Five Standout Artisanal Watch Releases at IAMWATCH Singapore

IAMWATCH 2026 has turned The Singapore Edition into a concentrated meeting point for watchmakers, collectors and the increasingly defined world of artisanal horology.

The strongest releases at the Singapore gathering aren’t united by one aesthetic so much as by a shared willingness to show how a watch is made, not merely how it looks on the wrist.

From a debut souscription piece to a new purple-enamel Freak, these five watches show how broad the conversation around independent and craft-led watchmaking has become.

At a glance

• IAMWATCH 2026 in Singapore is showcasing notable new releases from Mickaël Gaspar, Garrick, Franc Villa, Urwerk and Ulysse Nardin.
• The highlights include exposed movements, wandering-hour displays, retrograde mechanics, enamel work and small-series production.
• Confirmed pricing ranges from CHF 33,300 excluding taxes for the Urwerk UR-101 Green Mamba to CHF 69,000 excluding VAT for the Mickaël Gaspar Souscription.

Mickaël Gaspar arrives with a serious first watch

Mickaël Gaspar’s Souscription is the kind of debut that comes with a backstory rooted in bench work rather than brand theatre.

The 29-year-old watchmaker began the concept as his school watch, then spent the better part of a decade refining it into the piece now shown at IAMWATCH.

The watch uses a dial-side movement and a retrograde date, with the movement built around a modified Swiss base plate and gear train.

Gaspar designed the retrograde mechanism himself, while some components are cut in Les Brenets.

The machining and finishing are said to account for around 250 hours of work, which gives the watch a clear place in the hand-finished, low-volume end of contemporary watchmaking.

Production is limited to a numbered series of 20 pieces, priced at CHF 69,000 excluding VAT.

It also marks the first watch backed by Ateliers Associés, the incubator founded by William Massena and Louis Westphalen-Lemaitre to support independent watchmaking.

Garrick strips the dial away

Garrick’s S8 is technically a time-only watch, but that description undersells the amount of horological theatre on show.

The British independent has removed the dial entirely, putting the new skeletonised S8 calibre in full view.

That approach leaves little room for shortcuts, particularly for a brand whose watches are built to order and assembled by a single watchmaker.

Each S8 takes around eight weeks to assemble, and the made-to-order model allows for a degree of customisation.

The prototypes were made by Stuart Smith and Alex Downing, keeping the focus close to the people doing the work at the bench.

Pricing starts from £59,500.

Franc Villa and Urwerk bring sharp-edged spectacle

Franc Villa’s FVF2 Intrepido Openwork FVF2OWDOC leans fully into contemporary haute horlogerie, with an architecture that exposes the in-house movement from both sides.

Made specially for IAMWATCH and available exclusively in Singapore, the watch combines an openworked construction with a 39.5mm case and a baguette diamond-set bezel.

The contrast is deliberate, pairing the gem-set exterior with a rose gold dial treatment and a cognac-toned calibre.

Production of the FVF2 Intrepido Openwork is limited to a maximum of 50 pieces across all editions.

Urwerk’s UR-101 Green Mamba revisits one of the brand’s foundational shapes in a more visually direct form.

The watch uses a two-satellite carousel to indicate the hours, forming the basis of a wandering-hours display.

Its vivid green time aperture gives the watch its name, while the 41mm matte-black steel case sits on a textured rubber strap.

The UR-101 Green Mamba is limited to 50 pieces and priced at CHF 33,300 excluding taxes.

Ulysse Nardin gives the Freak S a purple enamel hour disc

Ulysse Nardin continues the 25th anniversary year of the Freak with the Freak S Purple Enamel.

The watch takes the crownless, handless and dial-less Freak S as its base, then adds a tyrian-toned enamel hour disc.

That detail matters because this isn’t a traditional enamel dial sitting passively under the hands.

Here, the enamelled component is functional, adding another layer of complexity to a watch already defined by its unusual architecture.

The Freak S Purple Enamel is limited to 50 pieces.

Details & Specifications

Taken together, these releases make IAMWATCH feel less like a conventional product showcase and more like a snapshot of where ambitious watchmaking is headed, with small-series craft, exposed mechanics and strong individual authorship carrying the conversation.