The Timeline: News from Baltic, Longines & Tudor

From one of the year's most unexpected collaborations between two French upstarts to a colourful tribute to the Commonwealth Games and Tudor's continued investment in Formula 1. This week's Timeline moves between jumping hours, colour explosions and carbon fibre cases – with three pieces of news that show how varied modern watch design can be in 2026.

Baltic x SpaceOne

When Paris-based Baltic meets futuristic SpaceOne the result ought to be almost scattered. Instead the friendship between the brands has resulted in one of the year's most interesting indie projects: the Baltic x SpaceOne Seconde Majeure Jumping Hour.

The watch combines Baltic's more classic design language with SpaceOne's science fiction aesthetic and the watchmaker Théo Auffret's technical know-how. The result is a 38.5 mm model in 904L steel with curved lugs, a concave bezel and the crown positioned at 12 o'clock – a detail that immediately signals that this is not yet another traditional three-hander.

The big talking point is however the display. The hours are shown through a jumping hour window at 12 o'clock while minutes and seconds are presented via separate sapphire discs and asymmetric indicators. The construction is built on a proprietary module developed by Théo Auffret and gives clear vibes of exclusive independent watchmakers, but at considerably lower price levels.

Two versions are offered. One with a brushed finish and the other with a handmade charbonné treatment where each example gets a unique pattern. Inside works the automatic Soprod P024 with 42 hours of power reserve.

The price starts at around 2 500 euro and goes up to 3 500 euro for the more advanced finish. Pre-ordering takes place only between 12 and 17 May, which makes the production limited to the number of orders during the period.

Longines gives the HydroConquest Commonwealth Games 2026

Sport and timekeeping have long been closely linked with Longines, and ahead of Glasgow's Commonwealth Games in 2026 a limited version of the HydroConquest is now presented.

The new piece is built on the latest generation HydroConquest and comes in both 39 mm and 42 mm. The steel case still offers 300 metres of water resistance, a ceramic bezel and a screwed crown, but with updated ergonomics.

What stands out is the colour scheme. The dial goes from turquoise to black in a gradient while details in purple and pink draw inspiration from Glasgow 2026's official colour palette. That makes the model considerably more playful than traditional diver's watches.

On the back there is the Commonwealth Games logo engraved together with the marking ”One of 2026”. Each size is namely produced in exactly 2 026 examples.

The movement is Longines' calibre L888.5 with a silicon hairspring and 72 hours of power reserve, a well-proven movement that places the model in the more technically strong part of the segment around 2 300 euro.

Tudor Bay Chrono Carbon 26

Since the collaboration with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls began, Tudor has clearly moved closer to motorsport. After last year's Carbon 25 comes now the Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26, still built around the same concept but with updated colours from the F1 team's new car.
The 42 mm case is made in carbon fibre while the crown, pushers and case back are made in black PVD-treated titanium. The combination gives a lighter but still robust chronograph with 200 metres of water resistance.
This year's big change is visible on the dial. The blue details from the previous version are replaced by yellow markings inspired by the team's VCARB 03 car. The base is still white with sub-registers in carbon fibre, which reinforces the racing expression.
Under the hood sits the calibre MT5813 – Tudor's chronograph movement based on the architecture from Breitling's B01. The movement is COSC-certified, has a column wheel, a silicon hairspring and around 70 hours of power reserve. The Black Bay Chrono Carbon 26 is produced in 2 026 examples and costs around 7 980 euro. A clear signal that Tudor continues to see Formula 1 as more than a temporary collaboration.