NEW VIDEO
“Below and Beyond” traces the Submariner’s story from its 1953 debut, the first Rolex diver’s watch rated to 100m, through to today’s 300m-rated Oystersteel version with calibre 3230. It’s a tidy reminder of how a tool built for marine professionals became an icon far from the water.
Why this watch, on this wrist?
DROP
The donation math is precise, but the £15,000 total is a calculation, not a guarantee.
Image: Christopher Ward
The Trident 30×30 takes its name from Blue Marine Foundation’s 30×30 Ocean Action Plan, which aims to protect 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030. Only 500 will be made.
The donation model stands out. Christopher Ward already donates 2 percent of every sale to Blue Marine. For this model, it adds a fixed £30: “For every watch sold, we’ll give 2 percent of the price to Blue Marine, plus an extra £30,” according to the brand. The donation scales with sales, not a single lump sum.
A sell-out would generate £15,000 in additional donations. That total is our calculation. Christopher Ward publishes no ceiling and no donation window, so treat £15,000 as a theoretical maximum rather than a pledge.
Mechanically this sits inside familiar Trident territory. The 41mm four-piece Reef case is good for 200m, the closed back carries an engraved 30×30 logo, and the automatic 26-jewel Sellita SW200-2 Power+ does the running. No chronometer certification is claimed on the page. The teal and red palette points to the parrotfish and the #FishForTomorrow campaign, and designer Matthew Sweatman calls the Aeolian wave dial pattern “bespoke.”
Bader bracelet or Aquaflex rubber in teal or white. The bracelet configuration lists at $1,475; other currencies are not shown on the page we read. Christopher Ward describes this as its third Blue Marine watch. Individual numbering is not mentioned.
| Reference | C60-41A3H1-SBMFB-B0 (this specific listing = 41mm, teal dial, Bader steel bracelet variant, per product URL). CW page does not provide a separate "master" reference number distinct from the strap-configured SKU. |
| Price | $1,475.00 as displayed on the Christopher Ward product page for the Bader Bracelet configuration |
Source: Christopher Ward
Why this watch, on this wrist?
DROP
The second-generation Sealander GMT debuts with a redesigned case, a skeletonized rotor, and a dial color most tool watches avoid.
Image: Christopher Ward
Christopher Ward is taking pre-orders for a pink-dial C63 Sealander GMT in 39mm, reference C63-39AGM4-S00P0-B0, at $1,620 with delivery quoted for the end of October 2026. The brand hasn’t listed sterling or euro prices on the maker’s product page, so the $1,620 figure is the only confirmed one.
Christopher Ward bills this as a fifth-anniversary upgrade to its “bestselling” watch, a claim we can’t verify. What can be checked is the hardware. The Light-Catcher case is reworked from the mid-case up, with a conical crown flanked by guards and a bezel with revised proportions. The hands now have faceted edges, the indexes are diamond-polished and lume-filled, and the GMT hand is thicker for legibility against the lacquered dial. The caseback is now sapphire, revealing an in-house skeletonized rotor.
The engine is the Sellita SW330-2 automatic, 4Hz, with a minimum 50 hour reserve. Christopher Ward specifies an independently settable central GMT hand. The page doesn’t specify if the local hour jumps independently, so we’ll leave that unanswered. Water resistance is 150m.
Two notes for collectors. The 39mm size carries over from the first generation, since only the 42mm is flagged as new, so this is a case-and-color story. At $1,620, a dual-time steel sports watch on a bracelet still undercuts peers charging several times more.
| Reference | C63-39AGM4-S00P0-B0 |
| Price | $1,620.00 (USD, as listed on the product page). GBP/EUR pricing not published on this page, spec not yet stated by the maker. |
| Released | "Pre-order for End October 2026" (as stated on the product page) |
| Specs | – Case: 39mm, stainless steel, silver case/bezel; height 11.3mm; lug-to-lug 45mm; case weight 60g; total weight with strap 151g |
Source: Christopher Ward
Why this watch, on this wrist?
DROP
In a June journal entry, MONTA frames dial color as an engineering decision, not a styling one.
Image: MONTA
Most brands introduce a new dial color like a restaurant’s daily special, here it is, enjoy. This June, MONTA took a different approach. Michael DiMartini documented the reasoning behind the choice, explaining why the next two Oceanking limited editions would use signal yellow and safety orange instead of other options.
The reasoning draws from maritime language. DiMartini cites dive flags, surface marker buoys, rescue gear, and life vests as precedents. “These are not fashion colors,” he writes in MONTA’s journal entry. Yellow, he argues, remains visible in cloudy water, while orange stands out at the surface, where someone might need to spot you.
The more revealing detail is MONTA’s self-assessment. Last summer’s Turquoise Oceanking, a hundred pieces, gets described as a straightforwardly aesthetic decision, and the brand sets it directly against this year’s logic. “This year we made a watch for the water, and summer came along anyway,” DiMartini writes, which is a neat way of admitting the two colors will also look excellent in July.
Everything under the dial stays put. The black ceramic bezel common to the line carries over, as do the case, movement and bracelet. Each color is held to 50 pieces, with shipping expected in August.
For anyone tracking Oceanking colorways, that willingness to grade its own past decision is worth more than the colors.
| Reference | unknown (not stated in source) |
| Price | unknown (not stated in source) |
| Released | Editorial published June 10, 2026; source states the two limited editions "ship in August", exact year not explicitly stated but contextually implied to be 2026 (unconfirmed). |
| Specs | Source does not provide case size, material specifics, movement caliber, or water-resistance rating. It states only that the new colorways use "the same proven case, movement, and bracelet" as the standard black-dial Oceanking, paired with the "same black ceramic bezel that anchors every Oceanking." No numeric specs given in the material provided; product-page spec anchoring was not available in the supplied source set. |
Source: MONTA
Why this watch, on this wrist?
DROP
A skeletonized El Primero 3600 lets you see the high-beat chronograph movement in action.
Image: Zenith
The latest Chronomaster Sport in Zenith’s catalogue invites closer inspection. The reference is 03.3130.3600/01.M3130 (Zenith’s product page): a 41mm steel case, a scratch-resistant black ceramic bezel, and a gradient sapphire dial revealing the movement beneath.
The signature tricolour 3-6-9 counters remain, but the dial beneath them is skeletonized. The movement is the El Primero 3600 SK, and the SK suffix points to skeletonization rather than a standard 3600 viewed through a windowed dial. Zenith describes the watch as revealing the “openworked architecture of the El Primero 3600 SK.” The brand does not spell out that distinction any further, so read it as Zenith’s own framing.
What makes the view interesting is the beat. A balance running at 36,000 vph, or 5 Hz, divides each second finely enough for the chronograph train to resolve tenths, which is why a 3600 can carry a tenth-of-a-second display at all rather than the fifths of a slower calibre. Zenith counts 311 components in the movement, with roughly 60 hours of running time when fully wound.
Water resistance is 10 ATM. The watch is delivered on a steel bracelet with a micro-adjustable folding clasp, with a black rubber strap in the box.
Two caveats for collectors: Zenith lists neither a price nor a launch date on the page, and no independent coverage of this reference has surfaced, so everything here traces to the manufacturer alone.
| Reference | 03.3130.3600/01.M3130 |
| Price | unknown (not listed on the cited product page) |
| Specs | – Case: 41 mm stainless steel case with a scratch-resistant black ceramic bezel |
Source: Zenith
Why this watch, on this wrist?
DROP
Three years of development went into this bracelet clasp, and the details live on Zenith's product pages.
AI-generated illustration based on a source photo. See the actual watch at the vendor’s website.
Most brands treat clasps as hardware, not engineering. Zenith’s product pages take a different view, calling the ZENCLASP a new folding clasp and “the result of three years of development.”
The key feature is micro-adjustment, the fine-tuning built into the clasp, not the coarse fit of adding or removing links. The system offers 2.5 mm increments across a 10 mm range, all adjustable on the wrist without tools.
Anyone who has wrestled with a screwdriver and a half-link will recognise the problem it solves. Half-links exist because full links overshoot, yet even then, a bracelet might feel tight in the morning and loose by evening. Ten millimetres of stepped adjustment covers much of that daily drift, all without removing the watch.
A quick point of vocabulary, since it gets used loosely: a deployant clasp is the hinged folding buckle that keeps a bracelet closed as one continuous loop, and the micro-adjustment is what happens inside it.
What the page does not say is worth flagging. There is no stated actuation method, no clasp material or finishing, and no patent or patent-pending language. Nor is any other collection named as carrying the system.
Where the ZENCLASP is confirmed is the Chronomaster Sport Skeleton, reference 03.3130.3600.01, listed with the El Primero 3600 SK movement. That is the reference to seek out at a retailer if you want to feel the increments for yourself.
| Reference | ZENCLASP itself carries no stated reference number; the CHRONOMASTER Sport Skeleton reference shown alongside it is 03.3130.3600.01 (green ceramic bezel variant: 03.3131.3600.01) |
| Price | unknown (not stated on the source page) |
| Specs | – Case size/material: not stated on this page for ZENCLASP; no case dimensions or clasp material given |
Source: Zenith
Why this watch, on this wrist?
MICROBRAND
Oak & Oscar has built a loyal following on wearability, finish, and small batch production. The Chicago brand’s Humboldt GMT distills that formula into a travel ready watch made for every day.
Image: Oak & Oscar
Chase Fancher founded Oak & Oscar in Chicago in 2015 and launched with the time and date Burnham. From the start the brand has favored useful, well finished mechanical watches over novelty, and that clear identity has helped it stand out in a crowded microbrand field.
Oak & Oscar is often associated with the GADA ideal, shorthand for “go anywhere, do anything”: versatile sports watches with clean styling, solid proportions, and enough refinement to move between casual and dressed up settings. Small production runs and direct sales let more of the budget go into visible quality, from case finishing to dial execution and strap hardware.
The appeal is not radical design. It comes from Swiss automatic movements, balanced sizing, and the sense that each release has been edited rather than overworked. Enthusiasts tend to discuss the brand less for its marketing and more for how the finished product feels.
The Humboldt GMT is one of the clearest expressions of that style: a stainless steel travel watch with a second time zone, equally at home on a trip or in the daily rotation.
Oak & Oscar lists a 39.5mm case with a 40mm bezel, a 12.5mm case height, 46.8mm lug to lug, 20mm lugs, 200 meters of water resistance, and a double domed sapphire crystal, with the 25 jewel Swiss Sellita SW330 automatic inside (source: Oak & Oscar, oakandoscar.com/products/the-humboldt-gmt). Those numbers put it squarely in the wearable middle ground the brand favors.
It is listed at $1,975 on a Horween leather strap or $2,175 on the stainless steel bracelet, in white, navy, and black dial options, with current availability on the same product page.
For current models, exact specifications, and availability, visit Oak & Oscar’s official site: oakandoscar.com
Why this watch, on this wrist?
NEW VIDEO
Vacheron Constantin’s latest Overseas clip introduces a 34.5mm self-winding steel model with a striking lacquered deep red dial, sized for versatile wear. The video walks through the hexagonal Maltese Cross bezel, a subtle nod tying the collection’s sporty modernity back to the Maison’s heritage.
Video: Vacheron Constantin, via YouTube
Why this watch, on this wrist?
DROP
A Malaysian watchmaker teams up with a local pewter artisan for a dial unlike any other under sapphire.
Image: MING
On 30 July, MING unveiled the 37.06 Royal Selangor, a limited edition with a hand-hammered pewter dial crafted by Royal Selangor, the Malaysian pewter house that lends the watch its name. The case is grade-2 titanium, 38mm wide, 11.05mm thick, with a 44.73mm lug-to-lug measurement, fully brushed and rated to 100 meters. Both brands’ wordmarks are engraved on the back, and the specifications are listed on MING’s product page. At 35.9 grams, it’s light enough to forget it’s on the wrist.
Pewter, a tin-based alloy, is more common in decorative objects than watch dials. As WatchTime noted at launch, the hammered pewter dial is a rarity, and possibly a first, for a watch brand. Each dial is hand-hammered, so no two reflect light identically.
MING’s usual layering does the rest of the work. The indexes are engraved into the domed front sapphire and filled with Super-LumiNova X1, so they sit above the hammered surface rather than on it. Both crystals get double-sided anti-reflective coating. Inside is a Sellita SW300.M1 in a MING-specific execution, hours and minutes only, roughly 50 hours of reserve, with skeletonized rhodium-plated bridges over an anthracite-coated baseplate.
Eighty-eight pieces at CHF 5,000 before taxes, as Revolution reported, which also notes the full run is assembled in Kuala Lumpur. Royal Selangor boutiques had them first; limited stock reaches ming.watch from 6 August.
The draw here is provenance rather than complication: a watch brand working with a craft house from the city it comes from.
| Reference | 37.06 (no separate reference code found beyond model designation; unknown if a distinct catalogue number exists) |
| Price | CHF 5,000, excluding taxes |
| Released | Announced 30 July 2026. Available through Royal Selangor boutiques starting 30 July 2026; limited stock follows on MING’s own website from 6 August 2026 |
| Specs | – Case: grade-2 titanium, 38mm diameter, 11.05mm thick, 44.73mm lug-to-lug, 35.9g, all-brushed finish, 20mm lug width, caseback engraved with MING and Royal Selangor wordmarks |
Source: MING · first spotted via revolutionwatch.com
Why this watch, on this wrist?
WATCHES BY THE COUNTRY
Where century-old shopfronts and crowdfunded upstarts share the same island for time.
Image: Elegantsis
Taiwan’s horological story is not one of centuries-old manufactures tucked into alpine valleys. It is a story of retail energy, enthusiast passion, and a scrappy new generation of independents. On this island, established watch retailers that have counted the decades sit comfortably beside young designers experimenting with vintage components, field-watch heritage, and modern craft. Taipei’s boutique scene keeps expanding, with dedicated concepts devoted to independent watchmaking that mirror a rising local appetite for both the great Swiss houses and homegrown small-batch labels.
What emerges is a distinct Taiwanese character: pragmatic, design-forward, and unafraid to reinterpret the past. The country’s makers tend to build around function first, whether that means a rugged field watch or a small run of carefully finished mechanicals sold straight to the people who love them. Below are three names that capture that spirit, from a long-running national favorite to boutique operations that treat every batch as a personal project.
Founded in 1999, Elegantsis is one of Taiwan’s most enduring independent watch brands and a familiar name to local collectors. Its catalog runs the full range, from quartz pieces to mechanical models, with a recognizable streak of military and field-watch influence throughout the lineup. For anyone tracing the roots of a homegrown Taiwanese watch identity, Elegantsis is a logical starting point: a brand that has been quietly building its own story for more than two decades. It presents itself proudly as a Taiwan watch maker, and its longevity speaks to a steady following on the island.
Based in Tainan and founded by Eric Yeh, Havaan Tuvali represents the artisanal end of Taiwan’s microbrand movement. The brand is known for small-batch watches that blend vintage parts with hand work and contemporary dial designs, an approach that has drawn attention beyond the island. As Forbes noted in its profile of the maker, Havaan Tuvali’s method is deliberately unconventional, prizing character over volume. It is the kind of operation where the personality of the founder shows up on the wrist, and where scarcity is a feature rather than a marketing tactic.
Image: Selten
Founded in 2017 by Leonardo Tsai, Selten Watch Company is a Taiwan-based independent that sells original mechanical watches directly to enthusiasts. Selten has used crowdfunding to bring its models to an international audience, a route that has become a signature of the modern microbrand era and one that lets a small team reach collectors far from Taipei. Tsai comes from a family with a horological background, which lends the brand a sense of continuity even as it operates with a clean, contemporary aesthetic. It is a good example of how a young Taiwanese label can punch above its size by going straight to the people who care most.
Taiwan may not carry the manufacturing legacy of Switzerland or Japan, but it offers something arguably more contemporary: a culture where retail passion and independent creativity feed each other. From Elegantsis and its long national run to the artisanal batches of Havaan Tuvali and the crowdfunded ambition of Selten, the island proves that a horological identity can be built in the present tense. Keep an eye on Taipei. The next chapter is being written in its boutiques right now.
Elegantsis — elegantsis.com
Havaan Tuvali — havaantuvali.com
Selten Watch Company — seltenwatch.com
Until the next country, keep watching.
Why this watch, on this wrist?