【F】 Fratello’s Top 5 Watches Released In January 2026

Another Friday, another list! This week, it’s the start of a new series. In 2026, we want to keep you informed about all the best releases that come out during the year. That is why we decided to create a Top 5 of our favorite releases from every month. As this is the first Friday after January ended, this week, we’ll look at our favorite picks from the first month of 2026. It’s been a month full of highlights, contrasting the usual assumption that the year starts slowly in the watch world. Let’s find out what our five highlights are.

We’ve already seen a string of brilliant new releases in 2026. LVMH Watch Week kicked off the year in terms of events, with Audemars Piguet’s Social Club event having followed in the past few days. So barely a month in, the watch industry is already operating at full speed. It can be hard to keep up with all the new watches coming out. That’s why, to make life a little easier for all of us, we want to highlight some of the best releases from each month and present them on the first Friday of the following month. For this week’s list, we picked our five highlights from January 2026. Some of them are surprising, and others are more obvious, but all of them impressed us upon release.

Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch “Reverse Panda”

Our first pick from January 2026 is obvious. While we also recognize that it might not necessarily be your first choice for a Moonwatch, this new “Reverse Panda” version certainly had people talking. We were lucky enough to have both the stainless steel and the Moonshine Gold versions in for review, and it is hard not to be impressed by this new duo of Speedies. It’s a classic case of needing to see them in person to appreciate them fully. While there is a visual resemblance to the Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday limited edition from 2017, as Robert-Jan explained, seeing the two side by side shows how different they really are. In particular, the new glossy dials are something else. I didn’t have strong feelings upfront, but when I saw the two watches on my wrist, I was super impressed.

It all starts with the familiar asymmetrical 42mm Speedmaster Moonwatch case with its signature lyre lugs. Inside it lies a gleaming black dial with glossy white sub-dials. This dial consists of two plates. The first is the top one in polished black, featuring a varnished and lacquered finish and rhodium-plated sub-dial frames. The second layer, which also serves as the base for the sub-dials, is crisp, varnished, and lacquered white. Accordingly, the main dial’s minute track is white, whereas the sub-dials’ markings are black, providing legible contrast. As Robert-Jan explained, the dial features a whopping and impressive 20 layers of lacquer.

Details make the difference

Surrounding the dial is a black ceramic bezel insert with a tachymeter scale, including the classic Dot Over Ninety (DON), filled with white enamel. The combination of the bezel insert and the glossy dial creates a completely different feel for these new Moonwatches, distinguishing them from any existing models. Both also come fitted with the super comfortable “Nixon” bracelet, which completes the look.

Thanks to the sapphire display in the case back, you get a great view of the caliber 3861 ticking inside. This manual-winding Master Chronometer movement runs at 21,600 vibrations per hour and offers a 50-hour power reserve. It is the trusted powertrain for the modern Speedmaster Moonwatch models. All in all, we were thoroughly impressed with the two new “Reverse Panda” models. The stainless steel version is the more popular one of the duo and the one most people would want to buy. While the €10,200 price was much debated among fans, it is hard to deny that the new Speedy is one of the highlights of this first month of 2026.

Atelier Wen Millésime Perception Xuán

Our second pick is something completely different. While the principle of introducing a new dial is similar to that of the new Speedmaster models, the Millésime Perception Xuán by Atelier Wen is more than just a different dial. The brand’s Perception has become a well-respected model in the watch community. This modern sports watch, with its super-comfortable integrated bracelet, is instantly recognizable and has many fans. We have seen quite a few variations with impressive dials, often the brilliant ones that come courtesy of China’s only guilloché master, Cheng Yucai.

But for this new Millésime Perception Xuán limited edition, the brand chose to pair the watch with a special pietersite dial. As Mike explained, the official term for the material is chalcedony, which is a type of silica. It is mined in China, which is why it was chosen for a limited run of dials. As this is a natural material, each dial looks different from the others. Pietersite often combines blues and browns with chatoyant yellow tones. The watch that we had featured a stunning combination of blues and browns. But since every dial is unique, you could end up with a strictly blue dial with a nice pattern or an even more exotic color combination. What connects them all is how visually attractive they are.

Wearing the Millésime Perception Xuán gives a special feeling

The dial sits inside the familiar 40mm 904L stainless steel case, which has a 9.4mm profile and 47mm lug-to-lug. Protecting the unique dial is a double-domed sapphire crystal with 10 layers of antireflective coating. This ensures you can fully enjoy the natural impact of the wonderful dial. Encircling the pietersite is a luminous huiwen-patterned chapter ring that also holds the hour markers. If you look closely at the special cutouts for the indexes, you get a good idea of how much work goes into creating the dials.

Powering the watch is the Chinese Dandong SL1588A self-winding caliber, which is partly visible through the decorated case back. This movement operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour and has a 41-hour power reserve. It has turned out to be a very reliable caliber for the Perception series, which is why the brand continues to use it.

It completes a watch that impressed all of us at Fratello when we had it in the office. The special pietersite dial is stunning, and we definitely want to see more watches with unique stone dials from Atelier Wen in the future. For now, the Millésime Perception Xuán is one of them and available for pre-order for €3,100 (ex. taxes).

Louis Vuitton Escale Minute Repeater

About two weeks ago, LVMH presented a string of impressive new releases from all its watch brands during LVMH Watch Week 2026 in Milan, Italy. Louis Vuitton focused on its Escale collection, and the absolute highlight for most of us was the Escale Minute Repeater. A jump-hour watch with a minute repeater in a beautiful 40 × 12.3mm pink gold case and with a stunning traditional guilloché dial was an instant highlight. As Lex explained, it takes over four weeks to assemble and finish just one Escale Minute Repeater, and examining the pictures reveals why.

Among the Fratello team members, Daan was present at the LVMH Watch Week and confirmed that this timepiece is truly something else. It makes us all want to see the watch up close. It’s another remarkable creation and the brainchild of Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. The duo has graced us with a series of standout releases in the past couple of years. Funnily enough, my favorite is last year’s Gérald Genta Geneva Minute Repeater, a watch with one of the same complications.

The details of the Louis Vuitton Escale Minute Repeater

But for this new Escale Minute Repeater, the duo went in a different direction. The 432-part caliber they developed combines a large jump-hour display at 6 o’clock with a retrograde minute track on the dial’s perimeter. At the start of every hour, the retrograde minute hand returns to zero smoothly thanks to an integrated damping system that regulates its motion. The stunning dial is handcrafted on a rose engine and finished with a radiant flammé guilloché pattern that is truly remarkable. Beautiful details on the dial refer to Louis Vuitton’s iconic trunks. A great example is the bracket-inspired minute track with nail-like markers. All in all, this new Louis Vuitton Escale Minute Repeater is a great display of watchmaking excellence and full of little brand-related details, making it one of last month’s highlights.

Toledano & Chan B/1.3r

Another highlight, which debuted last week, is the Toledano & Chan B/1.3r. It’s another play at the brand’s inaugural model, but this time, Phil Toledano and Alfred Chan decided to shake things up properly. The new B/1.3r is made of lightweight titanium, making it a lot lighter than its predecessors. In addition, the darker hue of the titanium case complements the 18K yellow gold ripple dial beautifully. This specific color combination is my favorite from the duo so far. Another great detail is the beautiful brushed finish on the titanium case and bracelet, which adds texture and visual brilliance.

But that is certainly not where it ends. The stunning asymmetrical destro-style case is slightly narrower than previous B/1 versions, making it easier to wear. What has remained, though, is the beautiful sculpture of the case, combined with a stunning faceted sapphire crystal. It gives the brutalist-architecture-inspired watch a unique presence. Hovering over the dial are two razor-sharp hands to tell the time, and laser-engraved in the crystal is the word “Swiss,” adding another beautiful detail. Overall, this is a stunning creation that you either love or hate.

The B/1.3r is surprisingly comfortable

Inside the case lies the Sellita SW100. This 25-jewel automatic caliber operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour and offers a 42-hour power reserve. Being easy to service and highly reliable, it is a perfect movement for this watch. Admittedly, though, the caliber is not what you buy this watch for.

The sculpture of the case and bracelet is something else, but it translates into a watch that wears incredibly well. I had the pleasure of wearing it for a week and writing the review, and I was super impressed. For a watch that is so angular, it is surprisingly easy to wear, and thanks to the use of titanium, you sometimes hardly notice you are wearing a watch. But then there is the combination of the gold dial and the unique sculpture, which visually reminds you that you are wearing something special. As I stated in my review, this US$10,200 watch is easily one of my early highlights of 2026.

Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Timer

Our fifth and final pick is the surprising Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Timer. We certainly didn’t see this one coming, but it was a welcome surprise release during LVMH Watch Week. The watch celebrates the brand’s first chronograph from 1866 in style. The Tiffany Timer is a classically styled chronograph with a 40mm platinum case, a white gold crown, and chronograph pushers on the right. The case is matched with a Tiffany Blue lacquer dial featuring 12 baguette diamonds as hour markers.

Additionally, it features three sub-dials, and all the text and markings are printed in black. The date display includes a color-matched disc with black printing and blends in perfectly. Lastly, the sharp hands are all made of white gold, matching the crown and pushers. As you can see, there is a lot of depth and detail that make the dial rather striking.

A time-intensive dial

Creating each dial takes a whopping 50 hours. The dial’s base surface is sprayed with matte Tiffany Blue lacquer eight times and then dried for two hours in an oven at exactly the right temperature. In the next step, the dials receive 15 layers of clearcoat, which must dry completely under air-controlled conditions. As you will understand, it is a time-consuming job. But that’s not where it ends because, in the final step, each dial undergoes a 12-hour baking process.

If you turn the Tiffany Timer around, you’ll see a bespoke version of the Zenith El Primero caliber 400. This legendary chronograph caliber operates at 36,000 vibrations per hour and offers a 50-hour power reserve. A striking detail is the customized rotor that features an 18K yellow gold Bird on a Rock that tells an important part of Tiffany’s story, as Lex explained. As you can see on the case back, Tiffany & Co. only produced 60 pieces of this beautiful chronograph, which are undoubtedly sold out by now. We can definitely see why.

Final thoughts on the top five watches released in January 2026

There you have it — our five highlights from the first month of 2026. We feel these watches kicked off the year in just the right way, but, as always, many more options could have been on this list. If anything, January has shown us there is plenty to look forward to for the rest of 2026. We can’t wait to see what’s next. Now, though, I want to turn the question to you. What are some of your highlights from January 2026? Let us know in the comments section, and we will see you again next week for another list!