6 Must-See Watches at WatchTime New York 2026

With WatchTime New York less than ten days away, excitement is building for a weekend of new releases, collector conversations, and watchmaking at Gotham Hall. Returning from October 16 to 18, the show will give enthusiasts a chance to handle watches they have followed all year — and discover others for the first time.

For our final preview, six more highlights from Ming, Blancpain, Ferdinand Berthoud, RGM, Frederique Constant, and Chopard bring handworked dials, miniature mechanics, and ambitious complications to the lineup, including a one-of-a-kind minute repeater that should be worth the wait to hear in person.

Ming × J.N. Shapiro 37.06 Lightning

The Ming × J.N. Shapiro 37.06 Lightning brings a friendship between two independent watchmakers to Gotham Hall. Shapiro and his team hand-cut each titanium dial’s guilloché pattern in Los Angeles before Ming heat-colors it with a butane torch in Kuala Lumpur. Blues, purples, and orange-yellow tones emerge from the metal without paint or lacquer, giving every dial its own color gradient. Only about one in three survives the process.

The watch pairs a 38mm steel case with luminous HyCeram indexes set into the domed sapphire crystal. Its manually wound Sellita SW210.M1 features skeletonized bridges and provides approximately 42 hours of power reserve, with water resistance to 100 meters. Priced at CHF 6,250 before taxes, the Lightning has a production target of about ten examples per month.

Blancpain Lady B

Blancpain’s Lady B offers a chance to see how much watchmaking can fit into a piece of jewelry. It revisits the Ladybird Bullet of 1956, created under Betty Fiechter’s leadership and fitted with what was then the world’s smallest round movement. Seventy years later, the new watch preserves that miniature spirit in a polished, spherical case. A double-tour calfskin strap passes directly through it, leaving the rounded form free of lugs.

The 19mm steel or red-gold case surrounds an opaline dial with applied markers. Inside is Blancpain’s automatic Calibre 615, measuring just 15.7mm across and 3.9mm thick, with 180 components, a silicon balance spring, and a 38-hour reserve. The regular-production Lady B is priced at $12,600 in steel and $19,200 in red gold.

Ferdinand Berthoud Chronomètre FB 3SPC.4-1

Ferdinand Berthoud’s FB 3SPC won the GPHG’s Chronometry Prize in 2023, and its unusual cylindrical hairspring remains a compelling reason to seek it out. Hand-shaped terminal curves help the spring expand and contract concentrically, with a sapphire porthole offering a side view of it in motion. The new Chronomètre FB 3SPC.4-1 gives those mechanics a darker setting, pairing black ceramized titanium with black-rhodium-treated nickel-silver bridges visible through the open dial.

The 42.3mm case introduces the collection’s first crown guard and black fabric strap. Its manually wound, COSC-certified Calibre FB-SPC delivers a 72-hour reserve, displayed at 2 o’clock, with small seconds at 6 o’clock. Six satin-finished bridges and hand-polished bevels with 102 exterior and 15 inner angles give visitors plenty to examine. Price is available upon request.

RGM Model 501-PC Perpetual Calendar

The RGM Model 501-PC Perpetual Calendar arrives after a long wait. Roland G. Murphy has wanted to revive the complication for years, and this is the company’s first since the Model 103-R Minute Repeater Perpetual of the late 1990s. Its design draws on late-19th-century perpetual-calendar pocket watches, with a white Grand Feu enamel dial, Roman numerals, and blued-steel hands. Three calendar subdials and a moon phase complete a distinctly classical display.

A raised box-style sapphire crystal tops the 39mm steel case. Inside, an ETA 2892-A2 automatic base modified by RGM works with a custom Dubois Dépraz perpetual-calendar module and solid-gold winding rotor. The reserve runs between 52 and 56 hours, with water resistance to 50 meters. Supplied on an alligator strap, the Model 501-PC is priced at $39,900.

Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture

Frederique Constant’s Classic Worldtimer Manufacture has been a mainstay of its collection since 2012. The latest version gives visitors a chance to revisit that familiar travel watch in a smaller, cleaner form. Removing the date opens up the central world map, surrounded by 24 reference cities and a two-tone 24-hour disc that distinguishes day from night. All functions remain adjustable through the crown.

The steel case shrinks from 42mm to 40mm, while the new automatic Calibre FC-719 extends the reserve from 38 to 72 hours. The blue-dial version pairs a gradient background with dark-grey continents in relief, offered on an interchangeable alligator strap or five-link steel bracelet. Either configuration is priced at $6,195, with water resistance to 50 meters.

Chopard L.U.C Full Strike “Día de los Muertos”

Chopard closes the group with a watch that deserves attention for both its dial and its sound. The one-of-a-kind L.U.C Full Strike “Día de los Muertos” continues the manufacture’s tributes to Mexico’s Day of the Dead, forming a calavera in white gold with green Grand Feu champlevé enamel, white enamel teeth, and a guilloché background. Repeater hammers and twin power-reserve indicators become the skull’s eye sockets, while hand-engraved motifs and baguette-cut emeralds extend the decoration around the case.

The 42.5mm ethical white-gold watch houses the manually wound L.U.C Calibre 08.01-L, bearing the Geneva Seal and offering a 60-hour reserve. Its minute repeater sounds the hours, quarters, and minutes on sapphire gongs formed with the crystal as a single piece. A separate barrel powers 12 full chimes, making this one worth hearing in person. Price is available upon request.

WatchTime New York 2026 takes place October 16–18 at Gotham Hall in New York City. Tickets are available now for Saturday and Sunday admission, here.