Anniversary watches can be lazy exercises in a new dial colour, but 2026 has delivered a richer mix than usual.
Several of the year’s notable releases don’t just mark a date on the calendar; they revisit shifts in diving culture, solar-powered quartz, Swiss industrial politics and the birth of the waterproof wristwatch.
From accessible Japanese limited editions to Geneva centenary pieces, these are the milestones giving 2026 its particular character for collectors.
At a glance
- 2026 brings major watch anniversaries for Seiko, Citizen Eco-Drive, Orient Star, Tudor, the Rolex Oyster and several historically important model lines.
- The standout themes include solar technology, diving partnerships, revived 1960s designs and centenary watches with strong institutional heritage.
- Confirmed prices range from £650 for Seiko’s PADI King Turtle to £4,600 for Tudor’s centenary Monarch, with several limited editions in the mix.
Japanese watchmaking takes the anniversary spotlight
Seiko has approached its 145th anniversary with unusual breadth, dividing the celebration into past, present and future-themed releases.
The structure gives the anniversary more range than a single commemorative model, moving from the gold-toned Timekeeper to present-day pieces such as the Arita Porcelain, Shiro-neri and 1965 Heritage Diver’s in Seiko Blue.
The future side is the most colourful, led by the Edo Purple series across families including the Speedtimer, Alpinist, Cocktail Time GMT, 5 Sports, Rotocall and Astron GPS.
Among them, the Prospex Speedtimer Solar Chronograph 145th Anniversary Limited Edition is one of the clearest expressions of the idea, pairing a 41.4mm stainless steel case with an Edo purple dial and Seiko’s solar quartz calibre V192.
It is limited to 8,000 pieces and priced at £670, placing it in the familiar Seiko territory where collectability and daily usability overlap.
Seiko also has another anniversary thread running through 2026 with PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors.
The brand’s partnership with PADI is now 10 years old, but the new Prospex Mechanical PADI 60th Anniversary Limited Edition King Turtle instead honours PADI’s own 60th anniversary.
It keeps the King Turtle’s practical diver format, with a 45mm stainless steel case, 200 metres of water resistance, Seiko’s automatic calibre 4R36 and a blue dial on a steel bracelet.
At £650 and limited to 8,000 pieces, it sits in the space where Seiko has long been strongest: serious specification without preciousness.
Citizen’s 2026 anniversary is technological rather than brand-wide, and arguably more important than many model birthdays.
Eco-Drive turns 50 this year, tracing its roots to the 1976 Citizen Crystron Solar Cell, the light-powered quartz watch that arrived before the Eco-Drive name itself became part of Citizen’s identity.
The Citizen Eco-Drive Photon 50th Anniversary Limited Edition marks that development with a 39.6mm Super Titanium case, a black and blue dial, and the Eco-Drive calibre E036 with a stated 12-month power reserve.
Limited to 5,000 pieces and priced at £749, it is a reminder that one of Citizen’s most meaningful contributions to modern watchmaking has always been practical rather than ornamental.
1960s revivals with more than nostalgia
The Oris Star Edition reaches back to a less commonly discussed but important moment in Swiss watch history.
In the 1930s, the Swiss Watch Statute was introduced to protect the industry after the Great Depression, but its restrictions also limited innovation and industrial flexibility.
After the statute was overturned in 1965 with the help of a lawyer hired by Oris, the brand introduced the Oris Star in 1966, using advances that had previously been constrained, including lever escapements.
The modern Oris Star Edition marks the model’s 60th anniversary with a compact 35mm stainless steel case, brushed silver dial, black leather strap and Oris calibre 733.
It’s priced at £1,750, and its appeal lies less in size or spectacle than in the unusual story behind the watch’s existence.
Favre Leuba’s Harpoon Revival also returns to 1966, but with a different tone.
The Harpoon has the feel of an early all-rounder, the kind of watch that predates today’s shorthand for go-anywhere daily pieces while still delivering the same basic promise.
The revival uses a 36.8mm stainless steel case, grey dial, black alligator-embossed leather strap and the Favre Leuba calibre FLD04 with a 68-hour power reserve.
At £1,800, it’s positioned as a measured vintage revival rather than a loudly nostalgic limited spectacle.
Centenaries from Tudor and Rolex carry extra weight
Tudor’s 100th anniversary arrives with the Monarch, a name that has appeared in the brand’s history before but now belongs to a new centenary watch.
The brand was founded in Geneva in 1926 by Hans Wilsdorf, and the Monarch uses that century of history as a platform for a watch that blends vintage cues with modern Master Chronometer specification.
The watch has a 39mm stainless steel case, dark champagne dial, 100 metres of water resistance and Tudor’s calibre MT5662-2U with a 65-hour power reserve.
At £4,600, it’s the most expensive confirmed watch in this anniversary group, and it also shows how Tudor continues to define itself through technical credibility rather than pure heritage theatre.
The Rolex Oyster centenary is the year’s most historically loaded anniversary.
Launched in 1926, the Oyster reshaped expectations around durability and waterproof watch cases, and its public mythology grew further when Mercedes Gleitze wore one during her English Channel swim.
The Oyster also helped change how watches were promoted, bringing high-profile achievement and personality into the language of watch advertising long before ambassador culture became standard.
For 2026, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 reference 134303 carries the Oyster story into a two-tone Oystersteel and yellow gold case with a slate dial.
Few watch anniversaries can claim to touch both engineering and marketing history quite so directly.
Details & Specifications
| Seiko Prospex Mechanical PADI 60th Anniversary Limited Edition King Turtle | 45mm stainless steel case, blue dial, calibre 4R36, 200m water resistance, steel bracelet, £650, limited to 8,000 pieces |
|---|---|
| Seiko Prospex Speedtimer Solar Chronograph 145th Anniversary Limited Edition | 41.4mm stainless steel case, Edo purple dial, solar quartz calibre V192, 100m water resistance, steel bracelet, £670, limited to 8,000 pieces |
| Citizen Eco-Drive Photon 50th Anniversary Limited Edition | 39.6mm Super Titanium case, black and blue dial, Eco-Drive calibre E036, 50m water resistance, Super Titanium bracelet, £749, limited to 5,000 pieces |
| Oris Star Edition | 35mm stainless steel case, brushed silver dial, Oris calibre 733, 50m water resistance, black leather strap, £1,750 |
| Favre Leuba Harpoon Revival | 36.8mm stainless steel case, grey dial, Favre Leuba calibre FLD04, 50m water resistance, black alligator-embossed leather strap, £1,800 |
| Orient Star M34 F8 Date Meteorite 75th Anniversary Limited Edition | 40mm stainless steel case, grey meteorite dial, calibre F8N64, 100m water resistance, steel bracelet, £2,824.99, limited to 255 pieces |
| Tudor Monarch | 39mm stainless steel case, dark champagne dial, calibre MT5662-2U, 100m water resistance, steel bracelet, £4,600 |
| Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 | 41mm Oystersteel and yellow gold case, slate dial, screw-down crown, reference 134303 |
Orient Star’s 75th anniversary sits somewhere between Japanese value watchmaking and higher-end finishing, which has long made the line an interesting proposition.
The M34 F8 Date Meteorite 75th Anniversary Limited Edition feels notably focused, using a grey meteorite dial, stainless steel bracelet and the F8N64 movement with date and power reserve display.
Limited to just 255 pieces and priced at £2,824.99, it is one of the more collector-oriented anniversary watches of the group.
Taken together, these 2026 anniversaries show how varied watch heritage can be when brands resist treating history as decoration.
The strongest pieces here aren’t merely birthday watches; they connect a current release to a technical idea, a design moment or an institutional story that still has something to say on the wrist today.
