Introducing: The MONTA Neuchâtel · X Edition Skyquest & Triumph
MONTA is marking its tenth year with two limited editions, the Skyquest Neuchâtel · X and the Triumph Neuchâtel · X, limited to 100 individually numbered pieces each. Both debut in person at the WindUp Watch Fair in New York on Friday, October 16, and go on sale online the same day.
Ten Years of MONTA Began in Neuchâtel
Every MONTA watch for the past ten years has been developed in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, a lakeside city in the Jura Mountains where many watch brands are still based. Much of that work happened at a table in the bar of the Beau Rivage, a hotel on Lake Neuchâtel where the three people behind MONTA have spent a decade working through sketches and ideas. The original Triumph was conceived there, and nearly every MONTA since traces back to it.
The Neuchâtel · X editions draw on the same source as the rest of the collection, mid-century tool watch design. Both use a painted Opalin dial and a beige-toned Super-LumiNova, and the Skyquest adds a one-off logo and printed dial typography that appear on no other MONTA.
MONTA Skyquest Neuchâtel · X
The Skyquest Neuchâtel · X starts from a question about what MONTA would have designed for jet-age travelers sixty years ago. The answer is a GMT, which tracks a second time zone, finished with a painted dial over a warm Opalin background used only on this edition. The dial layout is new, with printed markings styled after vintage tool watches and a logo and typography that appear on no other MONTA. It also gets an exclusive hand set and a beige-toned Super-LumiNova that was created specifically for this release.
The 316L stainless steel case measures 40.7 mm across, 11.8 mm thick, and 47.4 mm lug to lug, with 20 mm lugs, a screw-down crown with guards, and a sapphire caseback. It is rated to 300 meters of water resistance. Inside is the MONTA Caliber M-23, a self-winding movement with a 56-hour power reserve, manufactured, assembled, and tested in Switzerland. A flat, beveled sapphire crystal with seven layers of anti-reflective coating sits on top, and the steel bracelet uses MONTA's quick-adjust clasp with two half-links for the perfect fit. The limited-to-100 Skyquest Neuchâtel · X is priced at $2,485.
MONTA Triumph Neuchâtel · X
MONTA's first watch was the Oceanking dive watch, but the Triumph is the one the brand credits with keeping it in business. In May 2017, after a difficult Baselworld, MONTA's founders chose to sell online only and stake the brand's future on a field watch that was still a prototype. Triumph preorders opened that June, and around the launch MONTA attended its first WindUp Watch Fair in New York.
Since the second-generation Triumph launched in 2025, it has built a following faster than any watch in MONTA's history. The Neuchâtel · X edition takes it back toward the 1960s tool watches that first shaped MONTA's design. Its painted dial is finished over an Opalin silver background unique to this edition. Black lacquer indices are painted on in place of applied markers, and glossy wet-black painted hands, also exclusive to this watch, sit over the same beige-toned Super-LumiNova used on the Skyquest.
The 316L stainless steel case measures 40 mm across, 10.5 mm thick, and 47.8 mm lug to lug, with 20 mm lugs, a screw-down crown with protective guards, and a sapphire caseback set in an engraved steel ring. It is rated to 200 meters of water resistance. The movement is the MONTA Caliber M-22, a Swiss-made automatic based on the Sellita SW300, with a 56-hour power reserve, visible through the caseback. A flat, beveled sapphire crystal covers the dial. The steel bracelet has a quick-adjust clasp with three micro-adjustment settings and two half-links. The limited-to-100 Triumph Neuchâtel · X is priced at $1,895.
How to Buy the Neuchâtel · X Editions
Both watches make their first public appearance at the WindUp Watch Fair, which MONTA has attended since its early years, held October 16 to 18 at Center415, 415 Fifth Avenue, New York. They go on sale at the MONTA booth and online on Friday, October 16, the show's opening day. Each edition is limited to 100 individually numbered pieces.