TAG Heuer and Oris - New Releases for Watches and Wonders 2026

Anthony has been enjoying the hospitality at Watches and Wonders this year, so lets see what he thinks about the new watches from TAG Heuer and ORIS for 2026.

For 2026 we get an all-new Monaco: rethought from a blank sheet of paper, but with a design language that if anything brings it back even closer to the 1969 original – thanks to what is now a truly square case featuring more curved edges and sleeker pushers.

Another upgrade: that unique 39mm case is now made with Grade 5 titanium, following Formula 1’s philosophy of adding lightness wherever possible. The caseback is also more ergonomic, improving comfort on the wrist, while the dial has also been refined for increased legibility with contrasting subdials and faceted indices. The left-hand crown remains, as it should. A few things are better left untouched

There are three colour schemes, all inspired by motorsport. There’s a signature Steve McQueen blue, a sunray-brushed racing green, and a two-tone black and rose gold model.

At the heart of all three is the in-house Calibre TH20-11, an automatic movement with an 80-hour power reserve. You even get a five-year warranty, and in Britain, it will go on sale for around £7,900.

These three watches are all about design. But the actual headline act is the all-new Monaco Evergraph: a watch that shifts the conversation back towards the chronograph itself. At its core sits the all-new Calibre TH80-00, developed by the TAG Heuer’s renowned ‘queen of movements’, Carole Kasapi.

She describes it as a fresh concept: a “compliant” chronograph, replacing the traditional system of levers and springs with flexible and more stable components. It sounds esoteric, and perhaps it is, but the effect is immediate. The pushers respond with a consistency that mechanical chronographs rarely sustain over time. There is no softening, no variation, no sense of mechanical fatigue. It simply does what it’s supposed to do, every time.

“It revolutionises how it feels to operate a chronograph,” is how Carole puts it. That’s quite some claim, but having used it, I see what she means. The operation is noticeably smoother and more intuitive. It’s just a shame that nobody uses stopwatches to time racing cars anymore…

Design-wise, the 40mm black DLC Evergraph takes clear inspiration from the jumping hour Monaco that was launched in Geneva last year, and subsequently presented to four-time Formula 1 World Champion at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix (of course).

Technically, Kasapi’s creation is another tour de force, with a 70-hour power reserve, COSC certification, and a carbon-based oscillator designed to counter magnetic interference. Just like the rattrapante, the movement looks like it's suspended in space, thanks to those distinctive bridges.

This watch is as modern as it gets, but it doesn’t feel disconnected from the Monaco’s past – and that is TAG Heuer’s genius. All you need is £20,000 to share a part of it. And for what you get, that’s really not as expensive as it sounds.

Sometimes what you notice most isn’t what’s there, but what’s been taken away. The most conspicuous absentee on the Oris stand this year was the company’s famous giant bear, who’s apparently taking a bit of a holiday. And maybe that’s somewhat linked with the slightly more serious tone that Oris is taking right now as it revisits its heritage.

That’s obvious with the reissue of the Oris Star, which in many ways is the watch that started the company’s whole story of mass production. Simple and classic in its elegance, it has been faithfully reproduced to mark the model’s 60-year anniversary. This was a pivotal watch for Oris, as it was the first watch the company produced after finally getting some archaic manufacturing laws overturned, which of course were designed to protect the ruling cartel of Switzerland’s biggest brands. For Oris, the Star symbolises freedom.

The 35mm Star comes in only one declination, as suits its minimalist aesthetic, but the other big news from Oris this year was the reboot of the Artelier family.

Previous versions of the Artelier, Oris’s dress watch, weren’t bad watches, but they were certainly busy. You had multiple sub-dials and a lot of information competing for your attention. With this new Artelier Complication, Oris has cut it back to just two displays: moon phase at 12 o’clock, paired with a second time zone at six o’clock.

The difference is immediate once it’s on the wrist. There’s space now, and that space does a lot of work. You start to notice the construction and texture of the dial more – and then there are the colours.

Oris has gone with three options: ivory, midnight blue and chestnut. The ivory is the most traditional, the blue probably the most versatile, and the chestnut gives a bit more identity; to my mind the pick of the bunch. The chestnut is an unusual two-tone and it suits the watch’s slightly more relaxed take on a dress piece.

The moonphase is still the emotional hook: one of those complications that actually makes very little practical sense, but still manages to justify its existence purely on charm. Here, it’s been integrated more carefully into the dial. The aperture doesn’t shout for attention, and the starry background ties into the rest of the design more convincingly.

Underneath, the Oris Calibre 782 follows the same logic. It’s based on the previous movement but reconfigured to suit the simplified layout. Fewer displays mean fewer adjustments, and everything is managed through the crown and a single pusher. It’s practical, easy to use, and entirely in keeping with the rest of the watch.

The case size, at 39.5mm, is equally sensible. It wears comfortably without ever feeling too small, yet doesn’t try to exaggerate its presence. That restraint feels consistent with the rest of the design. It’s also a size that works well across a wide range of wrists, which probably matters more now than it did a decade ago.

The Artelier Complication hasn’t been entirely reinvented here, but it has definitely been reset. And that’s probably exactly what it needed. Now bring back the bear…