The brand followed up with another surprise, a fresh Daytona chronograph marking the 100th running of the Le Mans 24-hour race. Rolex grabbed headlines at Geneva’s 2023 Watches & Wonders fair – and blew up Instagram – with dials on new Oyster Perpetual and Day-Date models bursting with more colour than previously seen. New Rolex Oyster Perpetual and Daytona models Chopard Mille Miglia chronograph and Alpine Eagle. In two sizes, 38mm or 42mm, it’s a $55,000 proposition. Laudable – if not the most legible – it’s nonetheless a striking package thanks to the colouring and contrasting case in black DLC (diamond-like carbon)-coated titanium. Presenting two time displays and lashings of pink (Pantone 700C, thank you), the open-worked dial gives a glimpse of the self-winding movement’s workings. The Speake Marin Dual Time Pink lives up to its name. This year’s crop illustrates the turning point: while today’s watches tell the time, more than ever they’re designed to say something about the wearer. Then there’s the widespread adoption of colour, even by brands that normally rely on finesse to maintain their leadership. It’s a time when even a Tag Heuer might come studded with lab-grown diamonds. That said, its modern-day popularity is nurtured by a diversity of design and the fact that watches have never been more exotic, never more attuned to the customer’s embrace of accessorising.īrands have responded, hence an age of unprecedented choice – marquetry dials (Cartier et al), time-suspending movements (Hermès), animated theatrics (Van Cleef & Arpels), sapphire cases (Hublot), carbon-infused movements (Richard Mille), comic-book tie-ups (Audemars Piguet).
Then there’s a simple truth about the product itself: it has never been better made or more accurate. Meanwhile, Instagram and mushrooming enthusiast groups have been stimulating watch conversation and collecting.
While COVID has played a role, its effects – no travel, more money to spend at home etcetera – have driven up demand in an unexpected way. We live in a time when all manner of influences have resulted in watches being more popular than in any previous decade.
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