Prestex Returns to the Toronto Timepiece Show With Its Biggest Line Up Yet
Prestex returns to the Toronto Timepiece Show on 26 and 27 September 2026 with our biggest line up yet, bringing together a broader selection of Prestex watches and, for the first time at the show, the new Marcato Jumping Hour collection.
There are few better ways to experience a mechanical watch than seeing it in person, handling it and putting it on the wrist. That is why we are delighted to be returning to the Toronto Timepiece Show at the Meridian Arts Center this September. Following our previous appearances in Toronto, we will be back for 2026 with more to share than ever before, presenting a comprehensive selection from the Prestex collection alongside one of the most significant new watches we have introduced in recent years.
At the centre of our 2026 presentation will be the Prestex Marcato Jumping Hour. Toronto will give visitors the opportunity to discover the new Marcato collection in person, compare its four distinctive dial options and explore a range of strap combinations. The watches will also be available to order at the show, creating an opportunity for collectors to spend time with each version before deciding which Marcato is right for them.
DISCOVER THE MARCATO COLLECTION
Returning to Toronto
The Toronto Timepiece Show has established itself as an important meeting place for watch enthusiasts, collectors and brands, providing the opportunity to discover watches in an environment centred around a shared enthusiasm for horology. For an independent watch company such as Prestex, events of this kind are particularly valuable because they allow us to meet the people who wear our watches, discuss the thinking behind our collections and hear directly from collectors about what draws them to particular designs.
Our return in 2026 therefore feels particularly significant. Prestex has continued to evolve since our previous Toronto appearances, with new watches, new ideas and an increasingly diverse collection. This September we will be bringing our largest Prestex line up ever presented at the Toronto Timepiece Show, allowing visitors to explore a much broader representation of the brand and see how the different collections sit alongside one another.
That opportunity to experience watches physically remains an important part of watch collecting. Photography can communicate the shape of a case or the colour of a dial, and specifications can explain dimensions and movements, but neither completely conveys how a watch feels on the wrist. Subtle details in finishing, proportion, texture and light become far more apparent when a watch is actually in your hands. With Marcato in particular, that difference is considerable.
The Marcato Jumping Hour Arrives in Toronto
The Marcato represents a distinctly different direction for Prestex. Rather than relying on a conventional arrangement of hour and minute hands, the watch separates the two indications and gives each a clearly defined role. The current hour is presented through a prominent aperture positioned at 9 o'clock, while a single central hand travels around the dial to indicate the minutes. The result is immediately recognisable as something different, yet the display itself remains intuitive and remarkably easy to read.
The defining moment comes at the completion of every hour. Instead of an hour hand gradually progressing towards the next marker, the numeral within the Marcato aperture remains fixed until the minute hand completes its journey. At that moment, the mechanism acts and the hour changes instantaneously. It is a brief piece of mechanical theatre that occurs only once every sixty minutes, but it fundamentally changes the personality of the watch and the way in which the passing of time is experienced.
This is one of the reasons we are particularly excited to bring Marcato to Toronto. The watch has been photographed extensively and its design can be appreciated online, but a jumping hour complication becomes much more engaging when experienced in person. Visitors will be able to handle the watches, examine the different dial finishes, try the 39mm cushion case on the wrist and, with the right timing, witness the instantaneous hour change for themselves.
Neil Duckworth and the Story Behind Marcato
For Prestex founder Neil Duckworth, the Marcato is the result of a longstanding fascination with an unusual form of mechanical timekeeping. During a career spent within the international watch industry, the jumping hour remained one of those complications that continued to capture his attention. Its appeal comes partly from the contrast between apparent simplicity and the mechanical work taking place beneath the dial. The display is wonderfully straightforward, but achieving that instantaneous transition requires a very different approach from a conventional three hand watch.
When the idea of creating a Prestex jumping hour began to develop, the objective was never simply to reproduce an historic design. Jumping hour watches have appeared in many different forms throughout watchmaking history, and Neil wanted the Prestex interpretation to possess a character of its own. It needed to respect the ingenuity of the complication while remaining practical to wear, straightforward to read and visually recognisable as a contemporary Prestex.
That thinking ultimately shaped the Marcato. The jumping hour display became the central feature rather than an additional complication competing for attention, and the rest of the dial was developed around it. The result is a watch that appears deceptively simple at first glance but reveals considerably more detail when examined closely. It combines a traditional mechanical idea with a layout and personality that feel unmistakably individual.
A Different Way of Reading Time
One of Marcato's most distinctive design decisions is the placement of the jumping hour aperture at 9 o'clock. Rather than following the more familiar approach of positioning such a display at 12 o'clock, the Prestex arrangement places the hour prominently on the left side of the dial. There is both a practical and visual logic behind the decision. When reading a time such as 7:25, we naturally identify the hour before the minutes, and Marcato reflects that sequence directly: the eye first encounters the hour numeral before moving across the dial to read the central minute indication.
The position also creates a distinctive balance across the watch. The aperture provides visual weight on the left of the dial, while the large, characterful crown balances the composition on the right. Meanwhile, the central minute hand is given the freedom to travel clearly around the dial without the design becoming unnecessarily complicated. It is an unconventional arrangement, but one that quickly becomes natural once the watch is worn.
That balance between individuality and usability was important throughout the development of Marcato. A mechanical complication should provide interest, but it should not make the fundamental purpose of the watch more difficult. Marcato was therefore designed so that its unusual method of displaying time becomes part of its appeal rather than an obstacle to everyday wear.
The Meaning Behind the Marcato Name
The name Marcato comes from an Italian musical instruction meaning marked or emphasised. In musical notation, a note marked marcato is deliberately given greater emphasis than those around it. Neil saw a natural parallel between that idea and the behaviour of a jumping hour mechanism. For almost the entire hour, the display remains calm and unchanged while the minute hand continues its journey. Then, at one precise moment, the mechanism acts and the next hour appears instantaneously.
It is that brief moment of emphasis that gives the watch its name. Rather than continuously announcing its mechanical complexity, Marcato reserves its defining action for a single instant every sixty minutes. The experience is subtle, but it encourages a different relationship with the watch. There is an undeniable temptation to glance at the dial as the minute hand approaches the hour simply to catch the mechanism in action.
Four Distinctive Interpretations of Marcato
The Marcato collection has been developed with four distinctive dial options, allowing the same mechanical architecture to take on very different personalities. Bringing the complete collection to Toronto will give visitors the opportunity to place the watches alongside one another and appreciate differences that can be difficult to communicate fully through photography.
The Sky Blue Marcato brings a vivid contemporary character to the collection, with its textured centre interacting dramatically with changing light. The Silver Marcato is more restrained, allowing the intricate pattern and monochromatic tones to emphasise the architecture of the jumping hour display. Rose introduces warmth and contrast, pairing its richer central dial with the cool tones of the stainless steel case, while the Mother of Pearl Marcato offers a naturally changing surface whose colour and character shift according to the surrounding light and viewing angle.
Each version is recognisably Marcato, but the experience of wearing them can be remarkably different. Strap choice adds another dimension, with a range of options allowing the character of the watch to move from traditional to more contemporary combinations. Toronto will provide an ideal opportunity to compare those possibilities properly rather than making a decision from individual images alone.
EXPLORE THE FOUR MARCATO WATCHES
Mechanical Watchmaking at the Heart of Marcato
Behind Marcato's clean display is the mechanical architecture required to produce its instantaneous hour change. The watch combines a Sellita SW300 automatic movement with the Prestex JP1 jumping hour module, creating the mechanism responsible for the complication that defines the collection. The Sellita movement provides the proven automatic foundation, while the additional module controls the hour indication and its instantaneous transition.
The movement is housed within a 39mm stainless steel cushion case, a size chosen to provide presence and character while remaining comfortable for everyday wear. A combination of polished and brushed surfaces gives definition to the shape of the case, while the prominent crown reinforces Marcato's distinctive profile. Sapphire crystal protects the dial and an exhibition case back provides a view of the mechanical movement within, ensuring that the engineering remains part of the experience even when the watch is off the wrist.
The result reflects an important part of the Prestex approach to watchmaking. Mechanical interest does not need to come at the expense of wearability, nor does an unusual complication require an unnecessarily complicated design. Marcato brings those elements together in a watch intended to be enjoyed as much for its proportions and everyday character as for the mechanism operating beneath its dial.
Our Biggest Ever Prestex Line Up in Toronto
While Marcato will understandably attract considerable attention, our 2026 appearance is about much more than one collection. Prestex will return with the broadest selection of our watches we have ever taken to Toronto, giving visitors the opportunity to explore the different sides of the modern brand in one place. It is a chance to see established favourites alongside more recent additions and understand how the Prestex collection has continued to develop.
Across the wider range, collectors will be able to discover different interpretations of mechanical watchmaking, from automatic watches and GMT models through to chronographs and now the jumping hour complication represented by Marcato. Although the individual collections have deliberately different personalities, they share a common emphasis on considered proportions, mechanical movements and designs intended to remain interesting long after the initial impression.
For collectors who have visited Prestex during previous Toronto Timepiece Shows, the expanded presentation will offer an opportunity to see how far the collection has developed. For those encountering Prestex for the first time, it will provide a much more complete introduction to the brand, its history and the direction in which it continues to evolve.
EXPLORE THE FULL PRESTEX COLLECTION
Why Seeing Marcato in Person Matters
There are certain watches for which the physical experience is particularly important, and Marcato is one of them. Its 39mm cushion case needs to be seen on the wrist to appreciate its proportions, while the different central dial treatments reveal considerably more depth and texture as they move through changing light. Even the hour aperture has a greater sense of dimension in person than a flat photograph can reproduce.
Visitors in Toronto will therefore be able to spend time with the collection rather than simply viewing it behind glass. All four dial options can be compared, different strap combinations explored and the case tried on the wrist. Most importantly, collectors who decide Marcato is the watch for them will be able to place an order at the show.
There is also the possibility of experiencing the detail that photographs cannot capture at all: the instantaneous change of the jumping hour. As the central minute hand completes its journey, the mechanism releases and the numeral in the aperture changes to the next hour. It lasts only an instant, but it is the moment around which the entire Marcato concept was created.
The Prestex Story Continues
Prestex has a history stretching back to 1924, but the modern story of the company is not about simply reproducing watches from another era. Under Neil Duckworth, the objective has been to respect that heritage while continuing to introduce watches that have their own reason to exist. The past provides context and inspiration, while decades of experience within the international watch industry help shape what comes next.
Marcato represents an important continuation of that philosophy. The jumping hour itself belongs to a long tradition of inventive mechanical watchmaking, but the Prestex interpretation approaches it with its own proportions, dial architecture and visual identity. It demonstrates how an established mechanical concept can be reconsidered without losing the qualities that made the complication fascinating in the first place.
Returning to Toronto with Marcato alongside our largest ever line up therefore feels particularly appropriate. It provides an opportunity not simply to introduce another watch, but to show the continuing development of Prestex and to share that progress directly with the collectors and enthusiasts who have supported independent watchmaking.
Join Prestex at the Toronto Timepiece Show 2026
The Toronto Timepiece Show takes place at the Meridian Arts Center on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026. Prestex will return with our biggest Toronto line up yet, including a comprehensive selection from the wider collection and all four versions of the new Marcato Jumping Hour.
Whether you already own a Prestex, have met us during a previous Toronto appearance, have been following the development of Marcato or are discovering the brand for the first time, we look forward to welcoming you. It will be an opportunity to talk watches, explore the collection at your own pace and experience the new Marcato exactly as it was intended: in your hands and on your wrist.
We look forward to seeing you in Toronto.
