September is always a busy month for watches, and this one didn’t disappoint. Geneva Watch Days kicked things off at the beginning of the month, and the launches haven’t really stopped since.
H. Moser & Cie. built a digital watch that we’re big fans of, and Rolex surprised us all by adding a new model in the Perpetual Padellone.
Elsewhere, Hublot turned Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog into a wristwatch, Audemars Piguet teamed up with Serena Williams, and Girard-Perregaux launched its first watch with Williams F1.
There’s something for most budgets too, from a US$795 / £499 Bulova to Bulgari’s laser-engraved camouflage Octo Finissimo.
Here are the 18 launches you need to know about this month.
1. Hublot Classic Fusion Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons
Hublot’s Classic Fusion Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons reimagines the 42mm Classic Fusion watch as an inflated sculpture, with domed crystal, screws, dial and case, a rubber tail at 10:30 and a crown styled like an inflation valve. Choose mirror-polished steel, or red or blue aluminium, each limited to 200, for £19,700.
2. H. Moser & Cie. Off-Grid
H. Moser & Cie’s Off-Grid is a hybrid digital watch with a skeletonised dial, 42.6mm steel case and Streamliner-style design. It offers GMT, a split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar, moon phase, sunrise and sunset times, an alarm and a travel translation mode (but crucially no smartphone connection). Two colour options are available, each limited to 1000 pieces.
3. Longines Spirit Pilot and Spirit Pilot Flyback (Blue)
Longines goes blue across the Spirit Pilot (39mm, three-hand) and Spirit Pilot Flyback (39.5mm), all COSC-certified with matt blue dials, silicon balance-springs and 100m water resistance. The Flyback adds a blue ceramic bezel and hand-wound column-wheel L792.4 with 68 hours; the L888.4 automatic offers 72 hours. Both come on either a steel bracelet or blue rubber strap.
4. Girard-Perregaux Laureato Williams Editions
Girard-Perregaux’s first Atlassian Williams F1 watches are the steel, 42mm Laureato Williams Edition and Laureato Chronograph Williams Edition, both 100m water-resistant with blue Clous de Paris dials inspired by the FW48 and a discreet Williams W at 12 o’clock. The GP1800 gives a minimum 54 hours’ power; the 419-part GP3300 chronograph manages 46 hours.
5. Rolex Perpetual Padellone
Rolex’s Perpetual Padellone takes cues from the late-1940s reference 8171 (nicknamed Padellone, Italian for big pan), with a 39mm case and a blue enamel moonphase disc with meteorite moons. Its instantaneous annual calendar uses the patented Haplos system, inside the new 5Hz calibre 7190. It’s available in Everose gold on a Settimo bracelet or alligator strap, or platinum.
6. Tissot PRX Quartz Chronograph
Tissot adds a quartz chronograph to the PRX range with a 41mm stainless-steel case, chunky pushers, and a date at 4 o’clock. The vertically brushed dial with circled counters comes in silver with rose-gold-coloured accents, black or blue, all with Super-LumiNova-coated hands and indexes on an integrated, quick-release metal bracelet.
7. Bulova A-11 JIMMY
Bulova’s A-11 JIMMY is inspired by an original hack watch worn on screen in the Jimmy Stewart film JIMMY. The 37mm steel case is now 11.2mm thick, down from 14.2mm, thanks to a slim Miyota 9039 automatic with hacking seconds. It has 50m water resistance.
8. Hamilton Khaki Field Murph 38mm (Cosmic Blue Dial)
Hamilton’s movie-famous Khaki Field Murph 38mm gets a cosmic blue dial inspired by an interstellar comet, fading from luminous blue at the centre to black at the edge, with a grained stardust texture. The H-10 automatic gives 80 hours of power, and arrives on either steel bracelet or leather strap.
9. Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin
Vacheron Constantin marks 30 years of the Overseas with a white gold Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin and a new, lighter azure dial. The 41.5mm case is just 8.1mm thick, thanks to the Calibre 1120 QP/1. Limited to 200 pieces, it comes on a bracelet with two rubber straps.
10. Louis Vuitton Monterey Ceramic
Louis Vuitton adds two ceramic Monterey watches to its permanent collection, in green or glossy black, inspired by the 1988 LV II. The 37mm, 11mm-thick pebble cases keep the Clou de Paris crown at 12 o’clock and gain the in-house automatic LFTMA01.02 with a 45-hour reserve, replacing the original quartz.
11. Tudor North Flag
Tudor revives the cult-favourite Northflag with a true GMT, swapping the original’s power reserve indicator for a yellow 24-hour hand. The 40mm steel case is slimmer at 12.7mm, on an integrated bracelet, powered by the COSC- and METAS-certified MT5652-U with 65 hours’ power.
12. TAG Heuer Monza
TAG Heuer marks the Monza’s 50th anniversary with a limited-edition Flyback Chronograph in a 42mm forged carbon case, with a black and red dial as a nod to the 1976 original. The COSC-certified TH20-12 provides the flyback function. Just 500 numbered pieces will be made, finished on a perforated calfskin strap.
13. Zenith Chronomaster Solo Sport
Zenith’s Chronomaster Solo Sport is the collection’s first three-hander, stripping the El Primero back to its 5Hz cadence. The 40mm steel watch has a ceramic bezel, 20 ATM, the El Primero 3620 with 60 hours’ power, and ceramic Z-pattern dials in black, white or brown.
14. Daniel Roth Extra Plat Rose Gold Gilt
Daniel Roth’s Extra Plat Rose Gold Gilt revives the gilt dial: numerals and branding appear as negative shapes revealed from a solid gold base beneath black electroplating. Rose-engine guilloché sits underneath. The 5N rose gold double-ellipse case houses the hand-wound, 143-component DR002, with a 4Hz beat and a 65-hour reserve.
15. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph “Serena Williams”
Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph gets a limited edition designed with Serena Williams. It features a 38mm white ceramic case and bracelet, and a pink-tinted mother-of-pearl dial. Inside sits the new in-house calibre 6401 with a simplified vertical clutch, instant-jump date and pink gold rotor seen through the caseback.
16. Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Chronograph
Christopher Ward’s first main-range mechanical chronograph in six years, the C63 Sealander Chronograph pairs a 41mm case and ceramic tachymeter bezel with Sellita’s SW510 (62-hour reserve). It’s water-resistant to 100m.
17. Bulgari Octo Finissimo Dazzle
Inspired by automotive test-car camouflage, the Octo Finissimo Dazzle laser-engraves a geometric pattern across its 40mm, 5.15mm-thick titanium case, dial and bracelet. Powered by the BVL 138 ultra-thin automatic, it’s limited to just 80 pieces.
18. Panerai Luminor PAM01714
Panerai’s PAM01714 pairs a black DLC-coated 42mm steel case with a matte blue dial, beige Super-LumiNova and blue canvas strap. The P.980 automatic offers three days’ power, and water resistance is a serious 50 bar.
Liked this? Buying your first mechanical watch? Here’s everything you need to know before spending a penny
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