THE WORLD OF WATCHES never stops. A poetic manifestation on the inevitability of time, perhaps.

Keep scrolling for the latest news in all things watches from some of our favourite brands including Tudor, Zenith and Ulysse Nardin.

Howzat.

Ulysse Nardin reveal their Freak (X) Next Generation

Ulysse Nardin has reengineered the Freak X for its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter century since the original Freak dispensed with hands, dial and crown altogether. The new model keeps the flying carousel architecture that made the nameplate famous, but almost everything underneath has been rebuilt.

The case shrinks from 43mm to 41mm, with lug-to-lug down to 47.3mm and thickness trimmed to 10.3mm. It’s now a monobloc construction in 80 per cent recycled steel or rose gold, replacing the original’s modular titanium build, and water resistance climbs to 100m via a screw-down crown.

The movement is new, too. The UN-232 calibre houses a DIAMonSIL escapement – a surface treatment designed to withstand the 250 million-odd impacts the component undergoes each year – alongside an oversized silicon balance wheel and hairspring.

A rose gold micro-rotor handles automatic winding, visible through the caseback alongside hand-bevelled bridges and a colimaçon-finished barrel. Power reserve sits at 72 hours.

A new quick-release strap system offers nine configurations, from rubber and alligator leather to an integrated metal bracelet, all swappable without tools.

The Tudor Black Bay shows its (smaller) sunny side

Tudor Black Bay Chrono

A change is as good as a holiday, they say, and the latest iteration of Tudor’s staple Black Bay Chrono feels like a trip to the tropics on the wrist.

The new 39mm case – down from the previous 41mm – brings the watch to 13.1mm thick, and the yellow-and-black “Bumblebee” dial sits alongside the recently released “Pink” and “Flamingo Blue” variants in Tudor’s Daring Watches collection. The dial layout follows the original 1970 Oysterdate chronograph, with a 45-minute counter and date aperture at 6 o’clock.

Inside is Tudor’s in-house MT5813, a column-wheel, vertical-clutch movement co-developed with Breitling and COSC-certified to Tudor’s own tighter standard of -2/+4 seconds per day. Power reserve is 70 hours. The Snowflake hands have been reworked for better sub-dial legibility, the pushers feature a revised knurling pattern, and a new three-link bracelet with smooth link sides and the T-fit rapid adjustment clasp rounds out the package. Water resistance is 200 metres.

The watch comes with Tudor’s five-year transferable guarantee, requiring neither registration nor scheduled maintenance.

Zenith revives the double signed tradition

A twice-as-good moment from Zenith with the unveiling of their G.F.J. Calibre 135 Double Signed with Naoya Hida & Co. is a 10-piece limited edition in platinum, built around the Calibre 135 – the movement that accumulated the bulk of Zenith’s 2,333 observatory chronometry prizes before being re-engineered for the G.F.J. collection in 2025.

The collaboration pairs Zenith with Tokyo-based independent Naoya Hida & Co., whose influence is most visible on the 39.5mm solid silver dial. Three Arabic numerals are hand-engraved by Japanese engraver Keisuke Kano and filled with blue urushi lacquer; the double signatures of both houses are applied by traditional pantograph. Hour and minute hands are CNC-milled from solid gold and hand-polished, with the small seconds hand heat-blued.

The hand-wound Calibre 135 beats at 2.5Hz, carries a 72-hour power reserve, and is COSC-certified to ±2 seconds per day. The movement wears a ruthenium finish with yellow gold-coloured markings, visible through the sapphire caseback.

Three straps are included: Himeji Kurozan leather, Wagyu leather from Kyoto, and indigo denim from Kaihara mill in Hiroshima. Platinum pin buckle throughout.

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