A good watch might be timeless, but that doesn’t mean the art of timekeeping isn’t subject to trends. While watch trends—fortunately—stick around longer than their ready-to-wear counterparts, there’s a definite shift in tastes year on year. Last year saw a continuation of the small watch trend that emerged in 2023, with a horde of watch enthusiasts seeking to ‘Make Small Watches Great Again’, resulting in a renewed interest in vintage watches while the likes of Cartier, Audemars Piguet, and Longines responded to the burgeoning market by releasing timepieces with teeny tiny case sizes. Elsewhere, microbrands like Furlan Marri, Baltic, Lorier, and Farer have capitalised on the high demand and low supply of vintage watches from key time periods—whether it be the Art Deco or mid-century movements—by creating their own takes, with timepieces that draw from the archival design language of heritage Swiss manufactures while being suffused with their own idiosyncratic style.
This year, the small watch trend hasn’t died down, but it’s spawned another size-driven trend. No, not mid-size, but simply…large. Odd and asymmetrical case shapes (Salvador Dali, who?) will continue to enjoy time on the wrist, but they’ll also be joined by weird and wonderful movements that prove time doesn’t just go in circles — it jumps and rotates too.
Herewith, the top watch trends to, well, watch in 2025.
1. Weird shit to make you feel shit
In the world of watches, it’s never been enough to simply tell the time — one’s watch needs to make you feel something. While the eternal elegance of circular watches will always prevail, the trend towards design-led watch case shapes that emerged last year will continue into this year. Naturally, Cartier has been seminal in inspiring and leading the charge here, however nascent watch brands are going beyond styling their timepieces after the maison’s rectilinear styles—like the Tank and Santos—and instead looking to tap into the allure of the infamous Crash as well as lesser known pieces like the Cloche de Cartier and Bamboo Coussin.
When it comes to avant-garde watch case shapes, independent watchmakers like Vianney Halter and Maximilian Büsser of MB&F have long been pushing the boundaries of what a wristwatch can—and should—look like. However, designs like the Vianney Halter Antiqua and MB&F Horological Machines sit at the upper end of the stratum in both price and scarcity. Joining them is the Berneron Mirage, an asymmetrical watch notable for being shaped around a bespoke asymmetrical movement (most asymmetrical watches are fashioned around conventionally round symmetrical movements). On the more accessible side of things, microbrand Toledano & Chan’s B/1 takes inspiration from Brutalist architecture, as well as the Rolex King Midas and the original 1970s Piaget Polo. There’s also the Anoma A1, an asymmetrical triangular timepiece inspired by a table designed by French architect Charlotte Perriand. Here, these design-led pieces signal a shift away from conformity to traditional metrics of wristwatch acquisition success (like scarce stainless steel sports watches) and place an emphasis on singular taste and self-expression.
2. Atypical movements
The trend towards weirdness in watchmaking isn’t limited to case shapes; it extends to the movements themselves. Luxury watch brands, microbrands, and independent watchmakers alike are proving time—or at least, time-keeping—needn’t be linear, with watches that display the time in an avant-garde way. This appears in both wacky complications and watches that simply display the time in an unusual way.
On the complication side of things, Ludovic Ballouard was an early pioneer of displaying the time in an avant-garde way with his Upside Down collection. Today, similar mechanical complexity can be seen in timepieces like the De Bethune Kind of Two Grande Complication which houses two of the independent manufacture’s most technically complex complications in one double-sided watch (by way of a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso style flipping layout) and the Louis Vuitton Tambour Taiko Spin Time which sees an embellished cube spin around to represent the current hour.
In terms of unexpected displays, the Louis Vuitton Tambour Convergence opts for a closed dial layout with an aperture at 12 o’clock to display the dragging hours and minutes, while Ressence takes a wholly contemporary approach with its minimalist displays and fluid off-centre hour subdial that ensures the hour and minute hands never meet.
3. Dichotomous case sizes
Watch pundits are often trying to argue the merits of small watches versus big watches, with the commonly recommended resolution often being to meet in the middle with mid-sized watches. While this Goldilocks solution may seem an apt one, the fact of the matter is that the alleged ‘sweet spot’ of 36 to 38mm is often too large for those who gravitate towards 23mm Cartier Panthères and too small for those preferring to sport 44mm Panerai Luminors.
With that in mind, the small watch trend is here to stay. But, it’ll be joined by the big watch trend. Expect to see more watch brands shrinking down their key pieces—look to the Cartier Mini Tank, Tissot PRX 25mm, and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Mini—and others offering unabashedly big and bold cases that aren’t afraid to make their presence on the wrist known; look to the 45.5mm Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Worldtimer and 45mm Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech BOC IV.
In response to a desire for watches big and small, we also expect to see more watch brands offer the same model in a range of case sizes, akin to the way fashion brands operate. Chopard has been doing this well with its Alpine Eagle line which ranges in size from 33 to 44mm, as does Tudor with its Black Bay, which spans from 31 to 41mm. Notably, both of these brands use automatic movements for even the smallest case sizes.
4. Joseph and the technicolour watch
The dial colour spectrum has long gone beyond sedate dark blues and greens and almost-a-neutral salmon. It’s not just historically adventurous manufactures—like Hublot and Richard Mille—bathing the dial of sportier styles in rainbow tones; H. Moser & Cie. delivers elegant excellence through its dress watches with fumé (gradient) dials in shades of purple, funky blue, and dark pink, while Cartier continues to introduce new shades into its Santos-Dumont and Tank Must lines. A new crop of neutrals is also slowly but surely emerging, with Lunar New Year releases like the IWC Portofino Automatic Moon Phase Year of The Snake and Raymond Weil Millesime Infinite Burgundy proving the burgundy trend extends beyond the sartorial realm and acts as something of a versatile neutral on the dial.
Colour is also seeping off the dial and onto cases, thanks to advances in material innovation. Ceramic is the most common canvas for colour, seen in offerings like the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Chronograph Ceramic, IWC Colours of Top Gun, and the Girard-Perregaux x Aston Martin Ceramic Laureato. However, there’s also composite materials like quartz and glass fibre which are able to absorb colour (Hublot’s SAXEM and Franck Muller’s Vanguard Beach spring to mind), while De Bethune uses heat to achieve the very blue effect on the titanium case of its Kind Of Blue timepiece.
5. Novel inspiration
Tying into the trend towards odd-shaped watch cases that think outside the circle, watch designers are drawing from beyond the horological realm. Architecture is a major source of inspiration, with designs like the Audemars Piguet [RE]Master 02, Toledano & Chan’s B/1, and Girard-Perregaux Casquette 2.0 inspired by Brutalist architecture. It’s not just architecture though, with the natural world providing inspiration too — take the Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin, the distinctive case of which is inspired by the spikes of a sea urchin.
6. Two hands, please
Sitting in contrast to the weird and wonderful movements and odd case shapes, we can expect to see pared-back timepieces that tell the time and only the time (with nary a date window in sight). Timepieces like the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Manual-Winding, H. Moser & Cie., Cartier Tank Must, and Chopard L.U.C. XPS are notable for what they don’t include.
7. Watches or jewellery? Both of course
Women have long enjoyed the unity of watches and jewellery on the wrist, disregarding common counsel not to wear bracelets next to watches and stacking with abandon. Now, we expect to see more timepieces that coalesce horological and jewellery design codes, a trend which started with the launch of the solid gold Cartier Baignoire bangle watch at Watches & Wonders in 2023.
While high jewellery watches by the likes of Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels have long been fixtures in the horological world, we can expect to see more manufactures embracing jewellery codes in ‘daily wear’ pieces. Timepieces like the Van Cleef & Arpels Cadenas, Chanel Première, Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori and Tubogas, and Hermès Kelly Watch seamlessly showcase this fusion. Traditionally, these pieces have been fitted with quartz movements, however the release of the delightfully tiny Bulgari BVS100 Solotempo calibre—which is set to be shared amongst the LVMH stable of watch brands—earlier this year signals good things to come; ideally more dainty jewellery watches with automatic movements.
8. Beyond the wrist
We often equate watches to wristwatches. However, although the watchmaking industry originates in the 16th century, the first wristwatch was created in the early 19th century (in 1810 by Abraham Louis-Breguet in response to a commission from Caroline Bonaparte, the Queen of Naples). With more women becoming interested in watches, we can expect to see sartorial and jewellery-inspired codes influence the way watches are worn.
The Chanel Première Sound fuses a watch necklace with headphones, while the Hamilton American Classic Lady Hamilton Necklace is a hybrid timepiece that can be worn as a necklace or a bracelet watch. Early adopters in this space are Rihanna, who added some horological bling to her ankle with a $400,000USD watch from Jacob & Co. on a day out (she’s also worn one of the divisive luxury brand’s watches around her neck), and Emma Chamberlain, who styled the ever-popular Cartier Baignoire as a choker.
9. Physical community and connection
When it comes to watches and wonders, sometimes the real wonders are the friends we make along the way. Sappy remarks aside, brands are increasingly recognising the importance of creating spaces where their most loyal customers and enthusiasts can convene and connect. Audemars Piguet has embraced this notion with AP House, a series of exclusive luxury lounge concepts around the world that take a residential style approach to interior design and offer an eminently more intimate experience than a traditional retail concept. Vacheron Constantin has done something similar with its Club 1755—the name a nod to its founding year—a private members’ club in Mayfair, London.
Echoing this shift towards intimate brand experiences is the shift in retail concept design. Vacheron Constantin’s boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne both feature dedicated spaces for entertaining clients and hosting private events, as does Grand Seiko’s new Melbourne boutique. Here, these concepts decentre glass display cabinets and harsh overhead lighting, instead opting for a warm, layered lighting, plush furniture, and perhaps a cocktail or two, inviting customers to explore the brand’s heritage—and of course, its timepieces—in a relaxed setting.
Words by T. Angel
