What to know (and want) in watches this September 2025
Get all your watch news and updates for September right here
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WRITING ABOUT WATCH NEWS can sometimes lean into puns around clockwork and the inevitability of time. But the truth is, time never stops and nor does the world of watches.
New boutique openings, new technology, new collaborative designs and a watch that is literally from out of this world: this is what’s keeping time in September.
Franck Muller’s Vanguard makes a case for wrist architecture
Who said architecture was just for buildings? Franck Muller’s latest Vanguard makes the case for geometry as wristwear. The case still carries those sculpted tonneau curves, but the story is really in the dial: a guilloché pavé de losanges pattern, each facet stamped in four stages to catch light like a hall of mirrors. It’s geometry meeting jewellery, finished with hand-painted numerals that rise off the surface as if mid-stride.
The sunburst centre pulls you in, while the bead-blasted matte bezel keeps things grounded. Available in navy, grey, green, black or brown, each colour shifts mood — from bold to restrained — depending on the light. Inside, a movement with 42 hours of power reserve ticks away, practical enough for daily wear but dressed in true Franck Muller craftsmanship.
Paired with a hand-sewn alligator strap backed in rubber, this Asia-Pacific exclusive balances sport with elegance. The result? A watch that feels modern, architectural, and quietly commanding.
Discover the collection at franckmuller.com.
Related: A watch made for endless summer: Franck Muller returns to the beach with #FR2
Ruby Stephens
Glashütte Original marks 180 years with a platinum PanoMaticLunar
Glashütte has spent 180 years perfecting the art of timekeeping, and in 2025, the German manufactory chose to celebrate its milestone the best way it knows: a limited edition timepiece, the PanoMaticLunar Anniversary Edition. Limited to 180 pieces, it unites the town’s watchmaking heritage with a celestial-inspired design.
For the first time, Glashütte Original has given the PanoMaticLunar a dial made from deep blue aventurine. Known for its fine sparkle and origins in Murano glassmaking, the material is used here for both the main dial and the moon phase display. White gold hands, gold indexes and the brand’s signature Panorama Date complete the asymmetrical layout. A 40mm platinum case and blue alligator or synthetic strap frame the design, while Super-LumiNova on the indexes ensures legibility after dark.
Inside beats the self-winding Calibre 92-14, the latest generation in-house movement. It features a silicon balance spring, a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour and a power reserve of 100 hours. Through the sapphire crystal caseback, Glashütte’s traditional decorations can be admired, from striping on the three-quarter plate to meticulous hand-finishing.
The Anniversary Edition will be available worldwide in boutiques and select retailers from September 2025.
Benjamen Judd
Tudor’s 1926 Luna: a moonphase worth waiting for
The first watch in the Tudor collection to feature a moonphase complication, the 1926 Luna marks a quiet but meaningful milestone for the Maison. At 39mm, it carries the same understated codes that have defined the 1926 line – versatile and elegant – but with a celestial twist that feels both natural and overdue. The complication itself is executed with restraint: a golden moon crossing a midnight blue sky at six o’clock.
Available in black, blue, or champagne dials, the Luna is designed to slip seamlessly into daily life. On a steel bracelet, it sharpens into something modern and tailored; on leather, it softens into weekend ease. It’s this adaptability that defines the watch — classic enough to wear with a suit, relaxed enough for jeans and a shirt.
Discover more at tudor.com.
Ruby Stephens
Rolex has announced a new five-year partnership with Golf Australia
Rolex has doubled down on its commitment to golf, announcing a new five-year partnership with Golf Australia that now covers both the men’s and women’s Australian Opens. The Swiss watchmaker also strengthens ties with the PGA of Australia, incorporating the WPGA Championship into its Premier Partnership. Expect the iconic Rolex clock on the first tee at this summer’s biggest tournaments, including the BMW Australian PGA Championship in November. For a brand built on precision, endurance and tradition, golf remains the perfect playing field — and Australia just secured Rolex’s long game.
Discover more about the partnership at pga.org.au.
Ruby Stephens
IWC shoots for the stars with Vast partnership
IWC Schaffhausen has always had its eyes on the skies, but now it’s officially looking beyond them. The Swiss watchmaker has been announced as the “Official Timekeeper” of Vast, the Californian start-up building the world’s first commercial space station.
It’s a natural extension for IWC, whose century-long ties to aviation have already taken its watches aboard Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions. The partnership will see prototypes tested against the brutal conditions of space – from launch vibrations to long-duration wear – with the aim of creating timepieces fit for orbit yet emotionally anchored to Earth.
For Vast, currently prepping its Haven-1 station, it’s the brand’s first official collaboration, signalling a bold future for space commerce. For IWC, it’s another reminder that mechanical watches aren’t just about heritage – they’re still about pushing limits, whether in IWC or low Earth orbit.
Discover more about the partnership at iwc.com.
Ruby Stephens
John Mayer’s heavy metal performance
If the world’s soft boys felt a ripple in their soy lattes overnight, it could have been from the convergence of the softest boys that ever did soft: John Mayer performing at Matthew McConaughey’s Poems & Prayers revival book tour. While McConaughey read out his verse, beat poet style.
But performance and poetry aside, there was at least something of relative hardness on the stage and that happened to be on Mayer’s wrist: an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar John Mayer. A 41mm slab of white gold with a shimmering, groundbreaking, “Crystal Sky” dial.
Honestly, is there any flex bigger than wearing a watch – and an Audemars, no less – that has your own name attached to its creation?
First released last year in a limited number of 200, this particular Royal Oak Perpetual is a watch that shouldn’t make sense here – haute horlogerie next to McConaughey’s cowboy-beat cadence – yet somehow it does. A nod to just how surprisingly versatile its robust physique is, it’s tones both matching and elevating Mayer’s pared back denim and blue shirt he chose to wear for the evening.
The dial, textured like crushed ice, flashed between guitar licks, as though keeping tempo with the words floating through the air. Mayer may not have been trying to deliver a rock ‘n’ roll performance but the watched was definitely rocking. Proof that the Royal Oak, even in its most cosmic guise, looks just as right in a dive bar poetry circle as it does inside the cloisters of Le Brassus.
Benjamen Judd
Colour, Culture and Craft with Bvlgari
Bvlgari is turning the spotlight on its own legacy in Tokyo with Bvlgari Kaleidos: Colours, Cultures and Crafts, the house’s largest exhibition ever staged in Japan. Held at the National Art Centre, Tokyo, from 17 September to 15 December 2025, it brings together almost 350 pieces drawn from the Heritage Collection and Historical Archives. Alongside the high jewellery, the exhibition features rare timepieces that trace the Maison’s evolving design codes – from mid-century experiments with bold coloured stones in yellow gold cases to the innovative use of cabochon cuts and unexpected materials in the 1970s. Positioned within immersive installations and presented alongside contemporary art, these watches underscore Bvlgari’s ability to bridge Roman heritage and modern horology in equal measure.
Bvlgari Kaleidos: Colours, Cultures and Crafts will be open to the public from 17 September to 15 December 2025.
Bremont drops a Meteor
Bremont has launched a watch that is truly out of this world. The Altitude MB Meteor Stealth Grey takes the British brand’s most battle-tested line and gives it a darker edge. Built in partnership with Martin-Baker, the company behind most of the world’s ejection seats, the watch carries the same DNA, resilience under pressure, but with a new, shadow-leaning aesthetic.
Limited to 400 pieces, the 42mm case is cut from Grade 2 titanium, treated to an ultra-matt finish that nods to stealth aircraft. Inside, Bremont’s BB14-AH automatic movement sits on a shock-absorbing mount with anti-magnetic shielding, delivering a 68-hour power reserve. The dial borrows texture from an actual meteorite, set against cockpit-inspired yellow accents and Super-LumiNova markers for clarity at altitude or sea level.
On the wrist, the matt titanium bracelet completes the mission: a tool watch pared down to its purest purpose.
Benjamen Judd
Grand Seiko reopens its Sydney boutique
Grand Seiko has reopened its Sydney boutique on Market Street, unveiling a sleek refurbishment that brings Japanese precision to the city’s retail core. The redesign is pared back yet elegant, echoing the quiet power of the brand’s timepieces. Inside, collectors and first-timers alike can move between open consultation areas and a private lounge shaped by omotenashi, the Japanese art of hospitality.
“We wanted a space that mirrors the experience of wearing a Grand Seiko, refined, contemporary and deeply connected to craft,” says Vincent Cuche, head of Grand Seiko Australia and New Zealand.
For Sydney’s watch community, it’s both a destination and a signal: Grand Seiko intends to cement its presence here, one meticulously polished surface at a time.
Here’s to 250 years of Breguet
Breguet continues its 250th anniversary celebrations with the Marine Hora Mundi 5555, a world traveller’s complication limited to 50 pieces. Inspired by NASA’s “Black Marble,” the dial offers a night view of Earth, glowing with phosphorescent enamel city lights. Its construction layers a guilloché gold base with engraved meridians beneath a sapphire disc, hand-painted in grand feu enamel to depict continents and drifting clouds. Each watch is subtly unique, reflecting the artisan’s hand.
This is also the first Marine crafted in Breguet gold, its 43.9mm case engraved with an anniversary motif and fitted with a sapphire back. Powering it is the calibre 77F1, a patented movement with instant-jump dual time zone, synchronised date and day/night indicator, all operated via two crowns. Collectors can personalise the city disc, linking function with personal geography. Completing the maritime nod, the gold oscillating weight takes the form of a ship’s helm, a tribute to the Maison’s naval heritage.
Hermès unveils new Apple Watch series
Apple and Hermès mark ten years of collaboration with a collection that underscores why the pairing still feels so sharp: Parisian craft and wit stitched to Apple’s engineering discipline. This season sees the arrival of the Apple Watch Hermès Series 11 alongside a new expression of the Apple Watch Hermès Ultra, each carrying its own distinct personality.
The Ultra gets a purpose-built upgrade in the Scub’H strap, a perforated rubber band secured with a titanium buckle. It’s light, nautical and unapologetically functional, making Hermès’ most technical watch to date feel at home under water as much as above it.
Series 11 plays on whimsy. Faubourg Party, created by Tibor Kárpáti, pixelates Hermès’ flagship into an animated watch face and strap, complete with horses on bicycles and rooftops that shift with the hour or weather. Animaux Bandana straps rework Shinsuke Kawahara’s scarf into a riot of toucans, monkeys and sloths across leather, while the Grand H bracelet returns in a sleeker silhouette, its signature links framing the case with architectural restraint.
Benjamen Judd
Seiko toasts the good times
Seiko introduces the Presage Cocktail Time “The Conte” (SRPL96J), a 1,000-piece limited edition created exclusively for Australasia. Inspired by the Negroni, the watch captures the drink’s bold character through a deep red dial that shifts with the light. A textured pattern, drawn from traditional cocktail glassware, adds detail and dimension, framed by slim hour markers for a refined finish.
The rose-gold-tone case measures 40.5mm across and 11.8mm thick, paired with a brown leather strap and folding clasp for understated elegance. Beneath the dial, the automatic Calibre 4R35 powers the watch with a 41-hour reserve at 21,600 vibrations per hour.
An exhibition caseback engraved “Limited Edition” with its unique serial number reveals the movement within. Presented in a red timber box, The Conte embodies Seiko’s craftsmanship and Cocktail Time heritage
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