Buying Time - July 10, 2026
Tudor heads for the mountains, Norqain hides a Maldives vacation inside a GMT, Peter Speake keeps independent watchmaking romantic, Leica plots its next chapter.
In 30 Seconds
Norqain is turning a limited-edition GMT into a luxury vacation lottery, while Tudor is expanding its athletic ambitions into the punishing world of ultramarathon trail running. Peter Speake explains why history, culture and collaboration still matter in independent watchmaking; Leica’s CEO outlines a quieter, more accessible future for the company’s young watch division; Studio Underd0g invites collectors inside the D0ghouse to assemble their own watches; and Concepto marks 20 years as one of the industry’s most important behind-the-scenes movement makers.
Time Graphing Today’s Watch Universe
The watch industry has spent years trying to make its products more experiential. Apparently, owning the watch is no longer enough. Now we must assemble it, travel with it, run 106 miles while wearing it, discuss it in a lounge and perhaps discover that it includes a vacation to the Maldives.
That last idea comes courtesy of Norqain’s Freedom GMT Enjoy Life “Holiday” Limited Edition, a 500-piece release containing one hidden “Golden Ticket” that will send its owner and a guest to the Ayada Maldives resort. The watch itself is already doing quite a bit of work. It has a colorful world-map dial, a true GMT movement, holiday icons, destination pins and a travel case designed to resemble something between luxury packaging and a particularly optimistic vision board.
The vacation promotion could easily be dismissed as a gimmick, except gimmicks are becoming increasingly central to how watches are sold. A watch carrying a capable Kenissi-built movement and a 70-hour power reserve should theoretically be able to stand on its own. But specifications are now merely the admission price. Brands are competing to provide the story that surrounds the object, whether that means adventure, community, artistic participation or the possibility of waking up in an overwater villa.
The same logic is visible in Tudor’s new partnership with the UTMB World Series. Tudor has steadily built a sporting identity that reaches beyond the familiar territory of motorsports and sailing. Ultra-trail running gives the brand access to a younger and rapidly expanding audience while reinforcing its “Born to Dare” slogan in an environment where daring is not an advertising abstraction. The headline Mont-Blanc race covers 106 miles and roughly 10,000 meters of elevation gain. Nobody participating needs to be reminded that endurance is difficult.
It is a strong partnership because the activity provides an authentic test of the values Tudor wants associated with its watches: resilience, reliability and the willingness to keep moving when stopping would be considerably more pleasant. The watches may not be timing the entire race in any practically essential way, but that has never been the sole point of sports sponsorship. The goal is to place the brand inside a culture and allow some of that culture’s credibility to migrate onto the product.
Studio Underd0g is building culture from the opposite direction. Instead of sending collectors into the mountains, the company is inviting them into the D0ghouse to assemble a limited-edition watch themselves. For £700, participants can build an 01Series Guava under professional supervision and leave with both the watch and the unusually persuasive belief that they helped create it.
That experience matters because it converts manufacturing from an invisible process into a relationship. Most collectors know, intellectually, that a watch consists of parts assembled by people using specialized tools. Very few have seated a movement, installed hands or discovered how quickly a tiny component can expose the limitations of human patience. Once someone has attempted the work, even under controlled conditions, the value of competent assembly becomes easier to understand.
It also supports Studio Underd0g’s larger effort to position itself as more than a clever dial company. The acquisition of Horologium and the expansion toward nearly 15,000 watches assembled annually suggest a business developing genuine production capability. The workshop turns that industrial ambition into something collectors can see, touch and participate in. It is brand education disguised as an enjoyable afternoon.
Then there is Peter Speake and PS Horology, representing the more romantic end of the same conversation. Speake’s watches draw from English pocket-watch movements, Japanese sword guards, Vietnamese drums and Arabian astronomy. Those references are not added merely to decorate a dial. They provide the reason the watch exists.
Speake understands that independent watchmaking increasingly depends on narrative distinction. Large brands can rely on distribution, ambassadors, recognizable silhouettes and decades of accumulated marketing. An independent maker working in small quantities needs a more intimate proposition. The collector is not simply buying a movement inside a case. The collector is buying the maker’s curiosity, judgment and interpretation of history.
That does not mean romanticism can replace execution. Speake’s emphasis on respectful collaboration is important because modern independent watchmaking is rarely the work of a completely isolated genius. Specialists, movement manufacturers, dial makers, case suppliers and finishing workshops all contribute. The difficult part is creating something coherent enough that the resulting watch still feels like the expression of one mind.
Concepto’s 20th anniversary provides the industrial counterweight to that mythology. The company employs 183 people, produces around 30,000 movements annually and supplies more than 100 brands. It builds everything from chronographs to tourbillons and has contributed to some of the most ambitious mechanical spectacles sold by Bulgari, Louis Vuitton and Jacob & Co.
Concepto is a reminder that the watch industry’s most visible names depend on an extensive, highly skilled infrastructure that consumers rarely encounter. A brand may present a movement as an expression of its own creative universe, but behind that universe can be a specialist manufacturer producing complicated mechanisms at a scale that makes experimentation commercially possible.
Leica occupies another interesting position. CEO Henrik Ekdahl’s description of the company’s next watchmaking chapter centers on community, selective distribution and a gradual move toward more accessible pricing without abandoning mechanical credibility. That is a difficult balance. “Accessible” in luxury often means less inaccessible, while “community” can mean anything from genuine dialogue to an email list with very attractive photography.
Still, Leica has an advantage most new watch brands would gladly borrow: an existing global audience that understands precision instruments, appreciates restrained industrial design and is already comfortable paying premium prices for beautifully made objects. Its challenge is persuading that audience that a Leica watch is a natural extension of the camera company rather than merchandise carrying a famous red dot.
What connects all of these stories is the search for participation. Norqain asks buyers to imagine future travel. Tudor places the watch inside a demanding athletic community. Studio Underd0g hands the collector the tools. Peter Speake invites buyers into a web of historical and cultural references. Leica builds from an existing community of photographers. Concepto participates quietly by giving other brands the mechanical capabilities needed to tell their stories.
The product still matters. The movement must work, the case must wear well and the price must survive at least a moderately skeptical inspection. But the commercial center of watchmaking is moving outward from the object. Brands are increasingly selling access to a place, a person, a process, a culture or an experience.
The watch tells the time. Everything around it explains why someone should care.
-Michael Wolf
News
Norqain Hides a “Golden Ticket” Maldives Holiday in One of 500 New Freedom GMT Watches
Norqain has released 500 Freedom GMT Enjoy Life “Holiday” watches, one of which contains a hidden Golden Ticket awarding its owner a six-night Maldives stay for two. The 40 mm limited edition combines a colorful world-map dial with the COSC-certified NN20/2 true-GMT movement and a 70-hour power reserve.
Tudor Becomes an Official Partner of the UTMB World Series
Tudor has joined the UTMB World Series as an official partner, linking its “Born to Dare” identity with a global trail-running circuit spanning 64 events in 29 countries. The partnership culminates at the 106-mile Mont-Blanc race and expands Tudor’s growing roster of elite endurance athletes.
Feature
PS Horology’s Peter Speake Is Still a Romantic About Watchmaking
Independent watchmaker Peter Speake discusses how PS Horology combines technical watchmaking with stories drawn from English horology, Asian art and cultural history. He also explains why humility, collaboration and a willingness to exchange ideas remain essential when producing highly personal watches in small quantities.
In Conversation: Leica CEO Frames Up the Brand’s Next Chapter
Leica CEO Henrik Ekdahl says the company’s young watch division will pursue more accessible models while preserving mechanical quality and the understated design values associated with its cameras. Growth will come through selective retail partnerships capable of connecting Leica’s photography community with serious watch buyers.
Assembled by Me: Inside Studio Underd0g’s Watch Assembly Experience
Studio Underd0g’s D0ghouse workshop allows participants to assemble a limited-edition 01Series Guava watch under professional instruction for £700. The experience also demonstrates how the company’s acquisition of Horologium is helping it expand British assembly capacity toward nearly 15,000 watches annually.
Concepto Marks 20 Years of Movement Making
Concepto is celebrating two decades of growth into a 183-person manufacturer producing roughly 30,000 movements and more than 1,000 tourbillons annually for over 100 watch brands. Its expanding catalog of tourbillons, chronographs and bespoke mechanisms has made the company an influential but frequently unseen force in contemporary watchmaking.
Finding Acceptance With the Updated Version of One of My Own Watches
The latest look at the Biatec Corsair CS examines how thoughtful refinements, a slimmer case and a dependable Sellita movement have transformed an already capable pilot’s watch into an even more compelling everyday option.
New Watches
Wren x Ben’s Watches Diver One Obsidian
Wren and Ben’s Watches have introduced the Diver One Obsidian, a 100-piece limited edition featuring a black DLC-coated case, molten-orange fumé dial, Sellita SW200 automatic movement, and 200 meters of water resistance for US$1,195.
Norqain Freedom GMT Enjoy Life “Holiday” Limited Edition
Norqain’s latest Freedom GMT pairs its colorful travel-inspired dial with the Kenissi-built COSC-certified NN20/2 manufacture movement, 70-hour power reserve, and one hidden “Golden Ticket” awarding a luxury Maldives vacation. The 500-piece edition starts at €5,210 on rubber and €5,350 on bracelet.
Christopher Ward Collaborates With The Dial Artist To Create The Twelve Xander
Christopher Ward and The Dial Artist have transformed the skeletonized Twelve X into a vibrant hand-painted limited edition of just 150 pieces. More than 1,300 individual parts were customized during roughly 900 hours of work, with pricing beginning at US$5,995.
The MAT Watches Egg Master II, a Dive Watch… for Perfect Eggs
MAT Watches has created perhaps the year’s most entertaining dive watch by replacing elapsed dive timing with perfectly timed eggs. The 39.5mm Swiss automatic Egg Master II is priced at €990 and includes three interchangeable straps.
Speake-Marin Ripples Portobello
Speake-Marin’s newest Ripples edition takes inspiration from London’s Portobello Market with a lavender lacquer dial, in-house micro-rotor movement and slim 9.2mm profile. The watch is priced at approximately US$28,400.
Campanola Debuts Starlight-Inspired Kōjō
Citizen Campanola returns with two celestial-inspired Eco-Drive Kōjō models featuring moonphase displays, triple calendars and six-month solar power reserves. Limited to 250 and 170 pieces respectively, pricing begins around US$2,430.
Montblanc 1858 Geosphere 0 Oxygen Mount Elbrouz Limited Edition 829
Montblanc celebrates Europe’s highest peak with an oxygen-free titanium Geosphere featuring world-time globes, volcanic composite construction and a compass bezel. The 829-piece limited edition is priced at €10,100.
Casio Drops Four Affordable G-SHOCK Watches With a Stealthy All-Black Look
G-SHOCK’s Luxe Black Collection updates the GA2100 and GM2100 families with refined textured dials while retaining the proven 200-meter sports specifications. Prices range from US$145 to US$260.
Frederique Constant Adds a GMT to the Classics Runabout Series
Frederique Constant expands its long-running Runabout collection with a GMT powered by an in-house module built on the Sellita SW200 platform. Available in blue or brown, each version is limited to 888 pieces and priced at CHF 1,995.
1776 Atelier Celebrates America’s 250th Anniversary With the Liberty 250
American independent 1776 Atelier introduces the Liberty 250, an 18k rose gold watch featuring a movement that is more than 90 percent manufactured from American-sourced brass. Limited to just 25 examples, the handcrafted watch is priced at US$44,000.
The Engine-Inspired Display of the TAG Heuer Monaco Speed 12
TAG Heuer’s Monaco Speed 12 replaces conventional hour displays with twelve rotating pistons inspired by high-performance engines, creating one of the year’s most technically imaginative displays. Production will be limited to just 50 watches priced at US$87,000.
Comparisons
Seiko 5 Sports × Wind Vintage × Rowing Blazers Divers Arrive
Seiko, Eric Wind and Rowing Blazers return with two colorful limited-edition Seiko 5 Sports divers priced at US$495each. The 2,500-piece editions blend playful styling with the dependable 4R36 automatic movement and will be released on July 10.
Microbrand Dive Watch Showdown: Raven Trekker vs. Nodus Sector Deep
This comparison concludes that the Raven Trekker offers the stronger everyday wearing experience thanks to its slimmer profile and refined finishing, while the Nodus Sector Deep remains the more purpose-built tool watch with its 500-meter depth rating.
Editorial
What’s Hot Now in the Watch Business?
The industry’s momentum continues shifting toward Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and leading independents, while retailers increasingly diversify into smaller brands that offer originality, craftsmanship and compelling stories. Flexible retail strategies and knowledgeable sales teams are becoming just as valuable as exclusive allocations.
Opinion
Have Luxury Watch Lounges Really Improved the In-Store Experience?
Luxury lounges create memorable environments and strengthen customer relationships, but they only succeed if they also improve everyday service rather than complicating routine visits. The best boutiques balance hospitality with efficiency.
The Raymond Weil A.R.T. Automatic Isn’t “Distinctive.” It’s an IWC Ingenieur Missing Five Screws and Crown Guards.
This commentary argues that Raymond Weil’s newest integrated-bracelet sports watch borrows too heavily from the iconic IWC Ingenieur while presenting the design as entirely original. It raises broader questions about originality and creative standards throughout modern luxury watchmaking.
BuyingTime at Auction
Yesterday’s auction for the Audemars Piguet Millenary Frosted Rose Gold Opal (Ref. 77244OR.GG.1272OR.01) closed without meeting reserve after bidding reached $18,250.
Rose Gold, Titanium and One of Richard Mille’s Most Important Early Sports Watches
Today’s auction features one of the defining watches of Richard Mille’s first generation of high-performance sports watches: the 2014 Richard Mille RM028 Automatic Diver in 18k rose gold with a skeletonized dial. Introduced in 2010, the RM028 marked the company’s first true dive watch and demonstrated that Richard Mille’s uncompromising approach to lightweight engineering and exotic materials could be successfully adapted to a serious underwater sports watch. Rather than creating a conventional luxury diver, the brand built an over-engineered instrument that retained its signature tonneau architecture while meeting ISO dive-watch standards.
Inside is the automatic RMAS7 caliber, visible through the fully skeletonized dial, allowing collectors to appreciate the movement’s titanium bridges, variable-geometry rotor and intricate finishing. The substantial 47mm rose gold case wears surprisingly comfortably thanks to Richard Mille’s ergonomic design philosophy, while its rotating bezel and robust construction helped establish the RM028 as one of the most recognizable luxury divers of the past two decades.
This example includes its original papers along with the folio and wallet, although the original presentation box is absent. Condition is described as excellent overall, with only minor wear and a small ding on the outer bezel near the 9 o’clock position. Well-preserved RM028 examples have become increasingly difficult to locate as collectors have begun recognizing the importance of Richard Mille’s earliest sports references, particularly precious-metal models produced in relatively limited numbers.
Current bidding is expected to reflect the continued strength of the Richard Mille market, where early references have increasingly been viewed as historically significant pieces that helped define the modern era of ultra-high-end sports watchmaking.
Auction Ends: Sunday, July 12, 2026 at 12:25 p.m. EDT.
Current bid: $750 See it Now on Bezel >
Podcast
Scottish Watches Podcast #795: July New Watch Round-Up
This week’s Scottish Watches Podcast covers Studio Underd0g’s expanding British manufacturing ambitions, Straum’s latest titanium release, Parmigiani Fleurier, Anoma, Seiko’s one-off Shohei Ohtani watch and François-Henry Bennahmias’ N3W5 venture.
Videos Worth Your Time
George Bamford Reveals His Next Watch!
George Bamford previews his latest project, discussing the inspiration, design direction and what collectors can expect from the upcoming release.
Inside the Studio Underd0g D0ghouse
Justin Hast goes behind the scenes inside Studio Underd0g’s new headquarters to show how the company is combining manufacturing, education and community under one roof.
I Bought Watches on eBay, Reddit and Japanese Sites—Here’s What I Learned
A practical guide to buying watches online, covering authentication, seller evaluation, pricing differences and avoiding the most common mistakes collectors make.
Independent Watchmakers: Then vs. Now
The 1916 Company explores how independent watchmaking has evolved over the past two decades while highlighting several standout summer releases.
Is Audemars Piguet Listening to Collectors With This Watch?
Subdial examines whether Audemars Piguet’s latest release reflects meaningful feedback from enthusiasts and what that could mean for future collections.
Thank you for spending part of your day with BuyingTime Daily.
The watch industry never sits still. Every day brings another new movement, another collaboration, another retailer changing strategy or another independent watchmaker proving that creativity still matters. Our goal is simple: cut through the noise, identify what actually matters, and give you the context behind the headlines before everyone else catches up.
Have a great weekend, enjoy whatever is on your wrist, and we’ll be back Monday morning with another edition of BuyingTime Daily.
— Michael Wolf