Donut Watch Company’s Jelly Donut: A Sweet Surprise for the Windup Watch Fair
A serious 35mm mechanical watch inspired by the classic jelly donut — delivered in its very own donut.
What happens when serious mechanical-watch enthusiasm meets an obsession with donuts? You get The Donut Watch Company, a watch brand built around an idea that is deliberately playful, creating a watch that is anything but a joke. The company makes mechanical watches inspired by one of the world's most important breakfast treats.
Who The Donut Watch Company Actually Is
Beneath the unapologetically playful personality are carefully developed watches designed with a genuine focus on construction, wearability, and detail. Its design combines fixed spring bars, a nylon dual-pass strap, a running seconds indicator positioned near five o'clock, ample lume, and a Japanese automatic movement, all housed in a 35mm stainless-steel case. While the watches have 50 meters of water resistance, they contain no nutritional value.
The brand was developed with support from MING, and several of the people behind Donut also work there, bringing experience in product development, manufacturing, quality control, and logistics. But Donut is its own brand with its own identity and plans. In the company's words, the Jelly is a genuine Donut watch, not a MING in a donut costume.
Tap the markers to reveal each layer of the dial.
The outer minute track is fully lumed, so the edge of the dial glows when the lights go out.
An inner fuchsia hour track wraps the center like a layer of glaze, carrying bold, legible numerals.
A jelly-colored central disc, the filling if you will, sits at the heart of the dial inside the fuchsia hour ring.
Generously lumed hands keep the watch readable around the clock, from morning coffee to midnight snack.
Set into the jelly disc near five o'clock, a small rotating wheel spins whenever the watch is running. If it moves, the donut is ticking. Easy.
The Jelly Edition
After spending more than two years developing their first edition, Donut is bringing their newest release to the NYC Windup Watch Fair by the dozen. Drawing inspiration from the classic jelly donut, this new edition features a central jelly colored disc which houses the rotating seconds display. Around this central disc, you'll find an inner fuchsia hour track and a full lume outer minute track.
Knowing that donuts can sometimes arrive squished, each Jelly comes with its very own pink plush "donut" travel case, shaped and colored like the real thing. Tucked inside alongside the watch is one small, pink avian executive named Snowball. The bird's exact role remains uncertain, though Snowball insists on approving everything the company does.
If found, return to Snowball immediately. They already know you have it.
Security Clearance: Unrestricted
Withheld
The Recipe
The Donut Watch Company Jelly
Fresh Out of the Oven
The Donut Watch Company is an experiment in taking the watch seriously without taking the usual watch-brand solemnity too seriously. This is the result: a carefully made mechanical watch with a distinctly unconventional personality and, apparently, one very influential bird. Releasing at the 2026 New York Windup Watch Fair, 50 fresh-baked watches will be available each day, with one final batch releasing on Monday the 19th at 10am EDT through the Windup Watch Shop. With a retail price of $649, it might just be the most expensive yet enjoyable donut you'll ever think about buying.
Like any good donut shop, there are only so many per day. Pick a day to see the tray.
The watches are serious. The company has other priorities.
Where It Lands
The combination of technical watchmaking and a refusal to take itself too seriously is central to the brand. The watches receive the attention and rigor you would expect from a properly developed mechanical timepiece, while the surrounding experience is considerably more chaotic. As the company puts it, the watches are serious; the company has other priorities.
50 Per Day at the Fair · Final Batch Monday the 19th
Get your Jelly while the tray is still full. Queue now for the Jelly Windup Watch Fair NYC · Oct 16–18 · Online Oct 19, 10am EDT · $649
