The funny thing about haute horlogerie, or the field the one-upmanship of mind-boggling mechanical complexity, it all boils down to who can make a simple thing best. A mechanical watch, after all, is not a necessity—so the pinnacle challenge is, in fact, designing something so beautiful it feels essential.
A big part of the push for simple, beautiful watches finds a natural connection with two trends that have been on the rise. The first is a taste for smaller timepieces, which hit critical mass last year and has turned virtually every watchmaker’s eye to miniaturising and returning to mid-century proportions. The second, and rather vital one, has been the broadening of men’s appetites for jewellery watches. Spurred by stylish celebrities on the red carpet and a wider appreciation for fine jewellery, pretty and petite watches have broken containment from their antiquated ‘ladies’ label.
So it’s in the watches that are broadly speaking between 28mm and 36mm in case sizes, whose functions are simple, and yet are designed with elegant, masterful finesse, that are emerging as the chicest propositions around.
The leader of the pack this year is a quiet but meaningful reintroduction by Cartier of its Tortue signature from 1912. The Tortue has been on and off the maison’s catalogue, most recently as hard-to-acquire editions in its Cartier Privé line, but now it joins the main offering. Perhaps the Parisian jeweller has read the tea leaves of the Baignoire’s runaway success, but it’s clear that beautiful, elegant design—even if it’s more than a century old!—has everlasting appeal.
An appreciation for the classics is shared by Vacheron Constantin, with its Historiques collection where it creates contemporary editions of historical, heritage references. From one of what’s known as the ‘holy trinity’ of watchmakers (together with Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, an echelon of Swiss watchmaking’s most vaunted brands), this collection by Vacheron Constantin has the potent combination of bygone design you’d otherwise have to go vintage for, and prestigious pedigree.
To wit, Vacheron Constantin revived a 1921 driving model, originally designed for the American market, in pink gold this year. The timing is hardly a coincidence: America is, for better or worse, dominating world conversations; and we are living out our own Twenties—roaring or otherwise. Regardless, this singular design is a terrific beauty.
Shaped watches like Cartier’s and Vacheron Constantin’s might have unique silhouettes on their side, but you’d be remiss to discount a good round watch. Patek Philippe’s Calatrava is the quintessence of a round, classic dress watch. This year, it updated its ladies’ collection with a pair of gold references elegantly sized at 34.6mm. Our pick is the one in white gold, with a sand-beige sunray finish dial and a matching beige calfskin strap, a masterful balance of colour which gives off a warm, radiant glow. It’s powered by an ultra-thin self-winding movement with a micro-rotor—simple, effective and an expression of an impeccable modern watch.
When designing with simplicity in mind, it helps to go back to first principles. Putting aside the design achievement of its famed Reverso, Jaeger-LeCoultre specialises in making precise, refined watch movements. The brand has certainly evolved far beyond that, but this year it revisited this fundamental identity with the new Master Control Chronometre collection. Designed as a round watch with an integrated bracelet, it’s perhaps the watchmaker of watchmakers’ modern expression of quintessence. The collection debuts with three levels of useful complexity: a perpetual calendar, a date and power reserve, and an essential time-date configuration. The latter is our pick for a watch that best encapsulates and expresses the purity of Jaeger-LeCoultre watchmaking.
At Tudor, thoughtful tweaks that went into revamping the Royal collection have made it a fabulous proposition. The line is reintroduced in three clearly differentiated sizes: 30mm with time only, 36mm with time and date, and 40mm with time, day and date. The former two are the most elegant, and the collection has been fleshed out with 17 style options with different dial colours, a choice of diamonds on the bezel, and either full steel or two-tone steel and gold. The harmony of its details are more refined than ever—on the ice blue dial version, for instance, the hands and indexes are coloured blue to match—and the collection offers the sport-chic look at great value.
The June 2026 ‘Embody’ edition of Vogue Singapore is available online and on newsstands.
