5 Luxury Watches That Deserve a Place on Your Wrist This Summer

Summer asks more of a watch than most seasons do. All the heat and the general informality of the season demand a timepiece that can move from morning to evening without losing its credibility. It is also, historically, the season that produces some of the most interesting releases. Why, you ask? Well, the watch brands now know that a timepiece worn on a holiday or seen on a wrist at a beach club does more for a collector’s imagination than any campaign. Below is a list of five watches — all launched within the last 12 months — worth knowing about. 

Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean, Fourth Generation, Orange Ceramic

Launched in November 2025 to mark the collection's 20th anniversary, the fourth-generation Planet Ocean is a full redesign, not a refresh. The 42mm case is now 13.79mm thick — more than 2mm slimmer than the previous generation — achieved through a two-part construction combining an outer stainless steel case with an inner titanium ring. The helium escape valve has been removed, the date window eliminated, and the lug architecture is entirely new. Inside, the Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8912 is METAS-certified, resistant to magnetic fields of 15,000 gauss, and delivers a 60-hour power reserve. Water resistance is 600 metres. The orange variant — the most relevant for summer — uses a vivid orange ceramic bezel that Omega describes as harder to produce than the black or blue versions, which accounts for the premium. The broad-arrow hands and Arabic numerals at cardinal hours are carried over from the original 2005 design.

Price: USD 9,500 on rubber strap (approx. INR 7.93 lakh)

IWC Ingenieur Automatic 42 Dark Olive Green Ceramic, Ref. IW338902

Unveiled at Watches and Wonders Geneva in April 2026, the Ingenieur Automatic 42 in dark olive green ceramic is the first time IWC has executed the Gérald Genta-derived integrated bracelet design in a coloured ceramic. IWC has been working with zirconium oxide ceramic since 1986 — the material registers approximately 1,300 on the Vickers hardness scale and can only be machined using diamond tools after sintering. The olive green tone is achieved by blending zirconium oxide with metallic oxides, a process that requires complete control since the colour only stabilises during sintering. The 42mm case, bezel, caseback ring, crown guards, and integrated bracelet are all produced in this ceramic. The 18k Armor Gold bezel screws and solid 18k 5N gold crown provide warm contrast against the olive. The gold-stamped Grid dial carries gold-plated hands and indices filled with Super-LumiNova. The movement is the in-house Calibre 82110 with a Pellaton winding system and a 60-hour power reserve.

Price: USD 23,800 (approx. INR 19.87 lakh)

Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 Jubilee Motif Dial, Ref. 126000

Released at Watches and Wonders Geneva in April 2026 to mark the centenary of the Oyster case, the Oyster Perpetual 36 with a multicoloured Jubilee motif dial is the most talked-about Rolex of the year. No fewer than ten colours of lacquer are applied in succession to recreate the historic Jubilee pattern, spelling out R-O-L-E-X across the dial in high-contrast colourplay. The colours are applied one after the other, not simultaneously, requiring extreme precision at every stage. The 36mm Oystersteel case houses the Calibre 3230 with Chronergy escapement, a Parachrom hairspring, Paraflex shock absorbers, and a 70-hour power reserve. Water resistance is 100 metres. The retail price is identical to all other Oyster Perpetual 36 colourways despite the significantly more complex dial production. Availability, as with all special-dial Oyster Perpetuals, will be tightly constrained.

Price: USD 6,750 (approx. INR 5.64 lakh)

Tudor Black Bay 54 Lagoon Blue, Ref. M79000-0001

Released in June 2025 expressly for summer, the Black Bay 54 Lagoon Blue is Tudor's most wearable dive watch to date. The case stays at 37mm in diameter and 11.24mm in thickness, with a 46mm lug-to-lug measurement that sits close to the wrist. The Lagoon Blue introduces a sand-textured dial in a soft, icy blue — designed to evoke the surface of open water — swaps the original 2023 Black Bay 54's black aluminium bezel insert for a mirror-polished steel one with sandblasted markers. It comes exclusively on Tudor's five-link Jubilee-style bracelet with a T-Fit micro-adjustment clasp. The COSC-certified MT5400 automatic movement delivers a 70-hour power reserve. Water resistance is 200 metres.

Price: USD 4,350 (approx. INR 3.63 lakh)

Cartier Santos-Dumont Large Model

The Santos-Dumont has always been Cartier's dressiest proposition, closest in DNA to the 1904 commission the maison made for Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, widely credited as the man who put the wristwatch on the map. Until Watches and Wonders 2026, it has existed almost exclusively as a strap watch, which in the heat of summer meant a leather strap on a precious metal case, a combination that works in January and nowhere else. Cartier's update is deceptively simple: three new Large Model references, same case, new bracelet. That bracelet is constructed from 394 individually machined links arranged across 15 rows, each link 1.15mm thick, inspired directly by Cartier's own flexible jewellery bracelets from the 1920s. It drapes against the wrist with a near-fabric suppleness that no rigid metal bracelet at any price point currently matches. The case measures 43.5mm x 31.4mm at just 7.3mm thin, powered by the manufacture calibre 430 MC with manual winding. Roman numerals, blued sword hands, and exposed bezel screws preserve the original 1904 design codes entirely. The standout reference carries a polished obsidian dial sourced from Mexico, cut to just 0.3mm thin, with natural air bubbles trapped in the volcanic stone making every dial unique. Two additional versions use silvered satin sunray dials in yellow gold and platinum.

Price: Prices start at Euro 44,400 (approximately Rs 41.7 lakh), in yellow gold, and goes up till Euro 59,000 (approximately Rs 55.4 lakh), in platinum.