FeatureThe Year In Watches: A Forecast Of The 2025 Trends In Horology

As soon as Watches and Wonders opens on April 1, 2025, all eyes will be on what Rolex will unveil, among other top brands, of course. It will all be out there, determining what the landscape of horology around the globe will look like over the year ahead. Now Watches and Wonders Geneva is not the platform for the first launches of the year. Every year—for the last few years at least—begins with the LVMH Watch Week. This year as well, at this event, Bulgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith unveiled several new novelties (and surely they’ll show many more at the April fair in Geneva). Aside from that, many brands have disclosed new products on social media and via press releases. So we have some idea already about the trends in watches this year. However, being the biggest watch fair of the year, with no less than 60 exhibiting brands this year, Watches and Wonders is the key definer of what kind of watches we’ll see in retail stores in the months ahead. Taking a stab at guessing what’s coming up, I’m going to refer to recent watch trends and some of this year’s releases, and try to paint a picture of the 2025 trends.

The top watch trends of 2025 will be:

• Skeleton displays
• Collaboration editions
• Dial decoration and patterns
• Green, pink, sand, beige, ‘mocha mousse’, copper, etc dial colours
• Case sizes down to 37–38mm
• Cushion-shaped watches
• Jewelled sport watches

2025 Trends: Watchmaking Prowess

Way before 2025, there was the advent of the smartwatch. While it did impact the analogue watch industry’s lower-priced brands, it soon became clear that a smartwatch isn’t a watch; it’s a gadget. Yet, it gradually dawned on brands that they must showcase what analogue—mainly mechanical—watchmaking is all about. Skeleton watches thus emerged stronger, and complications took pride of place. Tourbillons kept coming, as redundant as they are in today’s watches. And we’ve seen a lot of that lately even. A brand like H. Moser & Cie, who didn’t have open-worked displays, came out with their Cylindrical Tourbillon a couple of years ago, and kept going with others, such as their Streamliner Skeleton. This is going to continue even more this year. We’re already seeing 2025 novelties such as the Angelus Flying Tourbillon and the B 1.618 UltraFino by Bianchet. This approach to watchmaking will continue among the 2025 trends.

The Angelus Flying Tourbillon showcases the craft of watchmaking that has become even more important in recent times

This watch is a skeletonised tourbillon set within the external structure of Angelus's Chronodate watches

2025 Trends: ‘Collab’ Editions

Skeleton watches certainly add value for customers, by showcasing a big part of what makes them high-end products. And creating value for customers has increasingly become a priority for brands, not only with the watchmaking itself, but also with special editions, and collaborative pieces. So many brands have collaborated with establishments such as Label Noir and Massena Lab, who specialise in watches. Louis Erard, for one, have so many ‘collab’ watches every year. This year again, they’ve already come out with their Le Régulateur X Sylvie Fleury, adding to their product pillar of collaborative pieces christened Noirmont Métiers d’Art. I suspect this will continue with other brands as well. There’ll probably be more than five such new novelties at Watches and Wonders itself.

This, Louis Erard have already come out with their Le Régulateur X Sylvie Fleury, adding to their product pillar of collaborative pieces. This one is in collaboration with artist Sylvie Fleury, and even sports shades of trendy pink

2025 Trends: Ambassador Special Editions

And it’s not just collaborations with design houses and artists and so on. There will also be special editions made with brand ambassadors and friends of brands, such as Rado’s Hrithik Roshan-special Captain Cook. And we already know that Jacob & Co will be bringing out a Salman Khan special edition soon. It could be this year itself. Like their CR7 editions in collaboration with Cristiano Ronaldo, the Salman Khan special edition will also probably have elements of the actor on the caseback and dial.

2025 Trends: Dial Decoration, Textures And Minerals

Dials themselves have become quite a canvas for creativity. Not that this is something new. We’ve seen enamel painted dials and those with elaborate engraving and so on, since the 1800s even. However, it’s even the more accessible segments that have been focusing on various finishing and textures that set a particular edition apart from the mainline. While the classic sunray finish is never going away, it’s various other textures that I’m talking about here. Grained dials are a strong example but there are also various custom patterns that are realised through guilloche work, engraving, metal beating, and so on. Ahead of Watches and Wonders, Czapek have released their new Prominade Plissé, featuring a dial pattern inspired by pleats of a tailored garment. There will be more such textures, as well as lacquering and enamelling, and even gem-setting in the year ahead.

In addition to textures that are created by crafts and decoration techniques, there’s also going also going to be texture by way of the materials used themselves. There’s aventurine glass, of course, whihc has been popular for the last several years. Sones such as malachite and lapis lazuli have been used in watches for a long time, even if we haven’t seen too many of them lately. More popular are materials such as jade, as seen in H. Moser’s recent Streamliner Tourbillon Wyoming Jade. While malachite lends a dial a striped pattern, lapis lazuli and jade are closer in texture to each other. On the other hand, meteorite dials will continue to be strong, as seen in recent releases such as Omega’s Speedmaster Moonphase Meteorite. What’s common between all of the above though is that each dial will have a unique pattern, as no two cuts of these materials can be identical. This is true also for Arnold & Son’s 2025 launch—the HM Amber Steel, with a dial made from real fossil. Stones such as black onyx could be seen, but I suspect there will be more textures than solid colours in terms of these dial materials, like in the Amber Steel, which also presents a colour that will remain popular this year.

2025 Trends: Colour Story

Colours on dials have become more prominent than ever in recent years. It’s not unusual for brands to simply bring out an existing watch in a new dial hue and call it a ‘fresh’ novelty. However, it’s a range of versions in myriad hues that makes more of an impact. We’ve seen it with the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Shades and the various editions of the Nomos Club Campus; not to forget, last year’s 31 colourways in Nomos’s Tangente Neomatik.

In singular editions, pink will remain strong, in watches such as this year’s Oris ProPilot X Miss Piggy, which is Oris's second collaborative piece with Disney's 'The Muppets', after 2023's Kermit watch

In singular editions though, pink will remain strong, in watches such as this year’s Oris ProPilot X Miss Piggy and Louis Erard’s Sylvie Fleury regulator watch (which is also a ‘collab’ piece). And while blue is always prominent, it was green that seemed stronger last year. And it will probably remain the same among the 2025 trends as well.

While blue is always prominent, it was green that seemed stronger last year. Zenith released this green version of the Chronomaster Sport at LVMH Watch Week 2024

Bulgari unveiled this green marquetry dial edition of the Lvcea last year. Green will probably remain strong among the 2025 trends as well

However, one of last year’s strongest dial colours—sand—will be seen more, I suspect, along with adjacent hues. Arnold & Son’s Longitude, versions of IWC’s 2024 Portugieser are just a couple of recent examples. From beige to this year’s pantone shade, ‘mocha mousse’, and even a more metallic side of this palette—copper—will be a part of the 2025 trends.

One of last year’s strongest dial colours—sand—will be seen more. This was last year's Speake-Marin Ripples Dune Date

Interestingly even this Trilobe Nuit Fantastique is called the Dune edition

₹11,90,000

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From beige to this year’s pantone shade, ‘mocha mousse’, adjacent shades will also be seen. This is last year's Arnold & Son Longitude

This 2024 IWC Portugieser is more champagne perhaps, but it fits into this spectrum

₹7,61,000

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Impressive copper-dial watches from the last couple of years include Bell & Ross’s BR 03 Copper and Girard-Perregaux’s copper iteration of their classic Laureato.

Even a more metallic side of this palette—copper—will be a part of the 2025 trends. This here is Breitlings Navitimer Chronograph B01, with a copper-and-black dial

₹8,13,800

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This Bell & Ross’s BR 03 Copper has the metallic colour in its name even

₹3,80,000

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2025 Trends: A Matter Of Size

While the IWC and Arnold & Son mentioned above are over 40mm in size, The Girard-Perregaux copper Laureato is at 38. And that is a case size we’ll see more of this year—the range rather. We’ve already seen a drop in sizes from 40-plus to 38 and 39mm, but there have also been novelties recently, that are as small as 37mm—such as Rado’s Captain Cook Over-Pole, and this year’s Omega Seamaster 37mm Milano Cortina 2026. Sure, these are vintage-inspired watches, but they have a modern appeal and have had/will have many takers. Besides, if small was not the order of the day, nothing would stop these brands from bringing out these contemporary editions in larger sizes. There could be more 37mms this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised to even see a mainstream watch or two as small as 36mm in case size among the 2025 trends.

2025 Trends: The Cushion Shape

How a certain case size wears on the wrist is, of course, impacted by the lug-to-lug distance, and also by the shape of the watch. A 39mm-wide tonneau watch could appear bigger than even a 40 or 41mm round watch for instance. And when it comes to case shapes, while I doubt we’ll see many tonneau-shaped watches, one shape that will continue to be prominent will be the ‘elongated cushion’.

This was seen in a big way in the rebranded Bremont’s new Terra Nova watches last year—a line they have added new bronze editions to this year—and among the new offerings of the newly relaunched Favre Leuba. There will surely be new Chief watches from Favre Leuba this year, continuing this case shape.

This version of the cushion shape was among the new offerings of the newly relaunched Favre Leuba last year. This is the 2024 Chief Chronograph

The Chief and Chief Chronograph watches come with dials in various hues

Favre Leuba Chief Chronograph SHOP THE COLLECTION

2025 Trends: A Bling Fling

In whatever shape and size, the materials make a difference. Lightweight titanium and carbon have become quite common. Yet, watches such as Longines’s first carbon watch—the Ultra-Chron—still make a statement, and they will continue to do so. Ceramic and bronze will be seen, as well as various treatments on metals. Meanwhile, brands will not be conservative when it comes to the embellishment of cases. Even mainstream sports watches have seen quite a bit of bling in recent times. Fine examples of this are this year’s TAG Heuer’s jewelled Carrera Chronographs and Zenith’s Chronomaster Sport rainbow edition—both unveiled at the LVMH Watch Week 2025.

Even mainstream sports watches have seen quite a bit of bling in recent times. Fine examples of this are this year’s TAG Heuer’s jewelled Carrera Chronographs

The jewelled Carrera Chronographs and this Zenith’s Chronomaster Sport rainbow editionwere unveiled at LVMH Watch Week 2025

Gemstones, metals, materials, colours, sizes, features, complications, collaborations, associations—there’ll be a lot of what we’ve discussed here, and probably plenty more. While all will be revealed on April 1, as the Watches and Wonders 2025 curtains raise, several brands already have—and will continue to—reveal their novelties in advance. We’ll get a clearer picture in the coming weeks. For now, though, this is the picture we have.

Watch this space as more 2025 trends get unveiled