The trend was definitely for minimalist, pared-down style at this year’s Baselworld watch and jewellery show.
While watch design has been big on bling for the last few years, the industry seems to have switched track in 2016 to focus on chic and understated designs.
From Chopard to Frédérique Constant, the big names presented their own breed of sophisticated, pared-down watches, featuring dials designed with simplicity in mind. The Jaquet Droz “Grande Seconde Décentrée Onyx” is an example, with off-centre subdials for hours/minutes and seconds, set against a deep, black onyx dial with no other detail.
Similarly, the Hermès “Slim Manufacture 39.5mm” has a minimalist dial with a small, discreet subdial counting seconds at six o’clock. Scroll through the gallery below to see more.
Meistersinger
Photo by MeisterSinger.
The “N°01” collection gets an additional model with a dark blue sunburst-effect dial, bringing a new shade to this watch line. It has a 43mm stainless steel case with a very slim bezel. The dial takes centre stage here, in a deep, midnight blue color with a sunburst-effect finish that changes shades subtly as it catches the light. Divided into 144 segments at five-minute marks, the dial is home to a single slim white hand. The manual-winding mechanical movement offers hours and minutes functions.
Omega
Photo by Omega.
Omega’s 2016 version of the “Globemaster” sports a sleek and understated design. This watch has a 41mm stainless steel case with a ridged tungsten carbide bezel, a “Pie Pan” dial with a beveled design, and a blue leather strap. The indices, hands, logo and inscriptions on the dial are also finished in blue. As well as showing hours, minutes, seconds and the date, this watch has an annual calendar function tracking the month of the year. It uses the Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer 8922 calibre.
Frédérique Constant
Photo by Frédérique Constant.
The Swiss watchmaker has developed a high-precision watch that packs multiple functions into a refined, minimalist design. The 42mm case comes in stainless steel or rose gold plated versions, with a refined dial in blue or silver, featuring baton indices that match the case. The watch is finished with an alligator leather strap in black, brown or blue. It uses the FC-775 self-winding caliber and has hours, minutes, moon phase, date, day, month and leap year functions.
Calvin Klein
Photo by Calvin Klein.
Last year saw Calvin Klein present a self-winding watch for the first time at the Basel event. The collection has been expanded this year with new shades of chocolate brown and PVD rose gold. This 2016 model is available in three versions: PVD rose gold with a leather strap, stainless steel with a leather strap, and stainless steel with PDV rose gold indices. The watch runs on the ETA 2824-2 self-winding movement, with hours, minutes and seconds functions, as well as a discreet date window at three o’clock.
Hermès
Photo by Hermès.
The “Slim d'Hermès” men’s watch line has some new shades this year, with, for example, a slate dial matched with an elephant gray alligator strap. The watch has a 39.5mm round case and uses the ultra-slim H1950 self-winding mechanical movement with hours and minutes functions, plus a seconds subdial at six o’clock.
Chopard
Photo by Chopard.
The “L.U.C XPS 1860” is a discreet, refined addition to Chopard’s range of extra-slim watches. It has a 40mm case, available in stainless steel or 18-karat rose gold. The dial features a hand-finished guilloché pattern in the central section, which comes in two motifs, depending on the version. The rose gold watch uses the 96.01-L caliber, whereas the steel version gets the 96.03-L, a self-winding mechanical movement with micro-rotor in 22-karat gold. It has hours and minutes functions with a seconds subdial and date window at six o’clock.
Jaquet Droz
Photo by Jaquet Droz.
With its sleek, simple and chic design, this watch sets a cut and polished onyx dial with a deep, black finish in a 43mm steel case. Indices are kept very discreet, marked directly on the two 18-karat gray gold rings that form the hours/minutes and seconds subdials. The two subdials are arranged to form the figure eight. This model has a self-winding mechanical movement, featuring hours and minutes functions in one off-centre subdial and seconds in another.