Adventurous new watches from Breguet, Bovet, Omega, Louis Vuitton and Ulysse Nardin

Breguet Marine 5517 and 5527

Breguet’s Marine collection has always been about more than good looks. Its story begins in 1815, when Louis XVIII appointed Abraham-Louis Breguet as the official watchmaker to the French Royal Navy, securing the maker’s place in the age of marine chronometers and great expeditions.

Today, that heritage surfaces in two polished new expressions: the three-hand Marine 5517 and flyback chronograph Marine 5527.

Both place the date neatly at 6 o’clock and introduce a hand-guilloche Quai de l’Horloge dial, named for Breguet’s historic Paris address. The pattern suggests the outlines of the Ile de la Cite and Ile Saint-Louis – two natural islands in the Seine River that form the historic heart of Paris – with a ripple of waves woven in.

The 5517 keeps matters elegantly spare, while the 5527 adds chronograph counters and a central timing hand. Signature details abound: Breguet numerals, pomme hands, a Bravo flag-inspired second-hand tip and a rudder-shaped gold rotor.

Cases come in gold or titanium, paired with patterned rubber straps or metal bracelets.

Price: Marine 5517, from $31,100 to $94,500; Marine 5527, from $38,900 to $110,400 

Omega Speedmaster 38mm collection

Omega has given its Speedmaster 38mm collection a sharper Moonwatch accent, unveiling seven refreshed references that make the compact chronograph feel sportier, cleaner and more connected to its famous forebear.

The updates are subtle but meaningful: Oval subdials are now round, dial text is cleaner and the bolder bezels restore the Moonwatch’s prized Dot Over Ninety, where the tachymeter’s dot sits directly above the “90”.

Every model arrives on a new five-link bracelet, with polished or brushed centre links matched to its character. There are two movements beneath the surface. Six date-equipped models use the self-winding Co-Axial Calibre 3330, while the no-date black-dial version runs on Calibre 3332.

Choices range from steel models in black, white or silvery opaline, to bi-colour Moonshine Gold-and-green and Sedna Gold-and-brown variants. For extra glamour, the brand also offers ice-blue PVD and white mother-of-pearl dials framed by 52 diamonds.

Price: From $8,450 to $16,900

Bovet Recital 30 Ceramic

Bovet’s Recital 30 Ceramic brings a clever world-time complication into a tougher, lighter and more everyday-friendly package. For the first time, the house has shaped its distinctive Dimier case in zirconia ceramic, offered in black or vivid green.

The material is a natural fit for frequent fliers: highly scratch-resistant, light on the wrist, hypoallergenic and impervious to UV fading. Creating it is far from simple, however. Zirconia powder is compressed, sintered above 1,400 deg C, then finished with diamond-tipped tools and polishing compounds.

The real attraction is inside: Bovet’s roller-based world-time system, developed over six years and first seen in the 2024 Recital 28 Prowess 1. Twenty-six rollers let the wearer display 25 time zones across UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and three daylight-saving configurations, adjusted through two pushers.

New Delhi receives special attention, including its tricky 30-minute offset. One version highlights it as a secondary time zone; another centres the display on India. The watchmaker is also offering custom city names and colours.

Price: $148,000

Louis Vuitton Spin Time Collection

Louis Vuitton is making its signature Spin Time complication a permanent fixture, introducing five colourful Tambour references that turn the brand’s Art of Travel into mechanical theatre.

Conceived in 2007 by La Fabrique du Temps (LFT) founders Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, Spin Time takes its cue from airport departure boards. Twelve rotating cubes replace conventional hour markers, with the current hour flipping into view at the top of each hour. The complication debuted in 2009 and remains unmistakably Louis Vuitton.

The new collection spans a deep-green, 39.5mm white-gold model; a rose-gold edition with a fire-filled Australian opal dial; and two 42.5mm white-gold Spin Time Air watches, including a blue version whose cubes spell out Louis Vuitton.

The Air Antipode is the traveller’s party trick, using paired cities on 12 cubes to show all 24 major time zones, with day-night information at a glance. At the summit sits a platinum Spin Time Air Flying Tourbillon with a salmon dial and a Monogram-flower tourbillon cage.

All feature slimmer Tambour cases, crisp in-house finishing and the LFT hallmark, Louis Vuitton’s passport stamp from its Geneva manufacture.

Price: $121,000 to $283,000

Ulysse Nardin Freak One

Ulysse Nardin’s Freak One still breaks the rules: no conventional dial, hands or crown.

For 2026, the 44mm watch returns in two limited editions that pair its radical mechanics with traditional decorative crafts.

The Freak One Blue Enamel places a vivid blue enamelled hour disc beneath its constantly orbiting movement. Made in white gold, the disc is hand-finished at the watchmaker’s Donze Cadrans atelier, where layers of enamel are fired at about 800 deg C before polishing. It adds rich colour and a touch of old-world craft to a watch whose flying carousel serves as the minute hand.

Its sibling, the Freak One Guilloche, opts for a sand-toned hour disc stamped with a diamond-pattern guilloche design, paired with a light-grey titanium case and ballistic-textured rubber strap.

Both models retain the Freak’s 229-part UN-240 calibre, with a 90-hour power reserve and the efficient Grinder winding system. Set the time via the bezel and wind it by turning the caseback. Silicon components and a DIAMonSIL escapement – a silicon part coated in synthetic diamond – add durability and a technical edge.

Limited to 99 pieces each, the pair offers Freak fans two more tactile, wearable ways into Ulysse Nardin’s unconventional universe.

Price: Freak One Blue Enamel, $117,800; Freak One Guilloche, $104,900