Inhorgenta 2026: Trends, Watch Talks & Award-Winners

Munich’s industry fair stands strong. With more than 25,000 trade visitors from 94 countries in attendance, Inhorgenta 2026 saw the same number of visitors as last year. In light of challenging economic conditions, this is a notable achievement. Around 1,200 brands showcased their products at the key industry event in Munich, which was just over 100 fewer than the previous year.

Momentum in Watch Hall A1

Little of this was noticeable in Watch Hall A1. The Watch Boutique, located at the heart of the hall, was once again well represented, showcasing renowned Swiss brands such as Ebel, Eberhard & Co., BA111OD, and Favre-Leuba. Another Swiss-made brand, Maurice Lacroix, also returned to the fair. The ‘Salon Suisse’ showcased smaller, independent manufacturers, while the FHH Cultural Space featured renowned Swiss brands such as Piaget, Bovet, and Oris.

FHH Cultural Space: The Value of Craftsmanship

The Swiss organisation Fondation Haute Horlogerie (FHH) led the celebration of Inhorgenta’s central theme of craftsmanship in Watch Hall A1, presenting a curated experiential area in the form of the FHH Cultural Space. This immersive platform was dedicated to fine watchmaking as cultural heritage, offering exhibitions, workshops, live demonstrations and talks that focused on artisanal skills and expertise, as well as the future of mechanical watches. For example, visitors were invited to dismantle and reassemble a mechanical movement under expert guidance.

‘Watchmaking is far more than a product. The visible object is merely the surface. Behind it lies an invisible world of craftsmanship, sophistication, patience, and the passing on of knowledge. Our task is to open that door and guide people through it,’ explained Pascal Ravessoud, Vice-President of the Fondation Haute Horlogerie, outlining the FHH’s mission.

Watch Talks – Stimulus, Debate, and Perspective

On the Watch Talks stage, leading figures from the international watch world discussed current developments and future prospects.

Of particular relevance to collectors was the talk moderated by Jörn Kengelbach, Editor-at-Large at Swiss Watches Magazine, entitled ‘Heritage Meets Hype: The New Era of Watch Collecting’. His guests were Andy Hoffman from the United States, Senior Business Editor at Hodinkee, and Tom Exton from the United Kingdom, a passionate watch collector with more than 20 years’ experience.

Watch Talk: Heritage Meets Hype – The Collectors’ Scene in Transition

Over the past ten years, social media, secondary markets, and independent brands have fundamentally reshaped the industry. Collectors now play a decisive role, and the scene is far less exclusive than it once was, no longer confined to the private salons of prestigious boutiques. How has collectors’ thinking evolved? On this question, the expert trio were broadly in agreement.

Brands such as Rolex and Audemars Piguet are finding that they increasingly have to share collectors’ attention with other manufacturers. ‘Initially, I was very focused on the major brands,’ explained Exton, talking about his own collecting habits. Now, however, he only buys watches that add new value to his collection. Like many other collectors, he increasingly finds this value among niche brands.

He attributes this development in part to social media, through which watch enthusiasts have gained ever more knowledge about watches and brands, significantly broadening their horizons.

The Covid Effect on Watch Collecting

According to Andy Hoffman, the collectors’ market marked a turning point during the pandemic, which simultaneously accelerated this development. ‘A few years ago, during the pandemic, people focused on big brands and well-known names, searching for specific references. We must acknowledge that this event permanently changed the course of history, both economically and socially. For the collectors’ market, it has been the defining event of recent history.’

Suddenly, far more supposed watch collectors appeared on the relevant online platforms, and flippers drove certified pre-owned prices to sometimes absurd heights.

Tom Exton summarised this point during the Watch Talk, ‘Covid was a perfect storm. (…) Many people were sitting at home pretending to work and spending a great deal of time on the internet. There, they saw asset prices skyrocket – not only watches. And they were swept along by the speculators. That also drove waiting lists ever higher. For collectors who were interested in watches before Covid, it was very frustrating. It was bad enough before Covid, but now you had no hope of getting anything you were interested in.’

As a result, collectors began looking beyond well-trodden paths and the established major brands. The question became: what else is out there?

Independent Brands Come into Focus

According to Exton, brands such as Girard-Perregaux have benefited significantly from this shift. ‘The original collectors from the pre-Covid era are still there, but they are turning somewhat away from the big brands and are now exploring independent watch brands as well – not only microbrands, but also names such as Girard-Perregaux.’

Andy Hoffman added during the Swisswatches Magazine Watch Talk that Richard Mille is another exemplary case of the transformed watch and collectors’ market, having perfectly occupied the still relatively young ultra-luxury segment. ‘The market has evolved and is sufficiently educated to truly appreciate these brands and watchmakers. It is genuinely a different experience with these brands because the production numbers are so low.’

‘The market and collectors’ interests have clearly shifted from sports watches towards more elegant, interesting and individual timepieces,’ Hoffman concluded, summarising the development of the collectors’ market over the past decade.

Inhorgenta Award 2026: Glashütte Original, Tutima Glashütte, and Accutron by Bulova

Among the highlights of Inhorgenta 2026 was the glamorous presentation of the Inhorgenta Award, hosted by Nazan Eckes at the Bavaria Filmstudios. The prize was awarded in ten categories – three of them dedicated to watches.

Luxury Watch of the Year: Glashütte Original

Considerable attention was drawn to the new category ‘Luxury Watch of the Year | Public Choice’ (mechanical watches, RRP €5,000–75,000), organised in cooperation with WirtschaftsWoche. This marked a genuine first for the Inhorgenta Award: the inclusion of the public in the judging process.

A welcome side effect of the new category was that it broadened the field of participants in the watch segment to include luxury brands from the upper price bracket. The top three in the readers’ vote were the Ballon Bleu by Cartier, the PanoMaticLunar by Glashütte Original and the Land-Dweller by Rolex.

Ultimately, Glashütte Original won through with the limited platinum edition (180 pieces) of the PanoMaticLunar, which features an aventurine dial. Although this is the first time that the material has been used by Glashütte Original, the characteristic asymmetrical dial layout and the signature Panorama Date without a dividing bar between the numerals remain. Powered by the automatic in-house calibre 92-14, the award-winning PanoMaticLunar Anniversary Edition offers an impressive 100-hour power reserve, a shock-resistant 4 Hz oscillation system, and refined finishing.

‘It is a great honour for me and for the entire company that our PanoMaticLunar Anniversary Edition has received the Inhorgenta Award,’ said Roland von Keith, CEO of Glashütte Original. ‘We designed this watch to celebrate 180 years of Glashütte watchmaking in style. Having it chosen as “Luxury Watch of the Year” by the public not only recognises our horological expertise, but also confirms that we are living up to our role as custodians of this unique tradition.’

Mechanical Watch of the Year: Tutima Glashütte

In the ‘Mechanical Watch of the Year’ category, the Patria by Tutima Glashütte came out on top. The 41-millimetre titanium timepiece is equipped with the company’s own hand-wound calibre 617, offering a 65-hour power reserve and crafted from 171 individual components in the brand’s manufacture using meticulous hand-finishing.

Protected beneath a domed, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, the dial reveals intricate detailing and a contemporary look in anthracite, graphite grey, or silver-white. Depending on the angle of the light, the pyramid-textured surface alternates between light and shadow.

In addition to hours, minutes and seconds, the dial also features the historic logo from the brand’s founding period nearly one hundred years ago.

‘This watch embodies what has always distinguished Tutima Glashütte throughout its eventful history in a very special way: the courage to continually unite heritage and fresh beginnings,’ explained Matthias Stotz, Tutima Glashütte’s Managing Director.

Watch Design of the Year: Accutron by Bulova

The winning model in the ‘Watch Design of the Year’ category is not purely mechanical, yet highly compelling: the Accutron 26A211 Spaceview 314 Tuning Fork by Bulova. The original Accutron, launched in 1960, was the first mass-produced wristwatch without a traditional balance wheel.

Its technical innovation was a tuning fork controlled by two electromagnetic coils, representing a quantum leap in timekeeping accuracy. At the time, Bulova guaranteed a maximum deviation of just 60 seconds per month. Several million pieces were sold through to the 1970s. The Accutron’s electromechanical construction is regarded as an important link between the purely mechanical watch and the quartz watch.

The newly honoured re-edition, the Spaceview 314, remains closely aligned with the original both visually and technically. Housed in a 39-millimetre stainless-steel case, it features the newly developed, in-house calibre Y230. The tuning fork, oscillating at 360 hertz – audible as a soft hum in the key of F sharp – transmits its frequency to the hands via an index system.

‘For the re-edition, we had to design and build an entirely new production line with new machinery – not only because the historic facilities no longer existed, but also because we set the highest standards in terms of materials and manufacturing,’ explained Kai-Erik Strehle, Product & Marketing Manager at Citizen Watch Europe GmbH.

inhorgenta.com