Cait Bazemore

When you work in a world about objects that measure time, you are confronted daily with the finite nature of things – nothing lasts forever. Speaking a bit less existentially, we see certain products come and go all throughout our lives. A brand changes its logo. A restaurant changes a recipe. A watchmaker retires a favorite model.

One of several running stories I've been working on lately is a chronology of influential watch ads, and perhaps I need to add this latest campaign from Shinola to the list. The headline is that the brand's popular Duck watch is getting a mechanical movement. In my humble opinion, that's a pretty exciting announcement within itself whether you're a mechanical devotee who's loved the aesthetic of the collection but been uninterested in quartz or whether you're mechanical-curious and looking to acquire your first model with an automatic movement.

In 2022, the inaugural TimeForArt auction took place in partnership with Phillips, marking the first and only benefit watch auction to support contemporary art and artists. In its opening year, it raised $1.2 million for the Swiss Institute's exhibitions, public programs, education initiatives, and community engagement. Its next edition returns this December as part of The New York Watch Auction XV, now featuring a whopping 25 watch brands up from the original 17, including Zenith with a unique Defy Chronograph.

Earlier this year, I got a whole new appreciation for the Nomos Metro after sitting down with its creator, Mark Braun. The collection first came into the Nomos catalog back in 2014 and debuted the brand's proprietary swing escapement system, which was developed over seven years with the Fraunhofer Institute and TU Dresden. Form was equally important to function in the original design, featuring a galvanized and silver-plated dial with a soft white color punctuated by black, red, and green markings in an arrangement that subtly played with asymmetry.

You probably know I've been a fan of Papar from the brand's launch in 2024 with its initial model, the Anillo. Since this inaugural GMT collection, the brand has expanded with the addition of a diver called the Cenote. Now, we get a third collection that offers a wandering-hour: the Vuelte.

At Windup last fall, De Rijke & Co. made a surprise unveiling of the Capri collection, marked by its distinctive ultra-thin rectangular case, unique curved sapphire crystal, integrated shrouded lugs, and stone dials. As the year went on, the brand made an official announcement about the line, launching a poster challenge featuring hidden Easter eggs and offering further previews at other industry events like Milan Watch Week. As the calendar page turned to 2026, pre-orders for the anticipated limited edition Capri finally opened for the initial iterations in black onyx, black aventurine, and blue capri produced in just 50 pieces each. Now, the brand ushers the model into its permanent catalog with three new dial colors: champagne, salmon, and silver.

Our story starts back in 2014 on the year of Oris' milestone 110 th anniversary. For the occasion, the brand unveiled its first proprietary in-house movement in 35 years, featuring a manual-wind 10-day power reserve and a non-linear power reserve indicator. This movement was aptly named the Caliber 110.

Hublot is a brand that has long endured scrutiny for its bold and out-of-the-box approach to watchmaking, and frankly, I've never quite understood why the industry and the collector sphere has relentlessly put the brand under fire. In many other instances, brands have been revered for being a disrupter, so why not Hublot?

We know the trend of all black watches well – what was once a novelty has now become a regular part of most catalogs, so perhaps we can no longer call this a trend but an industry staple. I think the monochromatic concept really works on many different levels.

There are many crossovers between watches and other spheres, from diving and broader sports to exploration of the skies and outer space. Possibly one of the most poignant and deeply rooted connections is between watches and cars. This link largely traces back to early automobile racing and the need for precise speed and distance calculations.