Another year of the Windup Watch Fair is in the books, and what a year it was. I’ve probably written or said some version of this a dozen times before, but when we started Windup in 2015, we had no idea what it would become. What started as a small collection of brands in a SoHo storefront has grown to a national tour of events that houses hundreds of brands and welcomes tens of thousands of visitors.

You feel the excitement and energy at every stop, as folks return for their third, fourth, or fifth Fair, while others celebrate attending their first watch event ever. That’s what makes Windup special (or so I think). If we’ve been successful at one thing, bringing people together from across the watch community would be it. No pretension. No barriers. Just great people and great watches.

I want you all to know, we did this. Not just Worn & Wound – we the community . . . It’s your enthusiasm that made the industry take notice. Thank you for that.

But coming off the NYC Fair, you get a sense the growth of Windup has entered a new phase. In New York, Windup sits at the center (along with our friends at WatchTime) of the most important weekend for watches in America. Our two events, both started in 2015, have laid the foundation for a weekend of watches like no other. The phrase New York Watch Week has, unprompted, become part of our collective vocabulary.

And brands understand the power of the moment. At Windup this year, over 40 new watches were released, and I’m certain more new watches had their debut at one of the many other events taking place over the weekend. That means brands are planning a year or more ahead for what and how to present over the weekend.

With all that newness hitting the market, media takes notice. We had over 100 press and content creators registered to attend Windup NYC this year, with many others choosing to register at the door. Outlets like HODINKEE, Time+Tide, Bloomberg, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Gear Patrol, and others attend to see the latest and greatest releases.

I want you all to know, we did this. Not just Worn & Wound – we the community. There was a time when Windup was seen skeptically by some as the event with “cheap” watches. Today, it’s the center of the watch world for a weekend, playing host to brands from around the world at all price points. During one of their live streams, eBay Live sold a $100,000 watch. It’s your enthusiasm that made the industry take notice. Thank you for that.

With all of this growth comes growing pains. Yes, there was a long line at Windup this year. It sucked. I hate it. I wish we could have let everyone into the building all at once. Unfortunately, there are legal limits to the number of people that can occupy the venue where we host Windup New York at any given time. 1,200 people, to be exact. We did our best to cycle folks into the venue as fast as people left, but it wasn’t enough to keep the line to a reasonable length.

For anyone who waited in line but never got into the building, I am truly very sorry. We’ve had lines at Windup before, but never like we did this year. All I can say is that we promise to be better prepared next year.

The future of Windup is a topic that gets raised with me all the time, especially in the thick of a busy show. Standing in a room full of enthusiastic people really gets your brain firing on all cylinders. How can we lean more into this thing that worked so well? How do we avoid this pitfall? What are you going to do about the line!? With approximately five months till our next Windup (Dallas, here we come!), now is the time our team comes together to think about these questions and come up with the best solutions we can. It’s also a great time to get feedback from you. Whether you’ve been to a Windup Watch Fair or not, we want to hear from you. Check out our brief survey here. It should only take a few minutes.

Thank you to our partners.

None of this happens without the partners who believe in Windup and help us make each Fair bigger and better than the last. A huge thank you to our lead sponsors for New York:

– Bremont
– Brew Watch Co.
– Bulova
– Christopher Ward
– Oris

And to our official partners:

– eBay Live, our Official Live Streaming Partner
– WatchPro, our Official Print Media Partner
– Miyota, our Official Movement Sponsor
– The Watch Preserve, our Official Appraisal Sponsor

Part of what made this year’s Fair feel so alive was everything happening beyond the booths. If you were there, you probably stopped by at least a few of these:

– The eBay Live Studio, where the team streamed live from the floor all weekend (yes, including that $100,000 sale)
– The Fossil Signature Lounge, a place to take a breather and hang out
– Donut Watch Co. x Dough, bringing together two of New York’s favorite things
– Brew Chrono Cafe, which kept everyone caffeinated
– G-SHOCK’s Breaking Ground activation
– Omologato’s display of Indianapolis 500 champion Rodger Ward’s single-speed dirt-track racer
– Bulova and Accutron’s “A Moment in Time” installation

And thank you to everyone who joined us for our panels:

– The Grey NATO x Marathon Titanium Panel
– G-SHOCK on the MR-G 30th Anniversary Blue Sapphire Edition

To every sponsor, partner, and brand that showed up and put in the work: thank you. You helped make Windup NYC 2026 one to remember.

Few small brands can claim to have the kind of success that anOrdain has experienced in recent years. Their enamel dials are so sought after that clients sit on a waitlist that reportedly stretches out to 2030. While some very high end, handmade or bespoke watches take that long or even longer to produce, waiting that kind of time for a watch that retails for around $2,500 is unusual. There’s so much competition at that price, you kind of don’t expect people to really commit for the long haul. 

But they do commit, and as anOrdain slowly churns out their enamel dialed watches and delivers them to their very patient customers, the legend of the brand grows. Every so often, I’ll see an anOrdain pop up on the pre-owned market, and if the asking price is reasonable (retail + expected inflation over the next 3-4 years seems about right to me) they never last long. There’s a real, genuine hunger for these watches. 

That of course presents all kinds of interesting challenges for anOrdain as a business. How do you scale up (do you even want to?) when the artisanal nature of your production puts a hard limit on what you can make in a month or a year? 

anOrdain has a multi-pronged strategy to generate revenue outside of their enamel dialed watch business. They recently launched a bespoke strap service, which falls in line with their commitment to traditional handcraft, and gives existing and prospective watch customers a way to buy into the brand. The straps are offered in a variety of leathers and are made to measure, and can be customized to the heart’s content of the customer in a wide variety of ways, from thread color to painted edges and more. The straps can be embossed with a personal message, a name or initials, or anything else the owner would like. The straps are expensive by most standards, around $500, but it’s a truly bespoke process that allows for real collaboration between the artisan and end user. 

The larger gambit for anOrdain is really the increased production of porcelain dials, which were first introduced in a Model 2 reference in black last year (covered here). A few months ago, a new Model 1 in white porcelain with a custom typeface and hands appeared, and this watch felt like an announcement or statement of intent that it represents a business strategy and not a diversion, apparently proven out of the response to the porcelain Model 2. 

The economics are fairly straightforward. anOrdain says that their seven enamellers can produce around 50 dials per month. With their porcelain dial operation, a single craftsperson can produce between 30 and 40 dials in the same time frame. It’s not hard to extrapolate from there what that means if anOrdain is able to scale the porcelain business.

The question becomes: will collectors want to purchase an anOrdain that doesn’t have an enamel dial? For better or worse, this single craft technique has become what the brand is synonymous with. It’s the reason people seek them out. And it’s not just the novelty of a traditional enamel dial at a relatively affordable price point (there have certainly been a number of enamel focused brands launched in anOrdain’s wake, no doubt an attempt to ride their coattails). The watches, at least the dials, are genuinely good and stand up to scrutiny.

The challenge then is to make a porcelain dial that feels like the equivalent somehow of the enamel in terms of quality. On top of that, I think anOrdain also has to teach their clients and potential clients why porcelain makes sense, and why it might make a good substitute for enamel (these watches are offered to those on the long enamel waiting list first). anOrdain, in their press materials, note that there’s a fairly high failure rate on porcelain dials (that 30-40 produced figure is from a total lot of 300 dials). So, if the degree of difficulty matters to you (whether it should or not would be a good topic for a podcast or editorial), porcelain has that angle covered. 

So let’s get into the dial itself. I spent several weeks wearing the new Model 1 and while I was initially a bit skeptical, over the course of that time the watch really grew on me. 

Enamel and porcelain can look quite similar in that both are often characterized by a high gloss finish. But whereas enamel is often described as glass-like for its depth (there’s always a sense that you’re looking through an enamel dial, particularly in lighter colors), porcelain is a ceramic, and has a more structural quality to it. Think of the finish of fine china and you’ll have a pretty good idea of the character of the dial on this Model 1 (some of the details of the typeface seem to almost intentionally reinforce this idea, but we’ll get to that). 

Like enamel, porcelain can also exhibit subtle imperfections and irregularities in the finish that add to the handmade quality of the dial and lend it a lot of charm. On my sample, there were certainly some very minor irregularities that were visible when examined under magnification, but nothing that presents itself easily with the naked eye, which is as it should be. The overall impression I had of the dial was that it was highly lustrous, intricately made, and a very pure white. Porcelain doesn’t play with light in the same way as enamel, so some of the interesting optical effects that you can sometimes get with an enamel dial that feels like it’s almost translucent are missing, but it would be hard to feel shortchanged by the experience of porcelain. 

When I first saw the press materials for the porcelain Model 1 before receiving it, I wouldn’t have expected that the thing I’d come to like most about it would be the typeface chosen for the numerals and the way it complements both the hands and minute track. I was a little turned off by the way these numerals appear to be riffing on Breguet-style numerals at first, but sitting with the watch for a few weeks changed my tune. The design, by Kia Tasbihgou, is ornate but feels modern to me in a way that standard Breguet numerals don’t. The minute track, a series of rectangles surrounding the dial’s perimeter, separated by hashes every five minutes, frames the large numerals nicely. Those hashes have smaller Arabic numerals on either side for every 5th minute, and I liked this effect a lot too.  

The best decision on the part of the design team at anOrdain with respect to the dial is one they’ve been making consistently for years, which is to keep everything very simple, minimize text, and focus on the craft and material. There’s a small anOrdain wordmark at 12:00 but the rest of the dial is free of branding. This is possibly the busiest and most complex anOrdain dial yet in terms of graphic design, but it’s still mostly just a large expanse of white, and I think anOrdain deserves credit for finding ways to build interest and complexity without compromising a core idea present in their design language. 

If there’s a weak link with the Model 1, it’s the same one present in all of them, and that’s the case. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with it necessarily – I’d describe it as “exactly fine,” a term I’ll use for a movie that gets 3 stars out of 5 on Letterboxd, or a meal at a good restaurant that I liked but wouldn’t rush back to eat again. It’s just that the dial gives us a lot to think about, both in terms of what it means for anOrdain’s future as a brand, as well as the success or failure of it as an endeavor in craft and design. The case doesn’t spark the same kinds of ideas. It’s generic, inoffensive, and recedes to the background of the discussion. That could very well be the point – anOrdain is first and foremost a brand associated with dial making, obviously. 

If anOrdain doesn’t have ambitions of making more complex or craft oriented cases, I think there are potentially a lot of interesting collaboration possibilities for them to pursue. I promise I don’t have any inside information here, but I’d be surprised if this isn’t something they’ve discussed. Imagine an anOrdain dial in a case by Arcanaut, for example? Or how about one of James Lamb’s handmade silver cases? While I’m running through my own watch collection here, what about Ming? Just a thought. 

All of that said, the Model 1 case is a very nice size, coming in at 38mm in diameter and 11mm tall. It is completely polished, which I think is appropriate for a watch in this style. It’s water resistant to 5 ATM and, on one version of the watch, a sapphire caseback reveals the La Joux-Perret G101 caliber with an elaborate custom rotor. The Model 1 Porcelain is also available with a solid caseback and a G101 with standard finishing. 

The Model 1 Porcelain retails for $2,950 with a standard movement, and $3,400 with a decorated movement and open caseback. Personally, I’m not sure that paying the extra $450 for a mechanically identical movement makes a lot of sense on any watch, but on this watch specifically, that is so oriented around the dial, I find it particularly hard to justify. And coming in at under $3,000 makes the Model 1 Porcelain really enticing. As with their enamel dials, there’s a lot of craft and intentionality that you’re buying into here. What is interesting about the Porcelain watch though is that it’s more than just the dial itself – the typography feels legitimately tied to it, and the fact that the brand has brought someone in from the outside to pinch hit on this watch might offer a clue for how they’re thinking about expanding their options across not just porcelain dialed watches, but enamel as well. It would be really interesting if anOrdain became a hub for collaboration between artisans both within and outside of watchmaking. 

And with respect to that long waitlist for enamel dialed watches, I think anOrdain is justified in finding alternative options for their customers if they prefer not to wait, if indeed that is part of their calculus with the porcelain work they’re doing. There’s a mental adjustment people make when they observe that a watch has a long lead time or is otherwise difficult to obtain. It can make people desire that watch to a point, but it can also be a turn off, and a source of resentment. There’s a futility in signing up for something that feels like it might never come. 

I get the sense that anOrdain is actively trying to find the balance. Obviously, for a good enamel dial, there should be a wait. These are not industrially produced objects, and their objectively high quality means that people will likely always want them, and there will need to be a period of patience observed to own one. But it’s a tough business model when the only product you sell is so in-demand that no one can have one for years after putting their name down. Porcelain allows anOrdain to hopefully manage some of those waitlist gripes, while still offering a high-craft product that is in line with their watchmaking values. anOrdain

There were so many new releases, limited editions, and collaborations launched at Windup New York, we’re honestly still coming up for air and cataloging everything. With around 170 brands, it was a challenge to see everything (full disclosure, not even staff sees everything). And while I definitely spent some time at the Formex booth, most of my attention was on the Aria, their higher end integrated bracelet watch that debuted earlier this year and hasn’t escaped my mind since. Their new release at the show somehow slipped under the radar (at least mine) in all of the commotion. But the new Essence Ceramica Dark Matter Red Shift (the name is admittedly a mouthful) deserves some attention. 

The new Essence is built on the brand’s Ceramica platform, which prior to the release of the Aria was Formex’s most ambitious and compelling release. It’s a full ceramic version of their Essence sports watch with a proprietary case suspension system. The 41mm case, bracelet, and clasp are constructed entirely from black zirconium oxide ceramic. This is a material that is being used more frequently by luxury watchmakers, and it’s often priced at a premium and positioned as an exotic alternative to metal. It does have a lot of benefits, chief among them being incredible scratch resistance and a light weight compared to steel. The Ceramica is particularly appealing because, like all Formex watches, it’s priced well below any comparable piece from a major Swiss brand. This variant retails for $4,450 – a quick look at full ceramic sports watches from the likes of Zenith and others reveals that nothing really comes close, particularly when you factor in the full ceramic bracelet. 

This edition of the Essence also builds on the ongoing “Dark Matter” meteorite dial series. A slab of Muonionalusta meteorite used for the dial has been given a black-gold galvanic treatment, resulting in a tone that shifts from anthracite to a near total black. Red details on the dial have been added as an accent, with Formex highlighting that this points to a subtle motorsport influence. I’m not sure if that influence is entirely legible here to be honest (it’s just a color choice), but I have the point of view that if a dial looks cool, the intended influence is kind of irrelevant. 

The watch is powered by the Sellita SW200-2 Power+ automatic movement and is COSC certified. Formex is among the first batch of brands to make use of these new Sellita movements which have additional power reserve over a standard SW200, as well as improvements to the regulating mechanism and increased shock protection. 

The Dark Matter Redshift is not a limited edition, but is limited in production to 100 pieces annually. For the first year of production, each piece is individually numbered. More information can be found on the Formex website here.

As Direnzo heads toward their tenth anniversary next year, they’ve just introduced their very first GMT equipped watch, the DRZ 08 Cosmonaire. Inspired by the future oriented design of the Space Age, the Cosmonaire is, like virtually every GMT watch, conceived as a travel tool at heart, and through a variety of dial treatments really takes on different personalities depending on how it is executed. It’s filled with little details that are sure to be appreciated by enthusiasts as well, the type that might go unnoticed by the more casual observer. 

Direnzo describes the case design of the Cosmonaire as having a “soft geometry,” which is highlighted by an elliptical bezel that is curved and thinner on the 3 and 9 o’clock sides than those at 12 and 6 o’clock. It gives the watch a subtly organic feel and aids in helping it achieve the desired flowing profile. It’s visually interesting and I think Direnzo deserves credit here for trying something genuinely different with a slightly higher degree of difficulty. According to the brand, they were going after a look that was reminiscent of industrial design in the 1960s and 1970s, and there’s definitely something about this watch that makes it feel like it would have been at home on the wrist of a NASA employee working Mission Control during that time period. 

The dial is bowl shaped, which adds additional depth and visual complexity to the presentation, along with the applied hour markers and an engraved lume filled ring set just outside the minute track. The interior sector of the dial features a laser engraved panier pattern and is given a high gloss lacquer treatment. There are six total variants available at launch with dials in blue, brown, green, meteorite (limited to 60 pieces) as well as a limited edition with Isotope featuring a gray dial (limited to 40). There’s also an option with a brown dial and a gold PVD treated case and bracelet. 

In terms of specs, the case (in 316L steel) measures 39mm in diameter, 10.5mm thick, and 46mm from lug to lug. The watch has 100 meters of water resistance, and a screw down crown and butterfly clasp on the bracelet. The movement is the Sellita SW330-2, which is a caller GMT movement that allows for the 24 hour hand to be set independently. I’m on record as not being a huge fan of this style of movement, as it’s not really very useful for travel, and there are better, easier to use electronic options if you simply need to monitor multiple time zones from a static position (a watch doesn’t always need to be the solution to every time telling problem). 

The new Cosmonaire is available for pre-order now at a reduced rate from the eventual full retail price. The standard editions are being pre-sold for CHF 1,200, while the limited edition versions in meteorite and with Isotope can be purchased for CHF 1,350 ahead of release. The full retail is CHF 50 more for each reference. 

More information on the new DRZ 08 Cosmonaire can be found on the Direnzo website here.

While backpacks have been a staple in the EDC community for decades, their compact and convenient counterpart – the sling bag – has become an increasingly popular alternative. The smaller profile makes them a great option for carrying essentials in a discreet (and stylish) way.

My sling bag collection is extensive. Here is a list of some of my favorite options for hands-free hauling. Three bags are ones that I use personally, and the last one is on a wishlist that has a pesky habit of always growing.

Topo Designs Mini Quick Pack

This is my go-to hiking/outdoors sling bag. At 1.7 liters, it’s big enough to carry easy-access essentials like sunscreen, chapstick, and sunglasses while out exploring. It has carry handles at the top, which is unique for a sling, and is especially handy for travel. You can access it easily if you pack it into a larger bag, and it’ll hang well on external hooks for storage. There’s even a bike light attachment loop for those early morning or late night adventures. The folks at Topo Designs sure understand their market demographics.

Lululemon Everywhere Belt Bag

I’ve bought this bag twice because it’s just that good. It’s a simple, no-frills option that comes in a bunch of different colors that vary based on the season. At 1L, it’s large enough to keep a few items handy, but small enough to blend into any environment. It leans a bit more fashion-forward than some bags, and might not be everyone’s aesthetic. But at a sub-$40 pricepoint, this is a solid sling.

Fjällraven Kanken Hip Pack

I had a man stop me on a flight to ask how to pronounce “Fjällraven” and where the name came from. He learned that I don’t speak Swedish, but I do speak sling bag. And this one’s got just about everything you want from a 2L pack. Similar to the Topo sling, this one has a carry handle which makes transport a bit easier if you decide to take it off or store it somewhere else. It has zippered pockets in the front and the back, as well as an internal storage compartment. The water-resistant Vinylon F fabric gives me confidence to wear this one out in the rain. My one qualm: the strap is pretty narrow for a 2L bag and I find that the wearing experience can be different from other slings if I’ve packed the bag especially full. 

Filson Dryden Crossbody Bag

This one’s on my wishlist, and is a littler pricier than the two options above. It’s also significantly larger at 3L, which means it could be a good option for long days away from home. Filson is a powerhouse in the gear space, and also makes a wide range of outerwear and other attire. I love the amount of internal organization this sling boasts. And the colorways – khaki, olive, and black – connect the bag to EDC’s military roots (while also ensuring it’ll match 90% of the rest of your kit… us EDCers stick to what we know).

Whether you’re hitting the trails, catching a flight, or just don’t want to fit anything else in your pockets, a good sling bag proves that you don’t need much space to carry what matters.

Porsche x La Marzocco 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Collection

It’s well established that I’m not a car guy. And it’s also well established that I have the palate of my Midwestern forebears, meaning gas station coffee is just fine by me, thank you very much. But when it comes to design, I’m a bit of a snob, looking to both Porsche and La Marzocco as the pinnacles of who I’d want to be, had life and a trust fund turned out differently for me. Put those two together and – mein Gott – all I can say is mamma mia.

The two brands are teaming up for a second time, this time taking inspiration from the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7. The centerpiece is a limited-edition version of La Marzocco’s Linea Micra espresso machine, available in historic Porsche color combinations including Grand Prix White and Green and Tangerine and Black. Carrera RS lettering, the historic Porsche logo and a cup rail shaped after the car’s famous ducktail spoiler carry the reference through the machine.

There’s also a matching Pico grinder, along with a smaller collection of coffee accessories and apparel in the same RS 2.7 colors. The collection is available now through Porsche’s online store with prices ranging from $59 to, ahem, $7, 911.

Major Changes Could Be Coming to Zenith

Not very often in this little space of mine do I get to write about hard-hitting watch industry news, but a report from Revolution caught my eye this week.

According to reporting cited by Revolution from Le Temps and Business of Fashion, around 100 jobs at Zenith’s Le Locle headquarters are currently at risk, roughly half of the workforce there, along with another 100 roles internationally. The brand has begun formal negotiations with employees, with no final decision expected before mid-November. Zenith is also expected to cut back the number of collections it produces and close its retail operations until 2029.

Where this leaves Zenith is still unclear, but with job cuts on the table and its retail network expected to disappear for several years, there are still plenty of questions about what comes next for the LVMH-owned company.

Sigma FP2

Not only is “brick with a heart of gold” what I want engraved on my tombstone, it’s also a pretty good way to describe the new Sigma FP2, according to Chris Niccolls of PetaPixel. 

The $2,199 FP2 gets a new 24.5-megapixel full-frame, partially stacked sensor, improved autofocus, faster shooting and a tilting rear display. Sigma is still leaning heavily into the modular side of the camera, with mounting points across the body for grips, an EVF and other accessories. For video, it can shoot 6K open gate, while photographers get bursts up to 20 frames per second.

Preorders are open now, with the Sigma FP2 set to go on sale November 11.

Instagram Is Testing 90-Minute Videos

Having an almost medical-grade need for validation, you’d think I would have pivoted to video a long time ago. But luckily for you, I’ve been steadfast in my decision that my visage is best left to photos. I like to think that when I post, it’s a farm-to-table approach: rustic, a bit ugly, but made from the heart, versus the overproduced Reels of husbands pranking wives and moms monetizing their kids for personal gain. I don’t know, call me old-fashioned.

And now, oh brother, here we go. According to TechCrunch, Instagram is testing a new video format called Features that will allow creators to upload videos up to 90 minutes long. The platform is also testing “Clips as Reels,” which lets creators cut shorter Reels from those longer videos and link viewers back to the full version. Instagram previously tried its hand at longer video with IGTV before shutting it down, but Adam Mosseri says the company is giving the format another shot after initially resisting the idea.

I can tell you now, I have no interest in watching anyone tell me how to dress, what sprezzatura means, where to shop in Miami or how I should be organizing my kitchen for a full feature-length movie. But if you do have 90 minutes to spare, why don’t you go watch Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, The Lion King or Fantastic Mr. Fox instead?

Apple MacBook Pro with Touch

Can we all agree that the iPhone Duo was a bit of a flop? Or, at the very least, that the novelty wore off a little too quickly for what Apple was probably hoping would be its next big thing. Maybe the company can redeem itself with the new MacBook Pro, the first in its laptop range to support a touchscreen.

The new 14- and 16-inch models get a tandem OLED ProLED XDR display with a 10-to-120Hz refresh rate, along with a slimmer and lighter body and Dynamic Island in place of the old notch. M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are under the hood, while Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7 and approximately 24 hours of battery life. The display also supports Adobe RGB for the first time on a MacBook Pro for all you designers and photographers out there.

Preorders are open now, with prices starting at $2,899 and with a release date of November 6.

Fossil’s new Signature Collection made its debut at Windup Watch Fair NYC 2026, with a behind-the-scenes film, a Q&A with Senior Creative Director Ryan White, and the first chance to get the watches on the wrist in the Fossil Signature Lounge.

Fossil is taking a fresh swing at enthusiast watchmaking with Signature CS-1, a new collection built around thoughtful design, elevated materials, and Swiss craftsmanship. Launched at Windup Watch Fair NYC 2026, the collection brings Fossil’s distinctive design sensibility to a new premium watch platform. And we got to kick things off with a morning dedicated to the people who matter most: the watch enthusiasts who showed up ready to see what it was all about.

A week before the fair, we shared a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Fossil Signature Collection, filmed at Fossil’s Dallas headquarters with Ryan. We also extended an invitation: come watch the film with us, here from Ryan directly, and get your hands on the watches before the rest of the fair got underway.

The Screening

Before Windup opened its doors on Saturday and Sunday, we gathered for the premiere of our short documentary, tracing the collection from its first spark of inspiration to the finished pieces. Seeing it on a big screen is one thing. Seeing it in a room full of people who care about how watches get made is something else entirely.

The Q&A

Next, our Head of Partnerships, Kyle Snarr, sat down with Ryan for a conversation that picked up right where the film left off. The Signature Collection was designed with enthusiasts in mind, so it was only fitting that enthusiasts got the floor. Ryan fielded every question with the same candor he brought to our conversation in Dallas.

The Fossil Signature Lounge

From there, we headed upstairs to the Fossil Signature Lounge for a morning reception and the main event: the Signature Collection, in the metal, for the very first time. Photos and video can only take you so far. Wrist time is where a watch makes its case, and this collection made it convincingly.

The enthusiasm was impossible to miss, and it went both ways. Visitors tried on pieces, traded opinions, and sipped on morning mimosas. The Fossil team, who’ve lived with this collection for a long time, got to finally watch people meet it for the first time. You could see how much that meant to them.

Meet the CS-1

The watches doing the talking belong to Fossil Signature’s new CS-1, short for Case Study One. The name takes its cue from California’s mid-century Case Study House program, when architects set out to rethink the modern home through simplicity, honest materials, and timeless design. Fossil brings that same experimental spirit to the wrist.

The one we keep coming back to is the 38mm Three-Hand Date Automatic. Inside is a Swiss Sellita SW200-1 with a 41-hour power reserve, and through the exhibition caseback, you can watch the custom Fossil Signature rotor spin. Up front, there’s a record-textured dial, faceted markers beneath domed sapphire, and 100 meters of water resistance.

Looking for more complications? Fossil Signature has you covered. The 42mm Master Calendar Chronoquartz runs a Swiss triple-date chronograph movement and features a minted caseback. The Signature Collection’s logo is a triple diamond mark pulled right out of Fossil’s original logo lockup, but this time plated in gold, and standing as a triple diamond seal of quality.

The Fossil Signature Collection is a bold new chapter for Fossil, and watch enthusiasts showed up to read the first page. That’s about the best review a collection can get on day one. If you couldn’t make it, the film is the next best thing. You can also explore the full CS-1 Collection at fossil.com.

One more thank-you to Fossil for a fantastic partnership, to our team for pulling off a launch that ran like clockwork, and to all of you for showing up early and staying curious. 

While the idea of a skull watch might sound like a kitschy Halloween-themed novelty, they actually run deep in horological history, dating back to pocket watches of the 17th century in the memento mori tradition of reminding you of your own mortality. However, these were not the skull dial timepieces we think of today but instead “form” watches that, like the name states, take a shape beyond a traditional round timekeeper. In the case of the skull form, they typically shared a similar blueprint with the jaw unhinged, exposing the dial on the underside or roof of the mouth. Today, we see many watchmakers continuing in this tradition, shifting away from form watches and extending the imagery to dial designs, some of which are achieved by simple painting while others more closely echo the form watches with sculptural elements – here are a dozen of them.

Bell & Ross Laughing Skull

Bell & Ross steps out of its aviation roots with a series of skull watches adopting the skull and crossbones motif also known as the Jolly Roger. Here, the brand takes its signature square watch case to lay the foundation for the design, which extends across the dial and bezel. The piece comes to life thanks to a mechanical jaw automaton that moves up and down to mimic laughter when you wind the watch.

Bomberg Edge Skulls Mosaic

For Bomberg, the skull motif is not just a one off for a special edition collection – its core imagery featured prominently across several of the brand’s major lines like the Bolt-68 Neo, BB-01, and Skull Rider collections. These stylized skulls and sugar skull designs are a direct tribute to Mexican traditions, like Dia de Muertos or the Day of the Dead. While a number of the designs lean into the moody and dark nature of the skull, others fully embody the colorful spirit of Mexican culture like this mosaic version.

Chopard L.U.C Skull One

Chopard is another brand with a tradition of honoring the Dia de Muertos or the Day of the Dead. Using the Salon Internacional Alta Relojeria Mexico (SIAR) watch fair in Mexico City as a launch point for these specialized designs, Chopard has produced a number of models using the skull as a centerpiece while showcasing the brand’s high-end hand-engraving and micro-painting, alongside the technical prowess of its ultra-thin L.U.C mechanical movements.

Corum Bubble Skull Tourbillon

At the turn of the new millennium, the late Severin Wunderman purchased Corum and launched the Bubble watch. This was one of those designs that radically disrupted traditional Swiss watchmaking with an avant-garde approach. As a Holocaust survivor, Wunderman developed a profound, lifelong preoccupation with mortality, the fragility of life, and traditions of the Day of the Dead. In line with these principles, a stylized skull was featured on one of the very first Bubble dials at launch. Since then, the brand has released numerous ‘skull’ Bubbles, like this tourbillon that places the complication right inside the open mouth.

Fiona Kruger Petit Skull

Fiona Kruger is another watchmaker who shares in this ethos, exploring the themes of time, mortality, and the celebration of life. This connection is largely informed by her childhood growing up in Mexico where the Dia de Muertos celebrations showed her skull motifs could be colorful and joyful tributes to life and memory. As she made her way into the horological sphere as a watchmaker, she became equally inspired by the historical 17th century memento mori timepieces. The culmination of these connection points throughout her lifetime has made the skull a central theme of her designs with the Petit Skull collection encompassing many iterations on the form.

Hermès Slim d’Hermès C’est la Fete

Hermes is no stranger to a slew of whimsical illustrations throughout its wares and watches. Among this imagery, the horse motif is one of the brand’s strongest recurring motifs and takes on an array of iterations. Perhaps one of the most unique is in the Slim d’Hermes C’est la Fete featuring a skeleton horse and rider. Like many of the Maison’s designs, the inspiration started with one of its scarves showcasing a design by a Japanese artist and illustrator named Daiske Nomura with a skeletal horseman in a tailcoat and top hat. Hermes went on to adapt the scene down to the scale of a watch dial using a combination of miniature enamel, paillone enamel, and engraving.

Hublot Classic Fusion Skull Tourbillon

Hublot has never been a brand to shy away from a bold design. So, it comes as no surprise the skull has shown up in its offbeat watches. The motif has been used a few times across the brand’s catalog. What particularly stands out about the Hublot Classic Fusion Skull Tourbillon is the juxtaposition of multiple interpretations of the skull concept. Here, the brand has cleverly employed a skeletonized dial with the skull tourbillon along with bone-shaped bridges and plate.

HYT Skull

HYT offers a unique take on the skull thanks to its one-of-a-kind fluid-filled design approach. The brand has iterated on the motif in a few editions. While most of its timepieces have a circular glass capillary to indicate the hours, with the HYT Skull the brand has engineered the tubes to trace the outline of the skull shape with eight bends. Completing the look, the right eye of the skull displays the power reserve indicator while the other eye contains the constant seconds in a rotating disc.

Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Minute Repeater

Like Hermes, Louis Vuitton is known for playing with illustrations throughout its collections and extending to its line of timepieces. While not a frequently recurring theme, the skull has made a couple appearances over time. One of the most memorable is the Tambour Carpe Diem Minute Repeater, which offers a juxtaposition of memento mori and the idea of seizing the day. What sets this model apart is its animation when the minute repeater is activating, causing the jaw to drop, revealing the words “carpe diem” that give the watch its name.

Mr. Jones The Last Laugh

When it comes to brands with highly expressive and illustrative dial designs, Mr. Jones is at the top of the list. So, it seems only fitting the skull has made its way into a few of the brand’s models. Spanning beyond intricate depictions and use of bold color, The Last Laugh is a standout interpretation thanks to its combination of the motif brought to life with technical prowess. Here, the upper teeth display the hours via a jump hour mechanism, while the lower teeth show the minutes. With the model’s jump hour feature, the top teeth flip exactly on the 59-to-00-minute shift. In addition, the skull’s eye sockets feature mirrored surfaces, letting you see your own reflection in death’s gaze.

Ressence x Alain Silberstein Type 1 REV “Carpe Diem”

Along with Louis Vuitton, Ressence and Alain Silberstein teamed up to explore the interplay between the concepts of mortality and seizing the day. The composition of the model merges Ressence’s space-age fluid mechanics with Silberstein’s iconic Bauhaus-inspired primary colors and geometric shapes. The marriage of the two watchmakers’ DNA brings to life the design’s inspiration from Philippe de Champaigne’s famous painting “Vanitas Still Life with a Tulip, Skull and Hour-Glass.”

Richard Mille RM052 Skull Tourbillon

Like Hublot, Richard Mille certainly has a reputation for instantly recognizable and avant-garde timepieces. Within these audacious designs, we’ve seen the skull theme used on a few occasions. For the RM052 Skull Tourbillon, the brand takes a similar approach as Hublot pairing skeletonization with the skull motif. Here, within the frame of the classic rectangular Richard Mille case shape, the skull forms the actual skeletonized baseplate and bridges of the movement, with the jaws holding the tourbillon cage.

I’ll keep it simple: when someone says “Vianney Halter,” the first thing that comes to mind is the Antiqua. Okay, well, that assumes you are a watch nerd who knows who he is, but if you are, an image of this bizarre, visually challenging, yet brilliant watch should appear in your mind’s eye. A perpetual calendar spreads across three decentralized portholes with riveted frames that cut through the central body’s perimeter; it’s a relic from another dimension. It’s also a late-1990s design, predating the modern era of haute horology, making it a truly important artifact of independent watchmaking.

And it’s ultra-rare, with a production of just over 100 units in total. All were in precious metal, and one recently set a record at auction, fetching over a million USD. This isn’t surprising, as Mr. Halter’s name has gained new relevance in the last couple of years through collaborative launches. At the last two Geneva Watch Days, watches bearing his name were likely the most talked-about launches. In 2025, he teamed with Behrens to release the KWH, an unexpected design with a peripheral “snake” time display that the brand continues to manufacture in different case materials. Though five-figure, it’s actually one of the more accessible Halters available.

While unique and exciting, the KWH speaks to a wholly different aesthetic than the Antiqua, which is why this year’s GWD launch, the Bvlgari Octo Finnissimo Dual Time x Vianney Halter, was so exciting. Though highly limited and priced to match, the watches merged the Octo’s brutalism with the Antiqua’s nautical sci-fi aesthetic with surprising success. The watch was nothing short of stunning, putting Mr. Halter’s unique design language back in the spotlight.

Typically, this story would end with our appetites whetted for something that was never meant to be obtainable, but not this time. Enter Louis Erard and their approachable collaborations. Erard has a history of working with Vianney Halter that predates this recent resurgence. Their first collaboration was a regulator in 2020. An intriguing design with a heavily layered dial, it emphasized the typographical elements of Vianney’s work and his hand designs, but left out the distinctive gauge-like case elements of the Antiqua. In 2024, they teamed up again with a design that began to scratch that itch.

Another regulator (Louis Erard is known for using the complication/layout), these 43mm all-metal creations had the rivets, indices, grained surfaces, and distinctive crowns that evoke the Antiqua design, but still didn’t go the full monty. The missing element was portholes or individual dials for each function. Given the fixed positioning of the hands of the regulator design, especially the central minutes, as well as the standard case (which they had modified with a different bezel), that was likely not within the realm of possibility. It was a gorgeous watch nonetheless, and is actually still available in a monochromatic variant.

Jump forward to right now (October 2026), and Louis Erard and Vianney Halter have gone the extra mile with the Futur Antérieur, creating the most Antiqua-esque watch possible while keeping a semi-approachable price point, though not without one peculiar decision along the way. One of the two biggest roadblocks in the previous designs was the case, so this time, they went all out and designed a new one from the ground up. With a central cylinder, portholes at four and ten, articulating lugs, and contrast rivets around the perimeter, the DNA isn’t abstracted; it’s there, though calling it Antiqua Jr. is perhaps too on the nose. Assembled from 67 components and made of steel, it measures a reasonable 38mm in diameter and 8.85mm thick, though it is hard to say how that accounts for the portholes. With the articulating lugs, that should wear very nicely, despite the strange shape.

As for the dials, the window at four contains hours and minutes, while the window at ten shows the seconds. The dials are layered and textured in a way that speaks directly to the Antiqua, and they feature heat-blued hands in the same style. No reinvention, no interpretation. This is really meant to bring a semblance of that watch to a new generation. And that brings us to the second roadblock: what movement could they use for such a layout? Well, the answer is either quite clever or bafflingly silly: they used two small movements.

The two crowns are a dead giveaway, but under each dial is a Sellita SW100. These automatic movements are only 17.2mm in diameter; thus, they can be nestled within what are essentially two independent watches. The rest, I suppose, is empty space or solid metal (hopefully the latter for heft). Watches with two small, independent movements are a thing, but typically both tell the time. Here, it is merely the illusion of a single movement, and the ability to “hack” an unattached seconds hand.

Yeah, that’s really weird. Perhaps it’s funny? Quirky? Ingenious? I can’t decide, especially given the price tag (which I’ll mention shortly). This is literally a dual-time watch with functionality removed for aesthetic effect. It looks great, but is fake, in its way. One dial could have had two hands, the other three. One dial could have featured an hour index, the other minutes, to create the effect, at least, of two scales. Perhaps they could have modified one movement to be 24-hour instead of 12 (likely easier said than done, but still). My guess is that they feel the “quirkiness” factor wins out given the watch’s aesthetic.

At 4,950 CHF, which, with tariffs in the US, is about $6,757 (at the time of writing), I’d prefer function, even at the cost of the illusion. Yes, this is a four-figure watch that gets you about as close to a high six- to low seven-figure watch as many of us would ever come, and frankly, it’s gorgeous, but you’re paying for two Swiss-made mechanical movements, and only using one (ok, if you were really trying you could maybe make some argument about resonance, but that would be a very long stretch). Another option I wish they had considered is a compass. That would have fit thematically and have possibly cost less too.

At launch, there are two versions of the Futur Antérieur: one with silver dials and a blue ostrich leather strap, and the other with contrasting 1N gold-toned dials and a black ostrich leather strap. They are priced the same and limited to 178 pieces per color. Like the Alain Silberstein titanium line and the Konstantin Chaykin “Unfrogettable” models, I imagine Erard will keep producing new versions of the Futur Antérieur, given how far they went to develop the new case, but that is just an assumption.

Final thoughts. I owe much of my taste in watches to the Antiqua. In the late 90s, one was on display at what was the Tourneau Time Machine on 57th in Manhattan. I have distinct memories of admiring it through the glass as a teen when I would visit the shop with my dad. I had never seen anything like it and was enamored. These days, I own two watches with very uncommon “porthole” designs: the Seiko Sportura SLQ009 kinetic chronograph and the Otsuka Lotec 7.5. I also love watches with decentralized dials in general. I think this all goes back to the Antiqua.

I want to love the Futur Antérieur. I want to feel the need to make a bad financial decision and buy one. I know I will never own an Antiqua and am ok with that. I like the previous Erard x Halter collab, but at 43mm it’s too big for me. The Futur Antérieur should be the one I run to. It nails the look, but I also know that gimmicks get under my skin. When I’ve owned watches that felt too novel for their price tags, I’ve ended up selling them, and I don’t think I could get over having a movement that’s just used to make a seconds hand tick. Louis Erard

What is a microbrand? 

I think about this a lot, never more than in the days and weeks after a Windup, and particularly the days and weeks following the New York City version of our fair, which is the largest and most diverse in terms of the types of brands represented. We often hear people describe Windup as “the microbrand show” or something similar. Not in a pejorative way, necessarily, but as a way to distinguish it from an event like WatchTime (which is more focused on traditional luxury brands) or IndiesNYC (which, yup, is focused on “indies,” another hard to define term when you step back and actually try). 

I don’t have an answer for what a “microbrand” actually is. Defining it gets more complicated when you consider all of the other small niches that pop up in the space. Terms like “micro-indie” and “challenger brand” have been thrown around a lot in the last few years, seemingly as an attempt to subvert a negative connotation with the microbrand moniker. But these terms have their own issues. Micro-indie implies, at least in how this publication has used it, that an element of the watch has some handmade craft or traditional watchmaking techniques behind it, but maybe uses a shortcut (like a case made in China, or an off-the-shelf movement) to save money. Not all brands and makers want to be seen as making compromises, even though essentially everyone short of, I dunno, Roger W. Smith and Philippe Dufour are making something about the process a little bit easier on themselves. 

Challenger brand is a term with some potential, but it implies, I think, that a brand desires growth in a way I’m not sure all do. Who is the micro or indie brand “challenging” exactly, and for what? I don’t think most of these brands, even the most ambitious and successful, actually hope to compete directly with the largest conglomerate owned watch brands. They aspire, I think, to be an alternative, not to overtake or replace.

Microbrand has always been a label that’s somewhat elastic, both in how it’s applied and how it’s perceived and metabolized by the watch community. No doubt that when you use or hear the term, it conjures something. Depending on when you entered the hobby, or what your initial experiences with a microbrand were like, it might imply a particular design aesthetic or level of workmanship. 

To me, what the microbrand label has come to represent more than anything is the connective tissue of the community itself. That’s the side effect of a catch-all term – it wraps everything into one group. Overall, I think that’s a positive for the watch space in the sense that so much of the success any one brand experiences hinges on the entire market rising. Watch collectors interested in microbrands, it seems, want variety and breadth of choice. One microbrand leads to another, and another. To be interested in one microbrand doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be interested in another, but it does mean you have a certain level of curiosity, and perhaps a predisposition to discovering and embracing a small maker. When a brand embraces the label of a microbrand, they are identifying with so many others, entering an enthusiast community, tacitly acknowledging we’re all in this together. 

And that’s why, I admit, it bothers me a little when I see a brand actively reject the “micro” designation. I mean, I get it – no one wants to feel small. But a look around the Windup fair and similar events reveals an enormous, and inclusive, community that is greater than the sum of its parts. There was a time when “microbrand” was often used dismissively, to minimize the significance of a brand, a watch, or the community itself. That attitude still certainly exists in small pockets here and there, but it’s not a mainstream view. When the term is used today, I almost always hear it in a positive context, and as a way of tying a brand or a watch to the people who take part in the hobby.

What’s most interesting to me is that the terminology we use to describe these brands – micro, indie, or something else – no longer really has much to do with how the brand actually operates as a business. A decade ago, the use of the term microbrand likely would have you thinking of a very specific type of small watch brand, operating on a small scale, run by a single person (or maybe two or three), using Kickstarter or other crowdfunding platforms. Today, microbrands cover a huge range of price points, production methods, and sometimes incorporate traditional and increasingly ambitious watchmaking craft. The label means a lot more culturally than it does in describing a business, not that it was ever particularly sufficient for that anyway. Paradoxically, as this language becomes less useful to articulate how a brand actually operates, it becomes more meaningful in how it describes the communities that take part in the hobby.

The conversation then, about what it means to be a microbrand, isn’t really about size, or the number of watches being produced. And it’s not even really about price, although certainly once you start hitting a price point where most would consider a watch a luxury purchase, the term begins to lose some utility. What it’s actually about is an ethos, and identifying yourself with a movement and a culture. Maybe it’s the Windup hangover talking, but I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the microbrand boom has been one of the most consequential and beneficial periods in our hobby in a generation. Why wouldn’t a brand want to be a part of that?