The new era of watchmaking: uncompromising, refined and back to the core

That’s where the technical marvels of Watches & Wonders 2025 come in: at the heart of elegant, functional designs, rather than creating extraordinary, and sometimes, unusual, tanks. That’s how Rolex quietly offers its customers the most technologically advanced movement in its entire history, Calibre 7135, housed in a design that traces its roots back five decades. The king of Swiss watchmaking, Patek Philippe, has taken its latest innovation, the 8 Days 31-505 8J PS IRM CI J movement, with eight days of power reserve and an instantaneous day-date indicator, developed through its Advanced Research programme, and placed it inside the refined Calatrava 5328G.

After years spent competing to captivate the public through mechanical bravado, seen most clearly in the ultra-thin rivalry between Bvlgari, Richard Mille and Piaget, it appears the industry has reached a threshold. Rather than chase records to the point of breaking with the founding tenets of fine watchmaking—that a timepiece should, above all, be wearable—brands have pivoted back to the realm of aesthetics. Or, as Rémi Jomard, creative director of Piaget, shared with Tatler Vietnam: “The market is starting to shift towards looking for design statements. And I believe that in the next few years, it will all revolve around that.”

Throughout interviews with the heads of venerable watch maisons, published following WWG 2023 and 2024, one question came up repeatedly: “How can brands survive and flourish amid the shifting demands of younger buyers and the relentless technical arms race?” The most common answer echoes the sentiment heard in boutiques the world over, whether one is purchasing watches, couture, or jewellery: return to the brand’s essence, to its heritage, and to values worth passing on.

At Watches & Wonders 2025, those words were brought to life through the pieces introduced before, during and after the fair. A succession of launches saw each brand present designs unmistakably their own, watches that instantly revealed their origin and, often, the nature of the wearer. Gone are the cryptic, hyper-complex creations; in their place are bolder declarations of personal style worn on the wrist.

There’s a distinct return to the spirit of the early and mid-20th century in current watch design, most evidently in scale. Though hinted at in previous seasons, 2025 makes the shift unmistakable: timepieces are growing smaller, moving away from the oversized trend of the 2020s. Patek Philippe introduced what Benjamin Clymer of Hodinkee described as “the greatest Calatrava of this era”—the 6196P, a 38mm watch with a salmon dial and platinum case. A. Lange & Söhne took things even further with a 34mm version of the 1815, edging closer than ever to the proportions of the classic dress watch. Some may frame it as a “unisex” size; others might see it as a homage to a golden age when wristwatches were understated, discreet, and effortlessly elegant.

That same spirit is also revived in the reimagining of archival designs. Piaget’s Sixties collection channels the joie de vivre of 1969. Chanel and Van Cleef & Arpels have brought back the secret watch in the form of jewellery timepieces echoing the 1920s. Cartier made a striking impression with the Tank à Guichets, inspired by its 1928 iteration. And Rolex’s Land-Dweller, despite housing the brand’s latest and most advanced movement, draws a clear line of descent from the Oyster Quartz of 1975.

Another clear sign of the revival of the 1970s aesthetic is the return of coloured stone tones appearing across dials and in intricate decorative inlay work. A technique long associated with Piaget, and one that shaped the visual language of an entire era, coloured stone dials are making a comeback. They feature not only in Piaget’s two spotlighted collections of 2025, the Sixties and Andy Warhol, but also appear in H. Moser & Cie.’s exuberant Pop line, the Zenith GFJ Calibre 135 with its Lapis Lazuli centrepiece, and Rolex’s GMT Master II, distinguished by a tiger iron dial.

What continues to captivate me about the world of luxury watches is the idea of the individual’s watch. Once standard practice a century ago, when pieces were made to order and meticulously recorded in brand archives, this bespoke experience became something of a rarefied luxury in modern decades. Just as fashion still celebrates the made-to-measure suit, a timepiece takes on a new level of refinement when it reflects the wearer’s own sensibility, speaking volumes before a word is said.

In response to the question of how to engage younger audiences, many maisons have embraced a strategy watch writers around the globe see as highly effective: expanding personalisation within their collections. Allowing clients to shape a watch to their own tastes brings a fresh energy to legacy designs. As Ariel Adams from aBlogtoWatch points out, this makes perfect sense in tandem with the resurgence of archival pieces, giving today’s collectors the chance to own a completely reimagined classic. After all, the most revered models in horological history are often vintage, and simply “too fragile, too rare, or too valuable to wear daily.”

Read more: Planet Ocean’s first Worldtimer: A new Omega milestone for ocean players

In the past, customisation was largely the domain of high-end clients, reserved for High Jewellery editions, where gem colours might be altered, or for entirely unique commissions like those created by Vacheron Constantin in collaboration with the Louvre. Today, however, the landscape is shifting. At Watchland, Franck Muller’s headquarters, the brand unveiled a project allowing collectors to commission their own watches, uniting mechanical prowess with personal design vision. Known as the “Master of Complications”, the house now offers an experience that balances technical mastery with individual expression.

Piaget, too, has stepped into this realm. Its Andy Warhol design has been removed from the limited-edition roster, opening the door to a bespoke programme. Clients can now select from ten natural stone dials, combine them with various bezel, case, and hand configurations, and ultimately create thousands of permutations, each one built on a legendary silhouette.

Other brands that haven’t gone down the direct customisation route have broadened their offerings by focusing on a smaller number of core designs, then presenting those designs in multiple variations. IWC’s new Ingenieur, for instance, comes in black ceramic, solid gold or steel with a perpetual calendar. Nomos offers eight colourways across two different price tiers for its Club Sport Worldtimer. A similar approach can be seen at Tag Heuer, with the new Formula 1 Solargraph, and Oris, with its Big Crown Pointer Date. It’s a sensible move for major players navigating a period of global uncertainty—but at the same time, it’s a chance to bring individuality back to the wrist, in a way that feels quietly personal.

Naturally, when discussing the major moments of early 2025 in the world of horology, one must also mention January’s LVMH Watch Week, along with two exhibitions that ran almost in tandem with WWG 2025: Time to Watches and AHCI Geneva, the latter held by the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants. These platforms offered a glimpse of intriguing design directions such as the continued exploration of sustainable materials, the return of blue, and the growing preference for rose gold over yellow. While these signals may be subtle, together they reinforce a strong impression: that a new era is imminent. One where design language takes the lead, and technical feats return to their rightful place—not as centre-stage spectacles, but as enhancements that elevate the user experience.

Perhaps the only exception is the realm of independent watchmakers and microbrands—an arena that, despite economic headwinds, continues to welcome a wave of new names and unconventional minds. Here, the rules are different. Growth does not follow a script, and clichés have no place. But that’s a subject best explored on its own terms, and in a space where creativity answers to no tradition.

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