, but the colours have been updated to reflect the team’s new livery
It’s housed with a 42mm titanium and carbon fibre case, however the bicompax panda dial is accented with yellow, rather than last year’s blue
It’s powered by the automatic calibre MT5813, a modified version of Breitling B01-derived automatic chronograph, which has a 70-hour power reserve

Price: $12140AUD
Availability: 2026 examples
Model: Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26 (ref. M79377KN-0003)
Case size: 42mm
Movement: MT5813 (automatic)
Water resistance: 20ATM
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph
Power reserve: 70 hours

Explore Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26 via Tudor.

The Baltic x SpaceOne Seconde Majeure is a non-derivative jumping hours watch

Since last year, jumping hours watches have been coming thick and fast — most of them with a retro bent
In an unlikely team up, dichotomous French microbrands Baltic, known for its vintage-inspired timepieces, and SpaceOne, known for its futuristic timepieces, have collaborated on the Seconde Majeure
Housed within a 38.5mm stainless steel case, the timepiece combines Baltic’s classic proportions and design codes with SpaceOne’s deconstructed approach to time-telling
The dial is available in two finishes, brushed or ‘Charbonné’, the latter a decorative technique found on 19th century precision clocks
The unique jumping hour module was designed by Théo Auffret, independent watchmaker and founder of SpaceOne, and displays the time through stacked transparent discs, with the jumping hours at 12 o’clock and the rotating minutes at 6 o’clock, each within a transparent darkened window

Price: €2500 (brushed dial); €3500 (Charbonné dial)
Availability: limited order window (12th to 17th May)
Model: Seconde Majeure
Case size: 38.5mm
Movement: Soprod P024 with jumping hour module (automatic)
Water resistance: 5ATM
Functions: jumping hours, rotating minutes
Power reserve: 42 hours

Explore Seconde Majeure via Baltic and SpaceOne.

Timex and Todd Snyder have made the best looking watch under $200USD

Timex and Todd Snyder have linked up once again, with the American designer putting his spin on the American watch brand’s 1976 Lexington model
Housed within a rectangular 21mm x 8mm stainless steel case, the Todd Snyder x Timex 1976 Lexington swaps out Roman numerals for Arabic numerals and has the American designer’s monogram at 6 o’clock
It’s available in black, butter yellow, and khaki dial colours
The timepiece is powered by a quartz movement

Price: $169USD/$300AUD
Availability: limited-edition (sold out)
Model: Todd Snyder x Timex 1976 Lexington
Case size: 21mm x 8mm
Movement: quartz
Water resistance: 3ATM
Functions: hours, minutes
Power reserve: N/A

Explore Todd Snyder x Timex 1976 Lexington via Timex.

De Bethune’s DB28XS Sea Tourbillon is a shore thing

Denis Flageollet, founder of De Bethune, draws inspiration from the ocean for the DB28XS Sea Tourbillon
It’s housed within the DB28XS’ 38.7mm titanium case with floating lugs and plays host to a blue titanium guilloché dial with a pattern that reflects the fluidity of the sea
The timepiece is powered by the manufacture calibre DB2009V7, a hand-wound movement with a 5-day power reserve

Price: $170,000CHF
Availability:
Model: DB28XS Sea Tourbillon (ref. DB28XST)
Case size: 38.7mm
Movement: DB2009V7 (manually wound)
Water resistance: ATM
Functions: hours, minutes, 30-minute indicator
Power reserve: 120 hours (5 days)

Explore DB28XS Sea Tourbillon via De Bethune.

Zenith head to the tropics with its newest Chronomaster Revival A384

Zenith has released the latest edition of its Chronomaster Revival A384, distinguished by its tonneau-shaped case, with a ‘tropical’ brown dial
The manufacture captures the depth and warmth of aged tropical dials through a white lacquered base topped with chocolate-toned subdials, with this shade extending onto the tachymeter scale
The dial is housed within a 37mm stainless steel tonneau-shaped case with alternating brushed and polished finishes
It’s powered by the El Primero 400, a high frequency chronograph movement with a 50-hour power reserve, which is visible through the exhibition caseback

Price: $8900CHF
Model: Chronomaster Revival A384 Tropical (ref. 03.A384.400/69.M384)
Case size: 37mm
Movement: El Primero 400 (automatic)
Water resistance: 5ATM
Functions: hours, minutes, small seconds, date, chronograph
Power reserve: 50 hours

Explore Chronomaster Revival A384 Tropical via Zenith.

Timothée Chalamet invests in Urban Jürgensen

Noted Cartier boi Timothée Chalamet has joined Urban Jürgensen as a partner, purchasing a minority equity stake in the family-owned independent Danish watchmaker. He’s also set to take on a creative advisory role, across forthcoming projects and initiatives. While Chalamet has worked as a brand ambassador for several luxury houses, this marks the first time he’s taken on a partnership role within a company.

“When we first met, we were struck by Timothée’s curiosity and interest in independent watchmaking,” shared Alex Rosenfield, CEO of Urban Jürgensen. “UJ’s philosophy is expressed through the quality of the work, the preservation of traditional techniques, and a focus on doing things properly at every stage. It was this way of thinking that first resonated with Timothée and that will define the partnership. We want to work together to advance our mission of bringing a contemporary perspective to the world of independent watchmaking while remaining grounded in what has always defined it.”

Celebrity ambassadorships for major watch houses are commonplace—Ryan Goslong for TAG Heuer, Jennifer Lawerence for Longines, Zendaya and Roger Federer for Rolex, everyone for Omega—but alignments with indie watch brands may be set to rise. The news of Chalamet’s partnership comes three years after independent watch brand ID Genève satisfied its seed funding round with help from Leonardo DiCaprio — who, incidentally, is also a Rolex testimonee. It’s a short list, but it may signal a desire for ambassadorships which go beyond aesthetic alignment, spotlighting those who are truly enthusiastic about the brand and industry at large.

Want to know what’s ticking in the watch world? Find all our watch news coverage here, and catch on previous editions of In The Loupe below:

Words by Theo Rosen and Henry Blake