Big & Small: The 2026 Watch Trends You Won’t Want To Miss

Predicting the future is a notoriously risky undertaking, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. That’s why SHARP’s most watch-obsessed editors have put their heads together to foretell the key trends we expect to be talking about in 2026. To create this forecast, we relied on our study of the last 12 months of watch industry trends, along with our gut feelings about which direction the horological wind is blowing. Which is to say, it’s entirely unscientific — but we hope you find it entertaining all the same.

Extra-Small Cases

There are three reasons why we think 2026 will be the year in which “Very Small Watches” finally get their due. For one, cases have been trending smaller for several years now, thanks in no small part to the enthusiasts who have been demanding them ad nauseam. That’s how we ended up with a wide array of hot 2025 drops, from the Citizen Tsuyosa 37mm and the Tudor Ranger 36mm to the 34mm A. Lange & Söhne 1815 and a new small-model Cartier Santos. The second reason is the ever-growing diversity of collectors and the varied tastes (and wrist sizes) they bring. Third is the growing number of stylish male celebrities—including Paul Mescal, Timothée Chalamet, and Tyler, the Creator—who have been making the case for a range of watches previously relegated to the women’s market. We’ll also continue to see a proliferation of ultra-small watches worn as rings and necklaces.

Jump-Hour Complications

Having made its first appearance in a wristwatch in 1915 (ahead of the Cartier Tank à Guichets that came in 1928), digital jump-hour complications are by no means new, but there seems to be significant momentum behind their resurgence. The last year ushered in references not just from major players like Cartier and Louis Vuitton, but also from several indie and microbrand makers, including Isotope, Sartory Billard, and Out Of Order. It’s rare that an uncommon complication inches its way into the mainstream so swiftly, especially at both ends of the luxury watch pricing spectrum.

Lightweight Materials

After a year in which Bvlgari set a 10th world record for thinness with its Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon and Ulysse Nardin released what it claimed to be the world’s lightest diver’s watch—the creatively punctuated Diver [AIR]—the goalposts for superlatives continue to be pushed back. The downside is that it’s going to become increasingly difficult for brands to outdo each other in thinness and lightness; however, the good news is that the engineering that made these feats possible, from cobalt alloys to carbon composites, will begin to trickle down to other brands and more affordable watches. Then, of course, there’s the ongoing trend for titanium sports watches, which shows no sign of slowing. To quote one upvoted comment on a story about the new 36mm Tudor Ranger: “Now make it in titanium.” Indeed.

Brutalism

The recurring theme we’re seeing in all of this is a desire for something truly different, and little is quite as different as applying brutalism to watchmaking. Now, there’s varying thoughts on what constitutes brutalism or brutalist-inspired design in watchmaking, but broadly speaking it can be distilled down to a harsher slab-like case construction with less emphasis on form for the sake of it. The Rolex King Midas is a prime example; it’s one that we’d love to see Rolex reissue one of these days, but we won’t hold our breath. We haven’t seen a ton of examples in the market of yet, but the buzz surrounding things like the Toledano and Chan B/ series of watches and the [Re]master02 from Audemars Piguet a little while back keeps fuelling hopes of seeing more of this genre in 2026.

Stone Dials

Given all of the heat around stone dials over the last few years, one might think that collectors would be ready to move on—but 2026 will not be that year. Instead, you can expect to see a much wider selection of accessibly priced stone dials, like the GPHG award-winning Dennison ALD Dual Time and the Baltic Prismic. At the high end of the market, we’re very much expecting to see more creative compositions in stone along the lines of the stunning 2025 Piaget Andy Warhol.

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