13 Wild Watches From the Watchiest Fashion Show of 2026

It’s New York Fashion Watch Week on J.Press’s runway.Greg Kessler/KesslerStudioBefore J.Press’s fall-winter 2026 show kicked off on Wednesday, designer Jack Carlson walked the line of models, ensuring that each tie was hanging just right and each bag was stuffed to his liking. The last detail he’d inspect on every person? The watches on their wrists, all selected from an impressive collection of 50 vintage pieces flown in from Florida by Wind Vintage dealer Eric Wind.“Everyone wants a Rolex,” said Charlie Dunne, Wind Vintage’s senior watch specialist, who helped escort the individually bubble-wrapped timepieces to the venue the previous night. Dunne told me there’s no exact science to the way the watches were assigned: Carlson paired certain models with specific looks, but others were simply strapped on because a model asked for one.The first time the Wind Vintage team helped watch-ify the J.Press runway last September, Dunne recalls, one of the models asked, “Do we get to keep these at the end of the show?” Shaminder Singh Biring sported a Rolex Explorer during that first show, but swapped it for a very sleek GMT-Master with a black bezel this time out. While returning his watch after the show, one model said, “It was an honor.” Not a bad day at the office when you suddenly get a vintage Rollie strapped to your wrist.There was far more than the Crown on display, however. The runway featured elegant little Reversos from Jaeger-LeCoultre, a Dunhill piece with a dial so blue you could practically drown in it, pre-revival Universal Genève Polerouters, and the colorful Seafarers that Heuer once made for Abercrombie & Fitch. Below are the 13 best pieces I saw at J.Press’s fall-winter 2026 fashion show.Tudor Oyster PrinceMy favorite watch on the runway was this vintage Tudor with the most amazing before-and-after photos since the golden era of weight-loss drug infomercials. The piece was previously owned by a member of the US Navy who evidently wore it hard. While clearing out his estate, his family almost threw it out until someone noticed that it said “Rolex” on the caseback.Wind got hold of the watch and sent it off to get an ultrasonic bath. The watch is the platonic ideal of a barn find: it still has sharp, unpolished edges, and it’s brimming with all the provenance and intrigue you want from a vintage tool model. A timepiece worn to hell in the Navy getting a second life on a New York runway? That’s the inimitable magic of watches.Rolex Ladies’ “Domino’s” DatejustWind is the king of the Domino’s Rolex, and he brought one of the rarest variants in existence to J. Press. While the pizza chain generally gifted its highest-earning managers with logo-stamped Rolex Air-Kings, a smaller number of Domino’s Datejusts were also produced—and this teeny one designed for women is perhaps the hardest to find of all. According to Dunne, once a franchise owner earned his own Rolex, he could secure a second one for his wife. Surf the open seas of the web as exhaustively as Captain Ahab, however, and you still might not find another match for this two-tone Domino’s Rolex. This one is the personal piece of Abigail Harris, Wind Vintage’s director of marketing and logistics.Abercrombie & Fitch by Heuer SeafarerUnfortunately, I only have this sad image of it From one prep flagship to another. In the middle of the last century, A&F made these excellent and now highly collectible Seafarers in partnership with Heuer. Pairing it with a matching baby blue NATO strap really ramps up the “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” vibes.Rolex GMT-Master in yellow goldGreg Kessler/KesslerStudioThere’s nothing menswear dudes love more than a “classic with a twist.” This solid-gold GMT, which is fixed to a leather strap and lacks the model’s trademark two-tone bezel, should have them slobbering.Universal Genève PolerouterGreg Kessler/KesslerStudioWhile interest in vintage Universal Genève has grown massively since Breitling announced it was acquiring the dormant brand in 2024, Wind says this year’s official relaunch has only provided a small additional bump to the market.This example of the Polerouter epitomizes why the new leadership at the brand were so crazed about getting the details for the updated designs exactly right. This is, simply put, a perfect watch. The vintage Polerouter’s crosshair dial, contrasting minute tracks, and slightly cheeky Big U logo deliver enough personality to keep this everyday banger from ever feeling stale.Heuer Autavia “Jo Siffert”Greg Kessler/KesslerStudioYou already know about Steve McQueen’s Heuer Monaco. Now meet its edgy younger brother: the Autavia variant made famous by Swiss driver Jo Siffert. Compared to Heuer’s classic Carrera, the Autavia has a slightly funkier C-shaped case (it’s literally bent like the curve of the letter on both sides). The “Jo Siffert” version is particularly tasty thanks to the flashes of electric blue on the chronograph hand and hour indices.Jaeger-LeCoultre ÉtrierGreg Kessler/KesslerStudioAfter 124 years in the biz, J. Press introduced womenswear for the first time this season, which explains the influx of pretty ladies’ watches in this season’s show. Befitting modern trends, however, those watches weren’t put exclusively on women. Étrier translates to “stirrup,” and the watch closely resembles a horse rider’s foothold. Equestrian inspiration is one of the pillars of prepdom—alongside tennis, sailing, and any other sport that requires hella cash to get into—so the JLC looked right at home on the J. Press runway.Gallet Multichron Decimal "Big Eyes" ChronographGreg Kessler/KesslerStudioLike the aforementioned Universal Genève, Gallet was recently revived with modernized takes on some of its vintage models. Examples like this Multichron, though, make a good case for why the brand’s designs didn’t actually need any updates. The silver dials and red accents on this “Big Eyes” Gallet—so named for its unusually large subdials—look just as good as they did when the model was first released in the ’60s. Pop a new zany strap on, and you’ve got a watch that looks especially great in the ’20s.Jaeger-LeCoultre ReversoGreg Kessler/KesslerStudioOld-school watch designers really understood simplicity. The dial here is so exquisite. One word, everything you need to know: Reverso. Two hands for the hour and minutes, and some sharp hour markers that ripened to a creamy brown as they reached their golden years. This one gets its requisite flash through a killer metal bracelet.Rolex GMT-Master “Pepsi”Greg Kessler/KesslerStudioI’ve tried not to pick the hugely obvious pieces that walked the runway yesterday, but it would be criminal for me to keep this perfect example of a vintage GMT to myself. When I say dream, you say watch. Dream…1960s DunhillGreg Kessler/KesslerStudioHenry David Thoreau could write a book about the shade of blue on this Dunhill. Meanwhile, I could pen a love letter to the swoopy Breguet-style numerals.Charlie Dunne’s Personal Rolex DatejustIn the ’70s, Rolex released a selection of Day-Dates and Datejusts with unusually large hour markers. These became known as “Wide Boys” among collectors, a group eager to lovingly nickname any watch with even the tiniest quirk. Wind used this moniker for the engraving he had done before giving it to Dunne: “To Chuckles ‘A Wide Boy For My Wide Boy’ Love Enrique.” (Chuckles and Enrique are in-jokes between Wind and Dunne). It now belongs in Dunne’s personal collection. FYI: If anyone wants to call me a Wide Boy by buying me a Rolex, I will gladly accept.Rolex BubblebackThis one didn’t get the chance to appear in the show, but it was on the wrist of a collector backstage. Here is another delightful nickname for a watch: Bubbleback. Imagine if Rolex collectors were in charge of giving you a nickname. Hey, Wide Boy! How’s it going, Bubbleback? It feels ironic, like calling a massive dude “Tiny,” when talking about a watch this pretty. Schechterman’s piece has an original California dial—meaning it mixes both Roman and Arabic numerals—and a rose-gold bezel over a stainless-steel case. To be fair to the nickname givers, the term “Bubbleback” refers to the large, protruding caseback built to accommodate bulky ’30s-era movements. If you’re interested in reading more, vintage dealer Masahiro Endo just released an entire book on the topic.Cam Wolf is GQ’s Watch Editor. He joined the magazine in 2017 after working at Racked (RIP) as the site’s (first!) (and only!) Menswear Editor and Complex in the role of Style News Editor. Shortly into his GQ tenure, he immersed himself in the world of watches and quickly fell ... Read More