Jacob & Co.’s Godfather II leads a historic week in Geneva — where watchmaking’s holy trinity finally shared the same floor.
APRIL 2026 · GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Watches & Wonders Geneva 2026 will be remembered as a watershed moment for the industry. For the first time in history, all three members of watchmaking’s so-called holy trinity — Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet — presented under the same roof simultaneously. Audemars Piguet had been absent from the fair since 2019, and its return was anything but quiet: a 1,200 square metre booth, a reinvented perpetual calendar movement, and the world premiere of a modern self-winding jumping hour. The week ran from April 14 to 20 at Palexpo, with 66 brands exhibiting to collectors, retailers, and press from every corner of the globe.
Yet amid the anniversaries and the grand gestures, one piece rose above the noise. Jacob & Co.’s The Godfather II was the watch everyone wanted to talk about — a world first in horological terms, an emotional statement, and a mechanical tour de force. As authorised retailers of Jacob & Co., we were there.
JACOB & CO. · FEATURED NOVELTY
The Godfather II
The World’s Only Double-Melody Musical Watch
The Godfather II in 18K rose gold. Limited to 74 pieces.
Jacob & Co.’s showstopper at W&W 2026 is also a world first. The Godfather II is the only double-melody musical watch in existence — a 510-component hand-wound movement that plays both “The Godfather Love Theme” and “The Godfather’s Waltz” through a single music-box barrel. A melody selector at 10 o’clock switches between the two Nino Rota compositions on demand. No electronics. Pure mechanics.
The new 42 × 44mm rose gold case takes its proportions from Art Deco, a nod to the 1920s setting of the film’s prequel storyline. Flying tourbillon, dual power reserves, black lacquer dial with a portrait of Don Corleone, and a caseback engraved with the actual musical score. Limited to 74 pieces — a reference to the film’s 1974 release — at USD 440,000.
A full dedicated article on The Godfather II is coming soon to our website.
The Week in Geneva
Selected Novelties from Watches & Wonders 2026
Beyond the Jacob & Co. moment, Watches & Wonders 2026 delivered a week of genuine substance. The strongest releases were not the loudest, but the ones with conviction — brands that chose one message and delivered it completely. Here are the other novelties that defined the show.
Rolex — Oyster Perpetual 41 Centenary
The theme was “Oyster Story” — a century since Hans Wilsdorf patented the world’s first truly waterproof wristwatch. Rather than a single limited piece, Rolex distributed the centennial thread across its families. The standout: the Oyster Perpetual 41 in Yellow Rolesor, with a sunray slate-gray dial, green five-minute squares along the minute track, and “100 years” inscribed where “Swiss Made” normally sits. A discreet gesture from the most scrutinised brand in the industry. Powered by Calibre 3230, priced at USD 9,650.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 ‘Oyster Story’ centenary edition.
Patek Philippe — Celestial Sunrise & Sunset / Nautilus 50th
Twenty new references from Geneva’s most authoritative house. The Nautilus 50th anniversary was handled with characteristic restraint: three wristwatches in time-only configuration, returning to the clean aesthetic of the 1976 original, powered by the Calibre 240 with its anniversary micro-rotor engraved “50 1976–2026.” The more unexpected novelty was the Ref. 6105G Celestial Sunrise and Sunset — the first Patek wristwatch to track the changing times of sunrise and sunset across the year, two lower hands reading against the date ring. A complication that feels inevitable in retrospect.
Patek Philippe Ref. 6105G — the first Patek to track sunrise and sunset times.
Audemars Piguet — Return to Geneva
AP’s first Watches & Wonders since 2019 was a statement of intent. The centrepiece was a reinvented perpetual calendar movement — a technical overhaul of one of watchmaking’s most complex standards. Alongside it came the world premiere of a modern self-winding jumping hour, and an entirely new atelier producing pocket watches of exceptional craft. The booth itself — 1,200 square metres — signalled that AP had been waiting for the right moment, not the nearest one.
Audemars Piguet returns to Geneva with a reinvented perpetual calendar movement.
Vacheron Constantin — Overseas Dual Time Cardinal Points
The 30th anniversary of the Overseas collection was the occasion. The release: a dual-time complication in lightweight titanium with Titalyt treatment, clean and understated, offering genuine technical credibility without spectacle. In a year when Vacheron could have leaned into grand complication and ceremony, the Overseas felt like the more intelligent choice — a modern statement about what luxury travel means now.
Vacheron Overseas Dual Time Cardinal Points — titanium, multiple colourways.
Parmigiani Fleurier — Tonda PF Chronograph Mystérieux
The watch of the show for many editors. At rest, it appears to be a simple three-hand dress watch. Press the pusher at 7 o’clock and the illusion dissolves: the hands jump to 12 and begin functioning as chronograph counters, while a second set beneath them continues to track civil time. The Chronograph Mystérieux is an exercise in mechanical deception — architecture designed to disappear until it is needed, then to perform with complete precision.
Parmigiani Tonda PF Chronograph Mystérieux — complications that disappear at rest.
Grand Seiko — Sakura-Wakaba / SBGH376
Grand Seiko’s strongest release of the week: the SBGH376, the first non-limited 62GS model in 18k yellow gold. Its dial uses the Japanese principle of mitate — interpreting rather than depicting — to capture the Hazakura season, when fresh green leaves emerge alongside the last cherry blossoms. The result is a shimmering silvery-green surface that changes character entirely under different light. Inside, the Hi-Beat Calibre 9S85 at 36,000 vph with 55 hours of power reserve.
Grand Seiko SBGH376 — first non-limited 62GS in 18k yellow gold, Hazakura dial.
Gucci — G-Timeless Métiers d’Art & 25H
Decorative watchmaking was Gucci’s theme this year. The G-Timeless Métiers d’Art collection comprises four tourbillon models referencing archival silk scarves from the 1960s to 1980s — motifs including a tiger emerging from foliage and a tropical toucan, rendered through micro-painting, grand feu enamel, hand engraving, and featherwork by specialist Nelly Saunier. The 25H, the house’s most technically credible proposition, was updated with rainbow-coloured baguette sapphires set across its skeletonised dial. Watches positioned as wearable miniature artworks, firmly in the métiers d’art tradition.
Gucci G-Timeless Métiers d’Art tourbillons Toucan
Watches & Wonders 2026 confirmed one thing above all else:
the market is returning to substance. The pieces that dominated the conversation this week were the ones that earned their complexity — mechanically, historically, or emotionally. The Jacob & Co. Godfather II did all three.
