Has watch design peaked?
Has watch design peaked? Every watchmaker has dipped back into its back catalog to constantly release Vintage/limited edition Re-Issues. Nothing truly "NEW" is being released. Every watch released in the last decade has been but yet another makeover of a curren design. Unfortunately we watch geeks, collectors, enthusiasts and especiall the snobs immediately ridicules, shuns and throw shade on ANY attempt to break ranks with the status quo. Most of the new designs come out as grotesque, huge or just outright useless in their design... (Clears throat, Richard Mille) Brands are incredibly reluctant to release anything that resembles new. Yes I'm talking to you Rolex, Omega, Breitling, Seiko/GS, Casio and the lot.
Then there's the Movements. Other than materials no one has released honestly anything resembling new.
So again I ask, Has watch design peaked?
Lover of Knives, Pens, Watches and Fly Fishing. Husband, Father, Papa Diver, Waterman, SOF Veteran
Well, the Smart watch is fairly new. I do wonder how long traditional watches will last. According to statistics I have been looking at, fewer and fewer people are wearing such watches. Given that a phone gives you exactly the right time and that Smart watches can give you a lot more, perhaps the 'wrist watch' will become only a collector's item in the way that pocket watches have.
The design of traditional watches may have peaked, but I suspect the design of the Smart watch is developing very quickly.
Yes, watch design has peaked. Here are a number of other things whose designs have peaked:
There are only so many ways to tell the time with an analog watch, and there are only so many esthetically pleasing ways to do it, based on those two constraints watches will always have to look backwards for inspiration.
One thing conveniently left out of a lot of the complaints about "vintage inspiration" is that often times the new version is improved in materials, and durability. Rain coats are mostly unchanged since the advent of the button, but materials have improved considerably. Nobody complains that rain coat design has peaked.
I say no. Exibit 1: The DJ has kept the original design but improved over the years with better movement, bracelet but also kept the dial design contemporary. Exibit 2: Hence Longines with their Heritage line looked back they have with their Spirit taken a leap forward. Maybe neither is sample of brand new design but they stay contemporary.
I honestly haven‘t been in this hobby long enough to speak with any level of enthusiast expertise but I can offer my opinion based on my observations.
This hobby seems focused on the past in general. Just take a look at Rolex, arguably the most successful watch company (right now). They’ve essentially made/iterated on the same submariner for how many years now… and if I were a similar company, I’d try to pick up on what they’ve done by looking at what was successful/timeless from my own catalog and try to recapture that magic.
Lastly, many of the big watch brands are own by only like 4-5 companies... so I think that can create stagnation in general. Honestly, the best thing that happen to the watch industry is probably microbrands and small independents having such great success. Love it or hate it, I think they are pushing these companies - mostly on the budget-end but I think it’s creating some new energy.
If you cast your gaze far enough, I believe that you will find that the answer is "no".
I dunno, I kinda am excited to see new things by Urwerk, Ressence, even H. Moser & Cie, and Jacob & Co. can be fun to browse. Like you said, some of their ideas can be grotesque, but that’s the fine line of madness and genius in the art world that’s constantly debated. As for movements, yeah, i kind of dunno anything new since the Spring Drive maybe?
Whether you like their designs or not, you just need to check out brands like MB&F, Urwerk, ... Or take a look at the YT channel of Swiss Watch Gang (great channel about independent watchmaking), to realize that watch desing is still evolving.
But I get your point, I'm so tired of seeing Rolex and AP homages, from low end to high end, and everything in between.
Thankfully, there are brands that still keep doing things in a different way and you don't need to break the bank to get a piece from them, especially some German brands.
I agree the retro re-issue has been done to death. Progress isn't achieved by looking backwards. Casio and Citizen are often innovative and are progressing watch design and styling. And smart watches offer almost endless styling opportunities, only limited by the imagination of app developers. And there are some micros doing interesting things. But, yes, the big luxury brands do largely seem stuck in a rut.
There is a thing in collecting, more or less a rule of thumb, that when the average person has no relationship with the collectible object anymore, the collecting community and the importance of the object itself will decline. (There will always be unique exceptions to this rule, it is not absolute. This time period can be extended, if the object is tied to particular events in history, such as weapons of the civil war, for example.)
Coin collecting peaked somewhat in the last century, and I probably shouldn't mention stamps.
What we see in the current mechanical watch design is an anachronism, surely a beautiful one, but an anachronism nevertheless.
they say if it isnt broke dont fix it 😂. but if you want something new i think there are plenty microbrands with a new and bold design
peaked? Not at all. The design updates may be subtle, building on older references year by year, but it is what the mass market can accept. and it really depends on your expectations of what innovative design is about. For some, just dropping thickness of the case by 2mm or offering vegan straps are already considered a design innovation in the analogue watch world.
Well, the Smart watch is fairly new. I do wonder how long traditional watches will last. According to statistics I have been looking at, fewer and fewer people are wearing such watches. Given that a phone gives you exactly the right time and that Smart watches can give you a lot more, perhaps the 'wrist watch' will become only a collector's item in the way that pocket watches have.
The design of traditional watches may have peaked, but I suspect the design of the Smart watch is developing very quickly.
Smart watches aka disposable watches are things I deeply dislike. They are soulless and temporary. The first Apple watch cannt be used today because it won't take updates. They honestly shouldn't be in the conversation.
Whereas a traditional watch Automatic, Quartz or digital last virtually forever.
peaked? Not at all. The design updates may be subtle, building on older references year by year, but it is what the mass market can accept. and it really depends on your expectations of what innovative design is about. For some, just dropping thickness of the case by 2mm or offering vegan straps are already considered a design innovation in the analogue watch world.
There's been 1, just one major innovation in watch movements in the last 100 years. The coaxial escapement. Sure materials like silicone and titanium have been used but it just seems watchmakers have come lazy.
There's been 1, just one major innovation in watch movements in the last 100 years. The coaxial escapement. Sure materials like silicone and titanium have been used but it just seems watchmakers have come lazy.
Grand Seiko Spring drive has entered the chat...
Yup, that is why I collect VINTAGE Watches 😊👍! It's the real deal or nothing. Us Vintage Collectors are the ones who have truly tried to "tame" the Watch Animal 👹...if "He" even exists...so the legend says 😂.
Unpopular opinion incoming: of course it’s peaked, in three ways:
Legibility - once watches went mainstream then the simple act of being able to tell the time from your wrist was achieved. The only slight additions / addendums would be the introduction of the digital watch, and the brail watch.
Purpose - watches for diving - check; flying - check… 1930s and 1940s pretty much set the tone, refinement into the 70s to cater the space race, everything else is just modernisation.
Movement - automatic movements are variations on a simple theme, and therefore everything else is modernisation since 1960s. Quartz brings accuracy, so 1969 Seiko, and then into the 70s for dual and chrono.
The smartwatch is the most radical advancement to the watch since quartz. Then it becomes more than a watch.
It's going to sound like a cop out, but no, because design and their appreciation evolve over time. As industrial design incorporates new form factors and new paradigms, our tastes will undergo an evolution of their own.
And new generations of watch designers and collectors will redefine what is tasteful. At some stage in the future, a subgroup of collectors will emerge (if they haven't already) that will covet the Code 11.59, with as much passion as the general watch collecting community covets the Daytona, Sub or Speedy today.
Don't know if its peeked but theirs only so much you can do with watch design unless you go totally mad lol my biggest bug about watches is their size and its nice to see some manufacturers making smaller watches again, smaller watches wear so much better and far more comfortable. Just try an old vintage watch like a seiko and you'll feel the difference,you just forget your wearing it...
Not really a new innovation. Quartz existed as did automatics. Seiko just used that Quartz tech to regulate the automatic movement.
I think you need to read up on Spring Drive, the quartz reference signal is only a piece of it.
Why hasn't anyone commented on how many Rolex Submariners are on that table LOL! If anything has peaked that collection has volcano 🌋😆😂🤣
Rolex submariner... hasn't been able to manage the Magic I remember when I was wee lad...but Omega still have that...thing... Tudor style & reasons to purchase...Rolex Wristwatches..."RUBBISH"
I'm struggling to respond to this. At the end of the day, I think my answer is no. When you look at the entirety of the industry globally, especially microbrands and independent manufacturers, there is an incredible array of novel designs and some of them are quite good.
Maybe so, maybe not. In my personal opinion, the question is irrelevant as of yet. I believe the mechanical watch world is still adjusting and trying to finds its place in the present timepiece economy. Leveraging traditional or past designs that appeal to our nostalgia would seem to be one of those tactics. Nothing more, nothing less.
I think you need to read up on Spring Drive, the quartz reference signal is only a piece of it.
Don't get me wrong I love the spring drive. But it combined 2 existing technologies. Much like Toyota did with the Prius.
I asked this question to spark conversation. I LOVE watches and collecting and I too let personal bias get in the way before truly stepped back from it all. If we're honest, it has peaked....for now. It takes US all of US to push manufacturers and to be more accepting of newer designs. Though not always our cup of tea we must try to help the industry grow. If not it will die. We will be left with soulless disposable smart watches. So get out their and explore and start asking for changes If we're honest, if someone came out with a truly perpetual movement, but if it ran +/- 20 seconds per day and wasn't hackable people would shout from the rooftops that it was pure junk or it could have been better if this or if that. Instead of the absolute miracle it would be. Because honestly 1 minute or less per day is completely acceptable and hacking is useless on an automatic movement. It is this reason I beg everyone to seek out the strange, weird and innovative and encourage it.
Aside from improvements on materials (e.g. silicon) and a few mechanical innovations (e.g. to improve isochronism), I think many watch brands peaked in the 1950s.
The discussion of variety seems to polarise many collectors - too few options (e.g. Rolex [DJ excluded]) and too many (e.g. Omega).
Rolex submariner... hasn't been able to manage the Magic I remember when I was wee lad...but Omega still have that...thing... Tudor style & reasons to purchase...Rolex Wristwatches..."RUBBISH"
I would say they're rubbish. Rolex just doesn't like to drift outside the lines of their line-up. Rolex customers like that line-up. I too wish they would be a little more creative. I love Omega also, but they've beaten the Seamaster and Speedmaster to death.
That's a good question. My answer is yes and no. Design has not peaked. It is perhaps more diverse than ever - with the range of materials and designs have never been so diverse. But what HAS happened is that public demand has narrowed significantly in its thirst for diversity. Everyone wants that steel sports watch, and a lot of other stuff falls by the wayside.
SAying that, I also think that brands have strengthened their identity, which have narrowed the range of designs that they produce. However, there are a lot of different brands, so you have to change brand to get different designs. Microbrands have also injected new life into the market with limited small runs of good watches. There's a lot to be hopeful for.
I think, not even close. Watch manufacturers are just being conservative in general. There are so many avenues that haven't been explored to their full potential. One example would be the shroud, introduced by Seiko on the tuna. I always try to imagine what other possibilities there are for a shroud and it seems like only Seiko has explored this.