My favorites are notably traditional this year

As Fratello writers, my colleagues and I always have this article in the back of our minds as we work our way through the Watches and Wonders peak workload. We all know that sooner rather than later, Head of Content Nacho will schedule a Watches and Wonders 2026 favorites article for each of us, so we all take notes as we write one release article after another. Slowly but surely, we may see a theme emerge. In my case — and to my surprise — that theme is conservative classics.

Don’t get me wrong; I am all for innovation and daring new designs. Somehow, though, none of those really caught my attention this time around. It was, in many ways, an odd show this year. We could see brands wrestling with the changing tides in the industry. For whatever reason, this caused me to appreciate the subtler updates to familiar recipes over the more radically new.…