With horology becoming increasingly popular with women as well as a younger crowd, timepieces are no longer just confined to traditional colours. It is not just dials that are getting new vibrant washes; although even when they do, these faces tend to have other, refined finishes as well. Indeed, saturated colours, used in conjunction with high-tech materials, are now also enlivening watch parts ranging from hour markers to cases. Get ready to light up your wrist.
Related: From dials to straps, the latest luxury watches are awash in vibrant colour
Why settle on one colour when you can have them all? Richard Mille’s first dedicated ladies’ sports collection, the RM 07-04 Automatic Sport, includes five colourful watches made of Quartz TPT as well as a black model made of Carbon TPT (these tough, lightweight composite materials are a Richard Mille signature). Inspired by the brand’s elite sportswomen partners, the Quartz TPT timepieces feature hues of creamy white, mauve, salmon, green, and dark blue, along with contrasting flanges, crown rings, pushers, and straps.
A Gerald Genta design from the 1970s comes to life again with IWC’s launch of the new Ingenieur Automatic 40 timepieces, which are characterised by features such as grid-patterned dials and integrated bracelets. The collection includes three 40mm models crafted from stainless steel: The reference with the vibrant aqua-coloured dial stands out the most compared to the other two models, which feature black or silver dials. A fourth model, in titanium, comes with a grey dial.
By now, we know that Hublot has a knack for creating watches with some of the boldest and brightest colours around. Even so, the Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic in neon yellow Saxem (an acronym for “sapphire aluminium oxide and rare earth mineral”) still makes us sit up with its ultra-saturated colour. The material is an alloy of aluminium oxide and rare-earth elements. Comprising a crystalline structure that gives the material a consistent colour, Saxem was also used by the brand for its MP-11 Emerald Green watch in 2019.
Using bold hits of vibrant colour, Franck Muller gives its Grand Central Tourbillon a sporty and flashy (as the model name boldly declares) new look. Electric shades of orange, green, or blue jazz up the timepieces’ key accents — the acrylic indexes, the arrow on the tourbillon cage, and the calfskin-lined nylon strap. Each of these self-winding watches is housed in carbon cases measuring 36.5mm by 52.65mm — a smaller size exclusive to Asia.
It’s not just the vibrant purple dial of this Patek Philippe watch that makes it an arresting sight. The face of the 35mm rose gold and diamond-set timepiece also features plenty of depth and shimmer. This is made possible by the fact that its dial — embossed with a wave pattern — is coated with more than 50 layers of translucent lacquer. A purple calfskin strap completes the rich colour scheme on this slim self- winding watch.