Midsize Cases

The trend towards smaller case size options will likely continue in 2024 with a particular emphasis on midsize watch cases, which we define as 36mm, give or take a couple of millimeters in each direction. 36mm is a great fit for many wrist sizes and appealing to both men and women.

Image: Tudor Black Bay 36

Plus, it’s a perfectly acceptable size for dress watches, everyday casual watches, sports watches, and complications. It’s a Goldilocks measurement for timepieces, in our opinion, and by adding more midsize cases to their catalogs, brands could attract a larger buyer base.

Dress Watches

Speaking of dress watches, we expect even more formal timepiece options to crop up in 2024. In particular, we foresee that brands that normally focus exclusively on sportier designs will start peppering their collections with more compact, slim, and understated watches to expand their offerings.

Image: Breguet Classique Répétition Minutes 7637

Think neutral colors, leather straps, and time-only dials. This 2024 watch trend goes hand-in-hand with the direction toward smaller watches and an extension of the “quiet luxury” phenomenon that took over fashion in 2023.

Wilder Dials

Dials are going to get even fancier in 2024 with watch brands not only experimenting with a variety of materials but also manufacturing processes. For instance, in 2023, Oris used melted fishing net discards to create beautiful kaleidoscope dials, and a few months later, the company unveiled striking gradient dials that were fashioned using an innovative laser technique.

Image: Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 “Jigsaw”

Rolex surprised onlookers with the puzzle Emoji dials, celebration dials, and cello-themed dials. We’ll likely see even more dial experimentation in 2024, including precious stones, exotic materials like meteorite, more gems, more colors, and more ornate designs.

Jewelry Watches

It’s not just dials that are going to get more ornate; we think 2024 will be the year of the jewelry watch. Pieces dripping with diamonds and other gemstones will be enjoyed not only by women but plenty of men too.

Image: Timotheé Chalamet wearing a diamond-adorned Cartier Crash

Timothée Chalamet stepped out on the Golden Globes red carpet with a diamond Cartier Crash on his wrist, The Weekend wore a diamond Piaget Limelight during the premiere of HBO’s The Idol, and Leo Messi wore the Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce Rainbow during his Inter Miami presentation. This trend will likely go even stronger in 2024 and watch brands will oblige by offering additional exceedingly expensive and ultra-exclusive jewelry watches for those who enjoy the “more is more” philosophy.

Peach Fuzz Watches?

Just like in fashion or home decor, the watch world favors a specific color every few years. Dark blue dials were popping up everywhere followed by green ones. Then turquoise became super trendy and for a while, purple dials seemed to be a the forefront for a minute.

Image: Oris Propilot X Calibre 400 “Peach Fuzz” Dial

So what’s the color of choice for 2024? Well, Pantone declared Peach Fuzz as the Color of the Year for 2024, a shade not dissimilar to salmon dials, which are already a watch collector’s favorite. So maybe we’ll see even additional salmon dial watches this year and perhaps.

Extra Lume, And Not Just On the Dials

More watch brands will embrace luminous materials, and we’re not just talking about dials. The recently-released Bell & Ross BR-X5 Green Lum, for instance, paired a luminescent-accented dial with a fully lumed case, which gives us a small taste of what to expect in the glow-in-the-dark watch segment.

Image: Bell & Ross BR-X5 Green Lum

We won’t be surprised if we see more creative applications of luminous materials in watches including cases, strap components, full dials, bezels, and so on. We might even see some “secret messages” etched in luminous paint, similar to what Omega did on the Ultra Deep a few years back.

Dragon Watches

Chinese New Year will take place on February 10, 2024, ushering in the Year of the Dragon — and several watch brands have been busy making their dragon watches to commemorate the occasion.

Image: Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon

From the wild Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon Watch and tattoo-inspired Bell & Ross BR 05 Artline Dragon Watch to the red-toned IWC Portugieser Chronograph and TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Year of the Dragon watches to the complicated Piaget Polo Emperador Dragon Tourbillon Watch and Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon Dragon pieces, 2024 is the era of the fiery mythical beast.

Better Value for Money

Following a few crazy years of hype watches and having to pay twice or three times retail to secure sought-after models, the watch market is in a correction phase. The so-called “waitlists” are shortening (or disappearing) at retail stores and pre-owned market prices are coming back down to earth. Aside from these wins for watch buyers, we also predict that brands will release watches that offer better value for money (think higher quality materials, improved movements, more attractive designs, added benefits such as quick-release strap systems and additional straps, extended warranty periods, and so on) to attract customers during this slow-down period.

Image: Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto

Connected to this will be the continued rise of smaller watch brands (aka micro brands) that already work hard to gain loyal followers with well-priced watches. Pieces like the Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto or companies like Monta, Baltic, Furlan Marri, and Lorrier illustrate that you can buy excellent watches without spending a ton of money — and that will certainly be something buyers will embrace in 2024.

We may not have a crystal ball, but these are the trends we anticipate across the watch industry in 2024. What do you predict will be the “next big thing” to take over timepieces over the next 12 months? Do these trends even matter or do you prefer to stick to the classics? Drop us a comment below to share your thoughts.

The post Watch Trends To Look Out For In 2024 appeared first on StrapsCo.

Even More Color

Once relegated to quirkier brands or sporty divers, colorful dials have become more mainstream across all types of watches — even from the big brands. From Rolex’s bright Oyster Perpetual dials and Patek Philippe’s hyped-up Nautilus with a Tiffany blue dial to Cartier’s new Tank Must watches in head-turning shades, typically conservative watch houses are jumping on the colorful bandwagon. Plus, there’s the Oris Cotton Candy line, the Seiko Cocktail Time selection, and various color-forward capsule collections from Breitling.

Image: Oris Divers Sixty-Five ‘Cotton Candy’

Popular colors right now include serene turquoises, blues, and greens, as well as fire-fueled yellow, orange and red dial watches.

We predict that brands will continue to add more color choices to their current catalogs this year, especially ones that really pop. If you want to take your color game to the next level, borrow a cue from Cartier and consider pairing your colorful dial with a matching strap. Monochromatic outfits have been all the rage recently, so why not apply that fashion trend to the wrist for a statement-making style!

Return to Gold Dress Watches

Stainless steel watches have dominated the watch popularity contest for ages now—and it doesn’t look like it’ll slow down any time soon. However, the ubiquity of steel sportiness paves the way for other types of watches to stand out from the same old, same old. Our choice would be the complete opposite style: dressier watches with gold cases, minimal lighter-colored dials, and sophisticated leather straps. Think mid-century elegance.

Image: Grand Seiko Spring Drive (SBGY002)

And just because it’s called a dress watch, it doesn’t mean it has to be exclusively paired with formal wear. These watch types look just as good with jeans as they do with a suit.

To make an old-school-style dress watch more modern, play around with strap colors. While dress watches will always look good with neutral tones like black and brown, why not experiment with unexpected brighter shades for something new?

Big Anniversary Watches

2022 will mark some milestone anniversaries for famous watch models. The Patek Philippe Calatrava (launched in 1932) will turn 90, the Breitling Navitimer (launched in 1932) will turn 70, and the Tag Heuer Autavia (launched in 1962) will turn 60.

Furthermore, Rolex will celebrate the 30th birthday of the Yacht-Master (launched in 1992), in addition to the 40th anniversary of the GMT-Master II, which was released in 1982. Can we expect to see a new GMT-Master II with a black and red “Coke” bezel to celebrate the occasion? After all, it was that inaugural GMT-Master II from 1982 that debuted that highly popular bezel colorway.

Image: Rolex GMT-Master II ‘Coke’ Bezel

However, we think that the biggest watch celebration of 2022 will be the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak, which Audemars Piguet unveiled in 1972. The Royal Oak kicked off the ultra-luxe steel sports watch category and it changed the watch landscape forever. There will no doubt be a slew of commemorative Royal Oak watches in 2022, so keep an eye out for that.

Smaller Independents Continue To Rise

Although big brands — particularly the big four (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Richard Mille) — will remain the dominant forces in the primary and secondary watch markets for the foreseeable future, smaller high-end independent watchmakers will also continue to cultivate their cult followings in 2022.

A handful of small-batch boutique watchmakers are favorites among seasoned watch collectors and watch enthusiasts looking for unique creations. The recognized leaders in high-end independent contemporary watchmaking are F.P. Journe and Philippe Dufour, but other names include H. Moser, MB&F, De Bethune, Akrivia, Petermann Bedat, and Laurent Ferrier.

Image: Laurent Ferrier Micro-Rotor Square

There are also plenty of independent watch brands making more affordable timepieces such as Sinn, Baltic, Anordain, Brew, and Weiss just to name a few.

If you haven’t already, take the time to discover the creations of independent watchmakers; you may be surprised at what they offer.

Sustainability, Conservation, and Transparency

Like almost every other industry out there, watchmakers are under increasing pressure to demonstrate a genuine commitment to sustainability. Some brands, such as Breitling and Panerai have leaned into eco-friendly timepieces by using recycled materials in some of their watches while other companies, like Oris, have announced that they are now climate neutral. Omega, Blancpain, Rolex, and Hublot have long teamed up with conservationist organizations to raise funds and/or awareness.

Image: Hublot Big Bang Unico SORAI “Save Our Rhino Africa / India”

In 2022, we predict that more watch brands will undertake sustainable practices, whether that’d be less packaging waste, more recycled materials, or more partnerships with foundations that do important work in the areas of sustainability and conservation. We’re also optimistic about improved transparency about how materials are sourced and genuine steps towards ethical sourcing. There’s plenty of work to be done, but if pressure mounts from consumers, then watchmakers will have to take their commitments seriously.

We’d argue one of the most sustainable approaches to watch collecting is to buy pre-owned where possible. When you choose a watch that’s already been around a while (or a few decades in some cases), you’re giving it new life. Karine Szegedi, Head of Consumer and Fashion & Luxury at Deloitte Switzerland says: “Whether it’s the sharing economy or being more socially conscious, younger consumers today are far less reluctant to buy items that were previously owned. This generational shift will continue to benefit the pre-owned watch industry in the years ahead and is certainly part of a wider trend towards more sustainable shopping behavior among young people.”

We couldn’t agree more.

There you have it, a few of our watch trend predictions for the rest of 2022. What do you think will be big this year in timepieces? Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments below.

The post Watch Trends To Look Out For In 2022 appeared first on StrapsCo.