With Geneva Watch Days, WatchTime New York and the WindUp Watch Fair in the rearview mirror, the horological world is setting its sights on Dubai Watch Week, the growing trade show that occurs once every two years in the United Arab Emirates in November. But before we travel across the world, it’s time to take stock of a number of exciting releases that reared their heads this month. From a new solid-gold expression of Zenith’s Defy Skyline to a distinctly affordable pilot’s watch from American microbrand Nodus, October was full of horological winners. Running the gamut in type, looks and price, the spookiest month on the calendar furnished an excellent crop of cool new watches. Check out a bunch of our favorites below.
Zenith Defy Skyline Tourbillon
Launched in 2022, the Zenith Defy Skyline collection has come a long way in just a few short years. The newest expression of the robust luxury sports watch line is also the collection’s first rose gold version. Measuring 41mm in 18K precious metal, the Defy Skyline Tourbillon blends a mesmerizing sunray-patterned dial in brick red with a one-minute tourbillon revolving above 6 o’clock. The automatic Zenith El Primero cal. 3630 high-beat movement ticking away inside beats at 5 Hz (36,000 vph) and offers an impressive 60-hour power reserve. The integrated rose-gold bracelet and 100m of water resistance make for a comfortable and carefree wearing experience.
Diameter: 41mm
Movement: Zenith El Primero cal. 3630 automatic
Water Resistance: 100m
The James Brand x Timex Automatic GMT Nocturne Edition
The cushion-cased James Brand X Timex Automatic GMT is a fan-favorite travel watch for its good looks, approachable price and mix of vintage and modern aesthetics. The third version comes with a few new tricks up its sleeve. Boasting a sandblasted stainless steel case and bracelet, forged carbon fiber dial and fully-graduated black bezel insert, it offers a largely monochromatic look punctuated by pops of color that collectors will love. And while an automatic GMT movement from Miyota keeps the price down, 200m of water resistance and an additional two-piece nylon strap mean you can wear this baby in any and all travel situations. (It’s also limited to just 1,000 pieces, so move fast on this one!)
Diameter: 41mm
Movement: Miyota cal. 9075 automatic
Water Resistance: 200m
Nodus Sector II Pilot DLC
Incredibly thin, good looking, wonderfully utilitarian — the Nodus Sector II Pilot DLC has it all. Housed in a 38mm stainless steel case with a fully-blasted, matte-black DLC coating, it features a pilot-friendly countdown bezel, handy day-date display, large Arabic indices and a lumed set of large sword hands. Neon green accents and plenty of Swiss Super-LumiNova BGW9 Grade A mean you’ll have zero issues seeing this baby at night or in low-light situations, while the matching, tapered DLC bracelet with quick-release spring bars, hardy Seiko automatic movement and 100m of water resistance make it ideal for far-reaching travel. At this price, there’s hardly a more considered pilot’s watch on the market.
Diameter: 38mm
Movement: Seiko cal. TMI NH36 automatic
Water Resistance: 100m
Wren Diver 38 Mad
Now here’s a dive watch with a great story: Wren founder Craig Karger designed a one-of-one Wren Diver 38 for his niece Maddie for her bat mitzvah, sharing some video and stills of the watch with his followers. When folks clearly loved the watch, he decided to make a production version, adding a date window to keep Maddie’s own version unique. Measuring 38mm in stainless steel, the Wren Diver 38 Mad features a stark white dial and a fully lumed bezel, helping it stand out from the rest of the Wren divers, all of which use gradient dials. Powered by the workhorse ETA cal. 2892 automatic movement and paired to a cool flat-link bracelet, it also ships with your choice of FKM rubber strap in either black or white.
Diameter: 38mm
Movement: ETA cal. 2892 automatic
Water Resistance: 200m
Bell & Ross BR-X3 Night Vision
Limited to 250 pieces worldwide, this killer take on the Bell & Ross BR-X3 takes inspiration from heads-up displays (HUD) in fighter jets to offer a fully lumed dial and case. Crafted from LUM-CAMO (a composite made of carbon fiber and luminescent resin), PVD-coated titanium and photoluminescent green rubber cylinders, it features a skeletonized, three-layer dial beneath a green-tined sapphire crystal that reveals the Bell & Ross cal. BR-CAL.323 automatic movement beneath. With its date and power reserve indicators, the dial does indeed take on the aspect of an instrument panel from a high-tech fighter plane, while 70 hours of power reserve and 100m of water resistance ensure plenty of utility.
Diameter: 41mm
Movement: Bell & Ross cal. BR-CAL.323 automatic
Water Resistance: 100m
Favre Leuba Sea Sky Revival
Someone in search of a vintage-inspired chronograph — complete with a column wheel-actuated movement in the style of mid-century classics — would do well to check out the latest version of Favre Leuba’s Sea Sky Revival. Coming in at 40mm in stainless steel, it features pump pushers, a large knurled crown, a rotating bezel with a fully-graduated, ceramic dive-style insert, and a striking green sunray dial with black chronograph totalizers and an outer base-1,000 tachymeter scale. Powered by the Favre Leuba cal. FLC01 automatic movement built by La Joux-Perret, it packs 100m of water resistance and comes paired to a black leather strap with quick-change and white contrast stitching.
Diameter: 40mm
Movement: Favre Leuba cal. FLC01 automatic
Water Resistance: 100m
Blancpain Villeret Quantième Complet
While many calendar watches feature silvered dials, the new Blancpain Villeret Quantième Complet boasts a beautiful deep gold sunray dial to match its 40.2mm red gold case — which, by the way, measures just 10.6mm thick despite the presence of an automatic movement inside. Featuring day and month apertures plus an inner radial date display and a handsome moonphase display above 6 o’clock, this gorgeous complete calendar has been redesigned by Blancpain with better proportions, including a slimmer bezel, larger crown and new lug profile. With its new openworked, satin-finished gold oscillating weight visible from the sapphire caseback, the Villeret Quantième Complet offers a potent mix of beauty and convenience.
Diameter: 40.2mm
Movement: Blancpain cal. 6654.4 automatic
Water Resistance: 30m
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Monoface Origin
When the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Dame debuted in 1931, it measured just 32.5 tall and 16.3 mm wide. The new Reverso Classic Monoface Origin brings back these proportions for the modern wearer, offering a smaller case combined with the convenience of a handy quartz movement, plus the classic blank caseback that’s perfect for engraving an inscription (or even an intricate miniature painting). Offered with either a handsome blue leather strap or an elegant stainless steel five-link bracelet, it features a silvered dial with the collection’s classic Arabic-numeral typeface, blued sword hands, and a mix of guilloché and vertically-brushed finishing that lends it a dressy art deco look.
Diameter: 16.3mm
Movement: Jaeger-LeCoultre cal. 657 quartz
Water Resistance: 30m
TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport Twin-Time
The Carrera Chronograph Extreme Sport is where TAG Heuer lets its hair down. Mixing classic automotive styling with more modern, high-tech looks via skeletonization, the Extreme Sport takes the brand’s classic 1960s chronograph to its logical 21st-century conclusion. The new Twin Time version incorporates the collection’s first GMT complication, adding teal accents to the mix to help differentiate between daytime and nighttime hours. Extending to the watch’s rubber strap, central chronograph seconds hand and skeletonized date wheel, this color has now become a signature of TAG Heuer’s GMT watch lineup, offering a consistent colorway for its travel watch portfolio.
Diameter: 44mm
Movement: TAG Heuer cal. TH20-02 automatic
Water Resistance: 100m
Hublot MP-17 MECA-10 Arsham Splash
Following up on its incredible pocket watch from 2024, Hublot teamed-up once again with American visual artist Daniel Arsham on a mind-bending timepiece. This time, the collaboration takes the form of the Hublot MP-17 MECA-10 Arsham Splash, a wristwatch inspired by the dynamism of water droplets. Crafted from titanium and fitted with a cool frosted bezel machined from sapphire crystal, the hand-wound watch features a special “splash”-shaped dial opening, through which it’s possible to view the Hublot cal. Meca-10 hand-wound within. Limited to just 100 pieces, the Hublot MP-17 MECA-10 Arsham Splash is certainly a unique timepiece in the brand’s current lineup and a testament to the possibilities of its artistic partnerships.
Diameter: 42mm
Movement: Hublot cal. Meca-10 hand-wound
Water Resistance: 50m
A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Thin
Machined from platinum and coming in at 40mm, the new, larger expression of Lange’s Saxonia Thin is perfect for fans of classic dress watches who desire a slightly larger case profile. Featuring a beautiful black onyx-capped silver dial with simple indices and alpha hands, the watch — which is also available in a Honeygold case — is a picture of subtlety and refinement, offering a thin, beautifully-finished hand-wound movement (the cal. L093.1) with 72 hours of power reserve visible via a sapphire caseback. Paired to a simple black alligator leather strap, it’s an ideal “one-and-done” dress watch for special occasions and black-tie events.
Diameter: 40mm
Movement: A. Lange & Söhne cal. L093.1 hand-wound
Water Resistance: 30m
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