Hardly any other brand stands for such a wide variety of models as Hublot. In addition to diverse materials and colors, this manufacture is now dedicating itself to form and is introducing a square watch. To what degree is the Square Bang a typical Hublot?

When Jean-Claude Biver set out in the 1980s to make the nearly forgotten Blancpain brand attractive again, he formulated a number of principles. One of them was that a Blancpain watch should always be round. Biver left Blancpain long ago, but to this day, those in charge there have upheld that precept of yesteryear.

Ricardo Guadalupe was one of Biver’s early and longtime comrades-in-arms. He was by Biver’s side at Blancpain and later went with him to Hublot. For the past 10 years, Guadalupe has led the brand as its CEO. He admits, “I like shaped watches. It was always a dream of mine to make a square watch one day. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible when I was at Blancpain.” Guadalupe proved that it is possible at Hublot a few years ago. In 2014, he launched the tonneau-shaped Spirit of Big Bang. There had previously been individual special models in nonround cases, but the Spirit was the first regular line in Hublot’s collection with a shaped case. “The success of the Spirit encouraged me to do the Square Bang,” Guadalupe says. “The Spirit currently makes up 15 percent of our sales. With the help of the Square Bang, in a few years our shaped watches could account for 25 or 30 percent of sales.”

That’s the inside view. But even from an out-of-house perspective, it makes sense for Hublot to break new ground when it comes to case shapes. After all, this brand stands for diversity. “Fusion” is the leitmotif that Biver articulated for Hublot when he joined the company in 2004. And fusion still applies today. Among other things, it can be translated in this context as the combination of very different materials in a single watch.

What began with the combination of a gold case and a rubber strap went on to become an incredible variety. The spectrum ranges from familiar materials, like stainless steel, titanium and carbon fiber, to Hublot’s own developments, such as scratch-resistant Magic Gold, which has 25 percent ceramic content. Hublot has even used materials such as concrete, denim and osmium for its watches. The brand has benefited from the fact that the classic Big Bang case consists of more than 70 individual parts.

But the brand’s disruptive design code can express itself in more than just materials and colors. Just a few years after Biver and Guadalupe reinvented Hublot, the brand released watches with complications in avant-garde cases, such as the spectacular MP05-La Ferrari with 11 barrels and a 50-day power reserve.

The Square Bang is the next step in bringing out Hublot’s expressive design, and specifically that of the Big Bang, into a new shape. There are not many square luxury watches on the market, where about 90 percent of the models are round. As a special configuration of the rectangle, the square is even rarer. Classics like the Cartier Santos or the TAG Heuer Monaco are exceptions to the rule. Thus, from the outset, the Square Bang targets an exclusive clientele — and that is surely not a mistake in an era when most people prefer to distinguish themselves from others.

Similar to the Spirit, the Square Bang clearly reveals that it’s derived from the round Big Bang. The ancestry is evident in the model’s name and still more obvious in its design. The case of the Square Bang consists of even more individual parts than that of the round Big Bang (there are exactly 81), and it is divided like a sandwich into an upper, middle and lower part, as well as the bezel, plus the “ears” attached to the sides. They can all be found on the Big Bang and the Spirit as well, and the same goes for the movement’s container, which is invisible from the outside and around which the case’s components are grouped.

The most typical Hublot feature, however, are the H-shaped screws. They are what really make a watch a Hublot. There are six of them on the bezel: one at the top and another at the bottom, plus two each on the sides. There are two more screws on each strap lug. Between these is the trapezoidal pusher, which lets you instantly detach the case from the strap and replace one wristband with another. The designers of the Square took all these elements from the Big Bang.

The crown is likewise from the Big Bang, while the square pushers are from the Spirit. Once again showing Hublot’s love of detail, the rubber inlay inside the buttons is divided into three small squares — an almost hidden allusion to the shape of the case, similar to the checkerboard pattern on the rubber strap, which is often lined on other Hublot watches.

Since Hublot stands for diversity, it’s no wonder that the Square Bang is available in as many as five different variations: Pure King Gold and Pure Titanium, each optionally with a black ceramic bezel, plus an All Black version in black ceramic. We chose the last-mentioned version for our test. As flashy and colorful as Hublot often appears, this brand was the first to release an all-black watch, which polarized opinion when it was introduced in 2006. Not only were the case, strap and dial black, but also the numerals and hands. Critics complained that the dial was difficult to read, but Biver countered by pointing out that reading the time is not important for a watch that costs more than 10,000 euros.

Hublot subsequently varied the all-black theme in every conceivable direction, and in 2009, also blackened the screws on the bezel, as well as the crown and the pushers, which still were steel or titanium-colored on the original model. The Big Bang Unico All Black, introduced in 2014, brought a bit more brightness back into play. Connoisseurs could peer through its starkly skeletonized dial and admire silver-gray hands rotating above steel movement parts.

The same was true for the Square Bang All Black. It’s a direct descendant of the Big Bang Unico All Black — and the sister of the Spirit of Big Bang Black Magic, so to speak. The watch’s exterior is completely black, i.e., the ceramic case including the screws, crown, pushers, bracelet and clasp. The larger surfaces of the case, which can also be seen from above, are satin finished and create a nice contrast to the polished flanks. These, in turn, are distinguished from the ears and the middle part of the case, which is made of black Kevlar composite. This design underscores the multifaceted styling of the case and assures that the Square Bang Unico All Black makes a very high-quality impression. This positive effect is confirmed by the watch’s good fit. For example, you don’t feel any transition at all when you slide your fingertip from the sapphire crystal to the bezel and back again. The strap length can be easily adjusted to fit any wrist. This is made possible by a total of 15 holes, two of which are connected to the clasp. Since the rubber strap is elastic, the retaining buttons can easily be pressed through the stretchy holes. The ends of the retaining buttons are widened, which prevents them from accidentally slipping out. This assures that the watch rests securely on your wrist at all times. The clasp can be opened easily by pressing two pushers.

In classic watchmaking, you would expect a shaped case to contain a similarly shaped manufacture movement. The Square Bang is indeed equipped with a manufacture movement, but it is round, not square. It is Caliber HUB1280, which is the second, slimmer and improved version of the Unico caliber that we reviewed extensively when we tested the Hublot Big Bang Integral Gray Ceramic in the December 2021 issue of WatchTime. Although you can see a large portion of the handsome movement from the outside, the fact that it isn’t round doesn’t bother us. The discrepancy is hardly noticeable when viewed from above because the movement is surrounded by the square minute track of the dial, leaving only four small corners. The 11 applied minute markers and the two subdials, one for the small seconds at 9 o’clock and one for the elapsed minutes at 3 o’clock, extend far into the movement, thus creating a pleasing impression of visual unity. Overall, there’s so much happening on the dial that there’s no distracting dissonance between the circle and the square.

Peering through the crystal above the dial, you can watch the chronograph caliber at work. When the stopwatch function is started and stopped, you can see how the column wheel at 6 o’clock advances one position at a time and how the intermediate wheel of the horizontal coupling between 7 and 8 o’clock moves alternately toward and away from the center again, which causes the chronograph’s elapsed second hand to begin running and to stop. Through the crystal in the back, you can see how the actuated pushers engage with the movement. There are few movements that let you understand a chronograph’s function so well.

But what about precision? Our measurement on a Witschi timing machine largely confirmed the stable rate of the same movement that we tested in our December 2021 issue of WatchTime. The daily rate was slightly faster, with a gain of 7.3 seconds in 24 hours. We were pleased to discover that the watch ran a bit more accurately on the wrist, where it gained only 5 seconds per day.

Has Hublot successfully squared the circle? Has the Square Bang managed to take on the DNA of the Big Bang and, by extension, also the DNA of the Hublot brand, while becoming a model in its own right that deserves a place in the collection? The answer is a simple yes. The Square Bang is a typical Hublot, and not only because it successfully adapts the round Big Bang to a square shape. This is a large and expressive watch, but it is also a timepiece with no coarseness whatsoever and with numerous harmonious details and all-around high-quality workmanship. This sporty watch is technically state of-the-art, which fully justifies its price of $26,200. And last but not least, it makes a statement on your wrist. The Square Bang Unico All Black is not made to cater to every taste, so it will always retain a high degree of exclusivity. 

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More than just a bit different, these new watches venture light- years beyond everything we thought was normal.

Musical: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Self-Winding Music Edition

Audemars Piguet transforms music into a colorful lightshow with this exciting new version of the Royal Oak Offshore (Ref. 15601BC.44.D343CA.01). The aventurine dial of this 43-mm-diameter white-gold watch reproduces the motifs of an equalizer with the 10 rainbow-colored columns of a sound filter’s display represented by invisibly set rubies, peridots and tsavorites, as well as green, blue and orange sapphires. The same varieties of colored gemstones decorate the bezel, giving the watch a total of 230 jewels with a total weight of 6.15 carats. The crown guard on the side of the case was inspired the faders on mixing consoles. Those who prefer an even more colorful version can detach the dark blue rubber strap and replace it with one of three interchangeable straps, which are available in turquoise blue, yellow and green. The colorful dial, which dispenses with a date window in favor of its appearance, conceals automatic manufacture Caliber 4309, which amasses a 70-hour power reserve. The finely decorated movement has an oscillating weight made of 22-karat red gold and can be viewed through the window of sapphire crystal in the caseback. Price on request.

Transparent: Cyrus Genève Klepcy’s Vertical Skeleton Tourbillon Sapphire

As a further escalation of its disruptive design, this Geneva-based watch brand is releasing its vertical tourbillon in a new version (Ref. 539.506.2G.A) with a case crafted from sapphire crystal. Even more exciting than the transparent case, however, is the “standing” escapement at the center, which transmits its power to the gear train at a 90-degree angle. The hands for the hours and minutes are retrograde, which means that each hand suddenly jumps back to its zero position at the end of its journey. First used in 2018, hand-wound Caliber CYR625 amasses a 100-hour power reserve and is the brainchild of master watchmaker Jean-François Mojon, who is technically responsible for all of Cyrus Genève’s creations. A rotating ball at the 12 o’clock shows how many hours of the four days remain in the power reserve. The gold bridge is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s self-supporting bridge. Only 10 pieces of this very special transparent version of the Vertical Skeleton Tourbillon will be built. Each will be offered for CHF 245,000.

Moonstruck: HYT Moon Runner Supernova Blue

The Swiss brand HYT is known for its innovative time display, in which a dark liquid in a capillary tube gradually displaces a light-colored liquid. The time is shown where the two liquids meet. The lighter-colored liquid is pumped back into the tube at 6 o’clock, when the cycle begins again. Under the aegis of new CEO Davide Cerrato, who was formerly Managing Director at Montblanc Watches, HYT is combining this unconventional double-fluid technology with a calendar for the first time. Needless to say, the astronomical indications are likewise anything but ordinary. The date, month and an additional moon-phase display rotate in the center of the watch. A motionless hand in the lower half of the dial shows the date and the month. The moon’s phases are shown by a partly blue hemisphere in a central circle. A triangle for the minutes completes the ballet of indicators. Movement developer Eric Coudray conceived hand-wound Caliber 601-MO, which amasses a 3-day power reserve. The image pictured here was taken when the Moon Runner Supernova Blue was showing full moon at 10:09 a.m. on March 28. This unusual presentation is priced at $126,190.

Chivalrous: Roger Dubuis Knights of the Round Table Monotourbillon

In 2022, Roger Dubuis again introduced a watch model dedicated to the 12 knights of King Arthur’s Round Table. Twelve miniature figures in rose gold represent the knights on the face of the Knights of the Round Table Monotourbillon (Ref. RDDBEX1025). The knights are fabricated by a 3-D process and subsequently refined by hand. Each figure embodies a different knight of the legendary Round Table and each wields a different weapon. They are gathered around the central tourbillon and a miniature Round Table made from Murano glass in different colors. The broad hour hand and minute hands, each crafted from several gold elements, rotate under the table. The 45-mm-diameter rose-gold case encloses automatic manufacture Caliber RD115, which like all of Roger Dubuis’s movements, bears the Hallmark of Geneva as a sign of its workmanship and finishing. Roger Dubuis is building only eight pieces of this model, each of which costs approximately 590,000 euros.

Benevolent: Urwerk UR-110 Bakelite

As the so-called “final edition” of the UR-110 collection, the Genevabased brand created this eye-catching one-of-a-kind timepiece, and sold it at auction for 120,000 Swiss francs to benefit the Swiss Red Cross. As a special feature of its design and materials, the titanium case has an inlay made from Bakelite, a type of plastic that was introduced in 1909 and frequently used in subsequent years. The movement powers Urwerk’s impressive satellite display, in which hour cubes rotate into the correct position and then progress along a minute scale. Those who look more deeply into automatic Caliber UR 9.01 will find a seconds and a day-night indicator, as well as an “oil change” alarm, which reminds the wearer when the time has come for the watch to undergo routine servicing. The case measures 47 mm by 51 mm and is 16 mm in height.

Ultra-Flat: Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari

This watch is not only the new world record holder in slim construction, but also an expressive design object, which suits Richard Mille’s partner Ferrari. The 51-mm by 39-mm titanium case is only 1.75 mm in height. It houses Caliber RMUP-01, a manually wound movement with the extraordinarily low height of just 1.18 mm. A pair of unconventional “crowns,” each integrated into the movement, are among the special features that enable this model to achieve its extreme slimness. One of these crowns is used to select the desired function of winding or setting the hands, and its counterpart is used to perform the selected task. The time display and the visible balance are covered by sapphire crystals, each of which is only 0.2 mm thick at its thinnest point. Thirteen Richard Millestyle screws secure the titanium cover plate. Ferrari’s famous prancing horse prominently immortalizes the brand on the front of the watch, where the logo is only slightly smaller than the time display itself. Considering the price of $1,888,000, the number of editions is surprising: Richard Mille plans to build 150 of these timepieces.

Air Permeable: Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross

The artist, filmmaker and fashion designer Samuel Ross, who has been a brand ambassador for Hublot since 2020, is now bringing his graphic language to watchmaking with a limited edition Big Bang Tourbillon (Ref. 428.NX.0100.RX.SRA22). He also brings his signature color scheme, his penchant for austere geometric shapes and his fondness for urban design to this model, which is 44 mm in diameter and 13.75 mm in height. The new watch features a distinctive, stylized hexagon, both in the honeycomb titanium mesh beneath the sapphire dial as well as in segments of the case and wristband. Ross chose orange for the case sides, parts of the crown, the tourbillon bridge and the rubber strap as a symbol of energy and optimism. These orange components also contrast well with the gray of the satin-finished titanium elements. The lightweight, openworked titanium parts combine with the supple rubber strap to ensure a comfortable feel on the wrist. In-house Caliber HUB6035 ticks inside the case, where a microrotor automatically winds the mainspring to offer a 3-day power reserve. Only 50 pieces of the Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross will be built. Each sells for $116,000.

Heroic: Kross Studio “The Batman Tourbillon”

Comics and complications are the specialties of the Swiss watch brand Kross Studio. The brand’s latest creative output is “The Batman” Tourbillon, a wristwatch inspired by the famous Bat-Signal used by the Gotham City police to summon the dark avenger for help. A central tourbillon rotates behind nine parallel protective bars, a minute ring rotates at the periphery, and the pointed “ears” of Batman’s mask serve as the hour hand. The image pictured shows how the dial looks at 10 o’clock. The 45-mm case is made of black DLC-coated titanium and has a domed sapphire crystal, which is why the overall height is a massive 20 mm. The watch is affixed to a leather strap, but there are two other rubber straps included, one with black stitching and a second with red stitching. Hand-wound in-house Caliber KS 7’001 will continue to run for five days after it has been fully wound by manually turning a D-shaped lever that folds out of the back. The time is set by pressing a large button on the side of the case and then turning the D-shaped lever in either direction. Ten aspiring superheroes who pay $100,000 for this watch can venture on to the night-wrapped streets of Gotham City wearing this model — or they can use the signal lamp, which is included with the watch, to summon the real Batman.

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While stainless steel is, for many, the preferred material for luxury sports watches, gold still has its fans. In fact, after a decade or two of pink gold being on the rise, it is now yellow gold that is making a comeback. Especially for those who enjoy a more classic look, this is indeed a very tempting material. Seductive are also the following four sportive watches that look great in gold;

Breitling Super Avi B04 Chronograph GMT 46 P-51 Mustang

These two Breitlings perfectly illustrate the difference in appeal between stainless steel and gold. While more of a good-looking instrument in the first, the latter adds a dash of glamour and luxury while being just as capable. Granted, 18 karat gold is a softer material than stainless steel, so it damages quicker, but unless you are going to wear it when things get really rough, you should be fine. What I also like about aviation watches in gold is that they tend to age very nicely. I suspect that this has something to do with the chronograph complication that they are often fitted with, which amplifies their practical nature.

Panerai Luminor Calendario Perpetuo

This watch almost contradicts what Panerai stands for, as it combines a complex movement with an innovative perpetual calendar complication with a Goldtech case. This is Panerai’s proprietary alloy with a slightly higher copper content to give a richer hue. Because of the way Panerai worked with this material and the way it integrated the complications in the overall design, it remains grounded in the DNA of the brand. It also shows how powerful the Luminor design is because while a 44mm diameter large watch in polished gold sounds like too much of a good thing, this Panerai proves that it is temptation for the wrist and a luscious alternative to their stainless steel and titanium models.

Angelus Chronodate Gold

Gold and the color blue always go very nicely together, as this Angelus Chronodate underscores. The two really get a synergy going that makes the blue look more luxurious and the gold more sportive. Angelus works this to a further degree of perfection by giving the blue dial different finishes that interact differently with the gold case. It results in a precious, sportive creation that quite literally unites the best of both worlds.

Hublot Big Bang Integral Time Only

Hublot is a brand that always seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to trends. This is also the case with the return of yellow gold in a more prominent position within their collection. With the Big Bang Integral Time Only, they make it almost all about this material as there isn’t even the distraction from a chronograph movement, a complication the Big Bang is well-known for. By alternating brushed and polished surfaces, Hublot succeeds in maintaining a sportive look for this watch, making it almost like an understatement. As it is also fitted with a gold bracelet, one can expect that the heft of the Big Bang Integral Time Only on the wrist is quite substantial. As this is even more than if it had been made from stainless steel, one can consider this the sportive feel of luxury.

What sports watch would you like to wear in gold? Let us know in the comments!

Comic Hero: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Black Panther Flying Tourbillon

In 2021, AP’s President François-Henry Bennahmias announced the collaboration between his watchmaking company and the Marvel comic book franchise. The first watch to emerge from this partnership is the Royal Oak Concept Black Panther Flying Tourbillon. This model didn’t exactly win over the fans of traditional watches, but one of its achievements is undeniable: it faithfully depicts the animalistic superhero Black Panther, who was most recently portrayed by the late Chadwick Boseman. Clad in a high-tech suit and wearing clawed gloves, the Black Panther’s hand-painted white-gold figure seems to be getting ready to pounce. His lower body elastically embraces both the shaft of the main hands at the center of the dial and the tourbillon cage at 6 o’clock, while the skeletonized barrel is clearly visible under the superhero’s right arm. The 42-mm case of the Royal Oak Concept model series is made of titanium; the bezel and crown are made of scratch-resistant ceramic. Complicated hand-wound manufacture Caliber 2965 heroically keeps time inside the case. This comic-inspired wristwatch is limited to 250 timepieces. Price is upon request.

Stun Gun: Hamilton Ventura Elvis 80 Skeleton

Today’s Ventura automatically winds itself, but Hamilton created it in 1957 as the world’s first battery-powered wristwatch — and gave it a nearly triangular case. As in the early days, a stylized zigzag voltage line traverses the dial of some new models to symbolize the former electrical power supply. Elvis Presley was the Ventura’s most famous fan: he wore the original model not only in private life, but also in the 1961 film, Blue Hawaii. One of the latest Ventura models is the watch shown here, which not only attracts attention thanks to its modern reinterpretation of the case shape, but also with its skeletonized dial and its combination of elegant rose-gold plating and a sporty rubber wristband. ETA’s automatic Caliber Powermatic 80 ticks inside the 42.5-mm-by-44.6-mm stainless-steel case. The Ventura is by far the most accessibly priced watch in our roundup of crazy timepieces: it sells for an affordable $1,795.

Transparency Artist: MB&F Horological Machine No. 9 Sapphire Vision

Max Büsser and Friends have opened their streamlined Time Machine Number Nine to the eyes of mechanics-savvy viewers. For this, the Geneva-based think tank used an extremely complex sapphire crystal cover with multiple curves and domes. A symmetrical architecture is created inside the rear of the transparent sapphire shell by a hand-wound manufacture movement with two balances. It collaborates with a centrally positioned planetary differential, which averages the time kept by the two movements and thus ensures optimal timekeeping. The vertical dial shows the hours and minutes. MB&F builds models in rose and white gold, each with two differently colored movement bridges. Each of the four model variants is made in a strictly limited series of five watches. Each timepiece is priced at $440,000.

Breaking Tradition: Hublot MP-09 Tourbillon Bi-Axis 5 Days Power Reserve 3D Carbon

The design of this “Masterpiece” (MP) from Hublot carries all visual habits to the absurd. The bezel breaks out of its conventional circular shape at the 6, where it also slopes downward to approach the back of the case. This creates a unique “hanging jaw,” where a tourbillon rotates on two axes, and keeps on turning for five full days after the watch has been fully wound. The running autonomy is shown by a large-format inscription at the 7, while the current status of the power reserve is indicated at the 3. The skeletonized, three-dimensional main dial is enclosed by a skeletonized semicircular date display with two arcs of numerals. The crazy frame for manufacture hand-wound Caliber MHUB9009.H1.RA.B is formed by a 49-mm-wide and 18-mm-high case made of so-called “3D carbon,” a composite material that Hublot makes from multiple layers and can shape into even the most complex forms. The MP-09 is made in four series of eight watches each: in yellow, green, blue and red. Each watch sells for $200,000.

Shining Piece: Roger Dubuis Excalibur Single Flying Tourbillon “Glow Me Up”

This Geneva-based manufacturer is known for its tourbillons and double tourbillons, but it also likes to experiment with new forms of gem-setting. The latest result is this creation, which looks like a jewelry watch by day, but becomes colorfully avant-garde at night. Glowing diamonds? You’ve never seen anything like this! The appearance is striking, but the technical background is not that complicated. The settings of the 60 baguette diamonds along the bezel are filled with differently colored Super-LumiNova, so the gemstones glow in different colors at night. Luminous material is also applied to the star-shaped movement bridge, the rim of the tourbillon and the outer ring of the nearly non-existent dial. This results in a unique light spectacle of at night. When the sun rises, this timepiece transforms back into a technically sophisticated but visually almost demure jewelry watch. Each of the eight 42-mm rose-gold watches encases in-house hand-wound Caliber RD512SQ and sells for $215,000.

Flaming Beacon: Urwerk UR-220 SL “Asimov”

The Geneva-based manufacturer Urwerk has been making a name for itself for years with its satellite displays. Now these moving and rotating display blocks for the hours also start to light up. And that’s not all: in addition, luminosity usefully highlights the numerals on the arcing minutes scale, along which the glowing hour numerals sweep, and also accentuates the brand name on the plate as well as the power-reserve display, which appears on two indicators at the upper left and right. Despite the new and radiant optics, the patented hour display remains the most astonishing feature of this new watch. A skeletonized arm serves as the frame for the hour cone on this display. The hour cone turns its correct side upward as it quickly moves back to the beginning of the minutes scale, where it’s picked up by the hour hand and gradually carried forward along the scale. After the frame hand has completed one hour-long task, it hurries back to the start of the scale and picks up the next hour cone. Hand-wound manufacture Caliber UR-7.20, which runs for 48 hours after it has been fully wound, is responsible for this function and for several other technical tricks. The case, which measures 43.8 mm by 53.6 mm, is made of 81 layers of TPC carbon composite. Urwerk uses a special manufacturing method to give the case a concentrically circular texture. The price for so much innovative spirit? $168,000.

A version of this article first appeared in the WatchTime 2022 Special Design Issue, on sale now.

Watches have become noticeably more colorful during the past decade. As recently as 2010, luxury watches were still mainly an achromatic affair — with white or black dials and silvery steel cases, at most there was a singular red hand. But this situation soon changed. Colorful dials and bracelets became more frequent, and materials like rubber invited designers to play with color. In the second half of the decade, watches at first became blue, and later, more and more models appeared in green. Both trends continue to this day. But in 2021, a completely different hue moved into the limelight: gray.

The surprising thing is that none of these gray watches looks gray — at least, not in the sense that people often associate with gray — drab, boring or inconspicuous. These watches are different. They stride onto a watch stage that is much more colorful and diverse than ever before. Today, any color is conceivable, even for a luxury watch, both in terms of technical feasibility and public acceptance. A watch that’s gray could just as easily be green, blue or red. Against this background, the conscious decision in favor of gray becomes a statement, and the effect is totally different than it would have been in 2010.

At the same time, gray is the antithesis to the world of colorful diversity. It invites its viewer to rest, pause and take a breather. Gray has another fascinating quality: it’s not one-dimensional because not all grays are the same. On the one hand, this is due to the proportions of white and black, which make the gray look darker or lighter. On the other hand, some gray tones look almost colorful because they change to green, blue or brown, depending on the lighting.

A version of this article appears in the WatchTime Special Design Issue 2022, on sale now.