Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, shows have been canceled or postponed until the coming year, so watchmakers have taken to other means of communication like social media to make their latest designs known. And thus, the latest collections of minimalist watches have made their debut online, with videos and photography replacing the chance to see and touch the products in person.
The watch firms are heavily inclined towards reworking classics with a streamlined minimalist approach, celebrating anniversaries with special limited editions that focus on making a few stylish items of very precious and detailed works of art that clients can buy through retail.
Today, the is the latest in . It gives the public a new wide-angle lens into their own health, and can be a key element in preventing chronic diseases. On the surface, the mini is a simple , but its true power comes in its vast array of sensors. This is a powerful which needs a dedicated blog post of it's own. However, in this post we focus on the design and style changes impacting more traditional watches.
The new women's and watches are more than timepieces: they eliminate the superfluous aspects of previous designs and focus on elevating the practical elements to their purest form. Thus achieving the basics of minimalism both in aesthetic and ergonometric values: to distill decorative items that serve no higher purpose and to rework practical aspects into highly decorative elements. They are undoubtedly a new type of watch-meets-jewelry hybrid, aimed at a very rich segment of the population and created with the highest quality materials in the market.
When it comes to men's minimal watch trends, they are mostly focused on displaying a contained and cool type of luxury, with a simplified design that flaunts its best qualities. It is a subdued look for the inexperienced observer and a feast for the ideas of the connoisseur.
All that being said, this new minimalism shares some qualities of the trend that reigned supreme during the 90s decade. It is not a design void of colors or elements, but a distilled form that elevates necessary items or parts of a mundane object into a luxurious new self that you can wear anytime. This new appreciation for the finer basic forms of watches and their tech transforms them into the next designer splurge to have, particularly in a time that looks at extravagant buying choices with a growing skeptical and judgemental eye.
1. Jewelry Watches
Minimalist watch styles managed to unite the ultimate precision watches with the most glamorous jewelry by adding a little sparkle in demure ways. Long gone are the huge, fully rhinestoned watches of yore. Designers are choosing subtle, elegant elements like mother-of-pearl dials and bezels with diamonds, adding a little shine to their creations in a manner that befits their brand. According to marketers, this is what customers are looking for the most in their acquisitions.
Going for an understated look might mean that women are not wearing bracelets as much, making this watch trend an ideal solution to include a luxurious element into a classic ensemble.
Elite Classic with diamonds by Zenith with a sunburst dial pattern, a bezel filled with diamonds and sleek, elegant hands.
Constellation Co-Axial Master Chronometer 39mm by Omega.
1832 watch by Longines.
Limelight Gala watch by Piaget with a case in 18k white gold set with 42 brilliant-cut diamonds, blue aventurine glass dial. Buckle set with 15 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Here are five recommendations for the best minimalist watches in this trend:
Seiko Women's Diamond Solar Japanese-Quartz Watch
Rado Women's Coupole Classic Quartz Watch
Rado DiaStar Original Swiss Automatic Watch
Bulova Men's Quartz Stainless Steel Dress Watch
Seiko Men's Crystal Solar Japanese-Quartz Watch
Bvlgari Automatic Purple Diamond
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2. Innovative Bands
One of the biggest trends we have observed is the introduction of different materials and shapes for wrist bands. In the case of Armani, the watch looks like it is a thin bracelet with a pasted clock on top while Bulgari turned its strap into a coiling snake. These innovative bands make the watches look dainty, an ideal design for feminine watches that accentuate the thinness of the wrist.
Some brands have interiorized the strap design into the face of the watch (Gucci), while using novel materials like nylon, satin, mixing steel and leather in a braid (Chanel), or going as far as reintroducing silicone and rubber.
With the arrival of specialized sports design, the silicone and rubber bands offer a new option to create an informal look focused on the technical aspect of the clock and the wearability of silicone, which guarantees a perfect fit. This is particularly important when considering the golf playing public towards which brands like Tag Heuer are aiming for its new collection.
G-Frame timepiece by Gucci with a mother of pearl dial and an interchangeable nylon band. The bee, a recurring House code is present on the dial as indexes.
Alhambra watch by Van Cleef & Arpels with white gold case, white mother-of-pearl dial, white gold crown, black satin bracelet, and pin buckle.
Premiere Rock Watch by Chanel with steel and pink leather band and white mother-of-pearl dial.
Serpenti Tubogas watch by Bulgari with stainless steel case and bracelet, black opaline dial with guilloche soleil treatment and stainless steel crown set with a cabochon-cut pink rubellite.
Armani Exchange by Armani with rose sunray dial, rose gold-tone stick indexes, logo engraved rose stainless steel topring.
Connected Gold Edition by Tag Heuer with a GPS-enabled with black DLC titanium case and white-green rubber. A professional watch that can record your shots and scores, see the distance to the next green and choose the right club to get there.
Tory Smartwatch by Tory Burch with smart silicone.
Here are five recommendations for the top minimalist watches in this trend:
Tag Heuer Men's 'Formula 1' Black Dial Black Rubber Strap
Kate Spade New York Women's Annadale
Swarovski Crystal Authentic Eternal Watch
Bvlgari Serpenti Green Dial Double-Twirl Leather Ladies Watch
Cartier Colisee Quartz Silver Dial Watch
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3. Rectangular Faces
Vintage is going through a major resurgence, accompanied by a romantic outlook of items and styles of the past. Lots of classic watches are being redesigned into an updated and streamlined look ideal for business men that maintains the core elements of the brand and its style but feels modern, simpler and utterly updated.
This is particularly true with rectangular face watches that pay tribute to the history of a brand by uniting technical prowess and design legacy, precise machines that attest to technological advancement with novel displays in recognizable shapes. The is well known for it's rectangular dials but there are other brands too that are embracing this . Chanel, the quintessential fashion brand, went as far as innovating both the thin band and the rectangular face and creating a novel, minimalist watch that looks like a steel bracelet and unites both elements into a final unit.
Ceramica Automatic by Rado with strong lines and gently curved silhouette.
Code Coco Watch by Chanel with steel bezel set with 52 brilliant-cut diamonds and two dials set with 152 diamonds and steel bracelet.
Tank Solo watch by Cartier with steel case, beaded crown set with a synthetic cabochon-shaped spinel, silvered light opaline dial, Roman numerals, blued-steel sward-shaped hands, sapphire crystal and black grained calfskin.
Cape Cod watch by Hermes Paris with opaline silvered dial, quartz movement, short interchangeable double tour band in natural Barenia calfskin.
Here are our top five recommendations for the best minimalist watches in this trend:
Raymond Weil Men's 4878-ST-00668 Don Giovanni Rectangular Case
Citizen Women's Quartz Stainless Steel Watch
Longines Dolcevita Diamond Rectangular Watch
Baume & Mercier Men's Hampton Spirit Automatic Leather Watch
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4. Unisex Designs
Unisex watches are all the rage, with masculine edges and heavy-duty hardware that look amazing on any wrist. Oversized, square-shaped sporty models are particularly preferred, like the models from Gucci that also track time in an innovative way. When we thought everything was said and done for unisex fashion, new shapes are emerging to invigorate the market of minimalist watches.
True Square Green Dial watch by Rado made from ceramic in a squarish green hue watch that is light and hardwearing.
Grip watch by Gucci with a clean streamlined design, a stainless steel face with three windows that display the hour, the minute and the date, complete with an alligator strap.
Here are our top five recommendations for the best minimalist watches in this trend:
Cartier Ballon Bleu Unisex Gold & Steel Watch
Rado Unisex Centrix Diamond Swiss Automatic Watch
Junghans MAX BILL Unisex 34mm Hand Winding
Tissot Unisex Everytime Swissmatic
Frederique Constant Men's Slim Line Silver Dial Roman Numerals Watch
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5. Logo Revival
The resurgence of 90s styles and the consequent revival of logomania had a peak moment last year, with logos taking front stage in many garments.
For 2021 watch trends, logos are taking a step back. They are still very much present, and still quite important, but the need to flaunt them is considered a bit gaudy so styles has taken a more subdued approach towards its use. They are combining clean unobtrusive straps with the brand’s signature logo applied in a delicate manner that ensures it still provides the status of wearing the brand but making it less obvious for the masses.
Seamaster by Omega with a leaf-style hour and domed minute hand, presented in a leather band with a polished brushed stainless steel buckle.
Pasha de Cartier mechanical watch by Cartier with a sleek makeover over the Pasha 1980s design that includes a blue spinel or sapphire on its crown and bright blue hands.
Longines Spirit by Longines with a black matte color, applied Arabic numerals, silvered sandblasted hands and leather.
Millenary Frosted Gold Philosophique by Audemars Piguet with blue hand-crafted dimpled dial, enhanced by a white gold case, satin brushing polishing.
Altiplano watch by Piaget with a case in 18k rose gold, dial with blue lacquer.
Ice Cube by Chopard.
Patrimony Minute Repeater by Vacheron Constantin with pink dial, transparent caseback, sapphire glass and alligatorband.
For your reference, here are brand pages to the models mentioned in the above trends:
Elite Classic with diamonds by Zenith ; Constellation Co-Axial Master Chronometer 39mm by Omega ; 1832 watch by Longines ; Limelight Gala watch by Piaget ; G-Frame watch by Gucci ; Alhambra watch by Van Cleef & Arpels ; Premiere Rock Watch by Chanel ; Serpenti Tubogas watch by Bulgari ; Armani Exchange by Armani ; Connected Gold Edition by Tag Heuer ; Tory Smartwatch by Tory Burch ; Ceramica Automatic by Rado ; Code Coco Watch by Chanel ; Tank Solo watch by Cartier ; Cape Cod watch by Hermes Paris ; True Square Green Dial watch by Rado ; Grip watch by Gucci ; Seamaster by Omega ; Pasha de Cartier watch by Cartier ; Longines Spirit by Longines ; Millenary Frosted Gold Philosophique by Audemars Piguet ; Altiplano watch by Piaget ; Ice Cube by Chopard ; Patrimony Minute Repeater by Vacheron Constantin