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MONTA Marks Ten Years With Neuchâtel X Skyquest and Triumph

Two individually numbered silver-dial editions give MONTA's GMT and field watch a common anniversary language.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 3 min read · 16 October 2026

• MONTA's tenth-anniversary Neuchâtel X release pairs a Skyquest GMT with a Triumph field watch, each limited to 100 individually numbered pieces.
• Both watches use painted silver Opalin dials and beige luminous details, while their cases and movements preserve their separate tool-watch roles.
• The Skyquest lists at A$3,646 and the Triumph at A$2,780 on MONTA's Australian storefront, with sales beginning on 16 October.

If you have followed MONTA for a while, its appeal has rarely depended on a wild new case shape. The pleasure has been in sensible proportions and the small points of contact, especially the bracelets. For its tenth year, the brand has made two watches that look back to the mid-century tool-watch vocabulary behind the collection while retaining the contemporary hardware. The Neuchâtel X editions of the Skyquest and Triumph were announced by MONTA on 15 October, a day before their planned Windup New York debut.

Skyquest Neuchâtel X: travel time in pale silver

The Skyquest is the travel watch of the pair, with a 24-hour bezel and a GMT hand for another time zone. Its painted Opalin dial takes a pale silver tone, while beige-coloured luminous material sits in the markers and hands. MONTA has given this edition its own printed typography and logo, along with an exclusive hand set. The effect is less like a new colour dropped into the regular Skyquest catalogue and more like a deliberate return to an older kind of instrument dial.

The 316L steel case measures 40.7 mm across, 11.8 mm thick and 47.4 mm from lug to lug. Those figures suggest a watch whose relatively slim profile has to be considered alongside its greater span across the wrist. A flat, bevelled sapphire crystal carries seven layers of anti-reflective coating, according to MONTA, and the sapphire caseback lets the movement be seen. Water resistance is 300 metres, a reassuring specification for a GMT that may spend as much time travelling as it does near water.

Inside, the automatic M-23 has a stated 56-hour power reserve. The steel bracelet has MONTA's quick-adjust clasp and two half-links, so there are several ways to improve the fit without changing the character of the watch. On this edition, that practical metal bracelet also stops the vintage-flavoured dial from feeling like costume. MONTA will number 100 Skyquest Neuchâtel X watches individually.

The Skyquest Neuchâtel X is listed at A$3,646 on MONTA's Australian storefront. It debuts at Windup New York on 16 October and goes on sale online the same day; the product page says shipping begins on 26 October.

Triumph Neuchâtel X: a smaller field-watch counterpoint

The Triumph takes the same silver Opalin background in a simpler direction. Black lacquer indices replace applied markers, and glossy black hands sit over the beige-toned luminous material. Where the Skyquest's bezel and additional hand give you several jobs to read at once, the Triumph is about clear hours and minutes. I prefer the more restrained face here: the paint has enough depth to make the dial interesting without asking a field watch to pretend it is a dress piece.

Its 316L steel case is 40 mm across, 10.5 mm high and 47.8 mm lug to lug, with a sapphire crystal and caseback. MONTA rates it to 200 metres. That is a thin case for the level of water resistance the brand claims, and the 20 mm lug width leaves sensible room for a different strap if the owner wants one. The supplied steel bracelet has a quick-adjust clasp, three micro-adjustment positions and two half-links.

The M-22 automatic is based on a Sellita SW300 and carries a 56-hour reserve. MONTA says the Triumph helped establish its direct online business after it began taking preorders in 2017, which explains why the anniversary version returns to this model rather than making both editions GMTs. It is a useful bit of brand history because the two watches represent different parts of the same catalogue: one asks you to track another city, while the other asks only to be worn.

The Triumph Neuchâtel X is listed at A$2,780 on MONTA's Australian storefront. Like the Skyquest, it debuts at Windup New York on 16 October, goes on sale online that day and is limited to 100 individually numbered pieces. The product page says shipping begins on 26 October.

Side by side, the Skyquest and Triumph also make a useful comparison in how much information a pale dial can carry. The Skyquest keeps a second time zone and a 24-hour ring in play, while the Triumph has room to let its painted indices breathe. Neither is simply a cheaper or more expensive version of the other, even though both share the anniversary palette and the bracelet-first character that makes MONTA recognisable.

The more persuasive anniversary gesture is the shared dial treatment, not a large numeral ten on the caseback. MONTA has used its birthday to make two existing designs feel related, and the practical differences between them remain easy to see.