Watches I'm Buying In 2026

Hello watch lovers. Now when it comes to watches, you can't go wrong with a functional tool watch. You tried and true explorers and speedmasters and the like. And while I too love a practical monochrome timepiece, I thought now in 2026 that I'd start getting with the times and think about injecting a little fun and flair into my collection. So here are 10 colourful watches So last year saw Rolex make a return to purple for its Oyster Perpetual model with a rather lovely pastel lavender affair. But here we have this 2018 model Rolex Oyster Perpetual 39mm which has a deeper purple hued dial like red grape or a majestically shimmery plum. And we definitely need more purple in the watch world in 2026. So it's your typical Rolex with a traditional and simple case shape and bracelet. It's the familiar faultless Oyster Perpetual design, but with this rare dial colour, it's something a little different and will make people look twice. Not that it's particularly hard to get people to notice a Rolex or anything. So it features stick batten hours and chunky white quarter indexes and red marker dots that really pop against the purple. And yes, while it is a more unorthodox take notice colour choice, it still manages to remain nice and subtle on the wrist. I'm a big fan of purple and for me personally, if I was going to go for any Rolex, I'd go for something a bit off the beaten path, just like this one. And this one costs around £7,000 pre-owned. This is the Grand Seiko Heritage Collection SBGW321, a limited edition watch of just 300 pieces. And it's a tidy 36.5 millimetre dress watch with the colours and the dial texture chosen to represent a special iridescent carp known as Nishikigoi. And that's the brightly coloured and patterned variety of koi, those swimming jewels, the luxury watches of the fish pond. And they're represented here on this watch via a vivid red dial and gold toned logo and seconds hand, as well as a radial spiralling dial pattern, just like the shimmering scales of a koi reflected by sunlight on the pond. You feeling that one? So this watch is the perfect dress watch. It's lightweight on the wrist and compact and comfortable. And due to its smaller size, it's somewhat low key. And I say somewhat because the case is really bright. It's immaculately finished and it just gleams tremendously on your wrist. And then meanwhile, the red dial tone shifts in the light from a warm orangey red through to a deep burgundy. And the pattern is lovely too. And you do really get the sense of majestic scales, water ripples and next level spirograph all in one. And then inside is the in-house manual winding 9S64 movement. Now, any of Grand Seiko's nature inspired dials would do for me, really. But with this deep red dial with a spiral pattern and the tidy case size, it makes this watch a seriously tempting proposition for me. Now pre-owned, this watch costs around £4,200. So in 2023, Omega released the Seamaster Summer Blue collection, with each of the Seamaster models receiving a summery blue dial with the blue applied in layers appropriate to the model's water resistance. And here we have the Omega Aqua Terra 150 metres Gents Summer Blue. That's the teak deck version. And so with the water resistance of 150 metres, you get a summer blue tone on the dial that's light and warm. And it has a gradient effect and a sunray texture that is so intense that the radial reflections are like the back of a CD or something, but in silvery blue. And so it means the dial is constantly at play with every movement of your wrist, shimmering all over the place. It's rather lovely. Meanwhile, there's rhodium plated hands and indexes, a date window at six o'clock, and the case is 41 millimetres in steel. And then inside is the Metas certified coaxial master chronometer calibre 8900. I really love the simple style and easygoing shimmery summeriness of this watch. And if it were mine, I don't think I'd want for another watch ever again, for a bit. Pre-owned, this watch costs around £5,300. Now we've got action, style, and maximum legibility because this is the Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 with a bright yellow dial, chunky indexes, and blocky hands circled by a high contrast dial ring and a ceramic inlaid bezel. And it has an immaculately clean layout and a glossy finish. And it's just so crisp. And my words can't even do justice to how crisp this watch is. It's just crisp and gloss all the way down. There's water resistance to 300 metres and a whole bunch of shock sand and saltwater resistance thrown in there too. And then it's powered by the self-winding mechanical calibre Breitling 17. It's not overly fancy, it's just simple, bold, and beautiful. And what I really like about it is that it reminds me of a watch I used to have as a kid that was a yellow and black dial Kahuna watch. And it was similarly an action sports surfer's watch from back when I wanted to be Drazic from Heartbreak High. You know, because the Draz, he played by his own rules and was cool and uncompromising. Just like this Breitling. Anyway, brighten your year and get some sun on your wrist with this Breitling Superocean for around £3,500 pre-owned. This IWC Portugieser Automatic 42 still bears the hallmark design of the first Portugiesers created in the which were in turn designed after marine deck watches for a timeless instrument dress watch stylee. So this particular model is a limited piece of 500 and it comes in a rose gold case with a choco dial and two sub-dials. One a small seconds display and the other a seven day power reserve indicator with a handy red zone to remind you to wind the watch. There's rose gold coloured hands and markers that catch the light and stand out against the brown sunbrush dial and the dial is broad with a clean layout overall and despite the two big standout black sub-dials it feels pretty sparse. At 42 millimetres across the case is ostentatious in its size and rose goldness and then around the back you can view the whopper of a movement through an exhibition sapphire window that stretches right across the width of the watch with barely any bezel so you can see the giant rotor weight with IWC medallion. Now this is the kind of statement piece watch that I would go for. I'm going big and I'm going rose gold and then I'm going home to stare at this watch all day long and this one costs around £13,000 pre-owned. Now we have the Zenith Chronomaster Sport powered by the El Primero movement for that unique one tenth of a second chronograph action action action. It comes in a 41 millimetre steel case and this model features a lush glossy emerald green lacquered ceramic dial and matching ceramic bezel. The dial also features Zenith's overlapping tricolour sub-dials although tricolour is maybe a bit of a stretch. You've got grey, light grey and a slightly blue grey but it works with the bold green colour and it looks fantastic overall. There's a gentle curve to the lugs so it hugs the wrist and it looks sporty and sharp also packing all the performance of the El Primero. That's the 36,000 high frequency chronograph with 60 hour power reserve and a stop second mechanism. This watch would serve you well in any situation. It's robust and sporty while also smart and striking and I think it's probably my favourite Zenith. This one costs around £7,000 pre-owned. This is the Oris Diver's Watch Oris and Momotaro jean collaboration. It comes in a 40 millimetre steel case and with a beautifully mysterious blue green dial which to me is reminiscent of oxidised bronze which in turn works harmoniously with the warm gold coloured hands and markers and indeed the bronze bezel ring and I love the bubble dome crystal of an Oris watch and the way it warps the indices awesomely around the edge and this watch to me has a worn vintage appeal which I really like and then all of that is paired with the Momotaro denim strap with bright white painted stripes which reminds me of the sorts of jeans people used to wear in the early 2000s down Yates's, the wine lodge. So you're getting a heritage diver's watch aesthetic paired with brand new Japanese jeans. It's an interesting combo but I am really enamoured by this watch and I'm also really intrigued to see it when the straps a bit worn and faded to better match the dial colour. I think that'll be really cool. Anyway inside is the automatic winding calibre 735 and you get 100 metres of water resistance and this is a discontinued watch and pre-owned it costs around £1,200. So recently Tudor have been tapping into the summer beach vibes with two vivid dials for their black bay chronos. There's a hot pink and a flamingo blue named after the tone of turquoise that is so distinctive to tropical waters flamingos are known to love is where Tudor have got that name from and it's nothing to do with when flamingos eat a spilled shipment of fountain pen cartridges. Anyway you get the melded stylings of a robust racing chronograph with a heritage dive watch that is the black bay chrono in a 41 millimetre steel case with a fixed bezel in black aluminium, domed crystal, the famous Tudor snorflake hands and inside the Kosk manufacturer MT5813 and the tropical beach energy for the wrist is the vibe I'm going for in 2026 and these watches can be had for around £8,000 pre-owned. Now before we get to our last watch did you know that you can find out about other amazing watches via our Watchfinder newsletter to get exclusive access to new arrivals be the first to hear about all our special offers and promotions and to get first dibs on our giveaways just head down to the link in the description to sign up. So one way to keep your watch conservative but still add a splash of colour without going full salmon is with a champagne dial and this is the Longines Conquest chronograph a perfect everyday watch that's both casual and sporty but with that champagne dial and contrasting black sub-dials it still looks classy on the wrist. You get a ceramic tachymetric bezel, silvered polished hands and applied indexes and an almost tonneau shaped case. It comes in the slightly larger 42 millimetre case size but the soft rubber strap hugs the wrist for a comfortable fit even on smaller wrists like mine and the Conquest chronograph is powered by an exclusive Longines calibre and comes equipped with 100 metres of water resistance. Now Longines always knock it out of the park but for me this is one of their best efforts of late and I really like it. This watch costs around £2,000 pre-owned so there you go that rounds up my picks for exciting watches to get you on a flowery and colourful path in 2026 and if you want to check out more amazing watches then why not head over to watchfinder.com and find your next pre-owned luxury watch. Check it out and I'll catch you next time. Goodbye!