Watches and Wonders 2025: When Colour Redefines Time

Each brand, each showcase, each watch aligns like a brushstroke on a contemporary painting. More than mere timekeeping instruments, these watches become visual languages. They tell stories of our relationship with time, with luxury, with innovation. Design, material, craftsmanship — everything is shaded, claimed, and now fully expressed in color.

Gold for the Cartier Tank à Guichet

Gold is no longer just a precious material; it’s a statement. With the reissue of the legendary Cartier Tank à Guichets, the Parisian house draws from its DNA to revive Art Deco daring. Created in 1928, this watch was Cartier’s first to adopt mechanical digital display. Today, it returns as a precious nod to history, yet with a resolutely contemporary presence.

Its sleek rectangular case, crafted in yellow gold, rose gold, or platinum, elegantly conceals jumping hours and trailing minutes. Inside, the hand-wound 9755 MC caliber embodies Cartier’s horological precision. But it’s the platinum version with oblique display, produced in only 200 pieces, where the watch reveals its true uniqueness — a rare piece of discreet refinement, offering the wrist a gleam of nobility and mystery.

 

Graphite Black for the IWC Ingenieur

This deep black, the shade of pure engineering, wraps the IWC Ingenieur like an elegant suit of armor forged in Schaffhausen’s workshops. This watch channels raw metal power, transforming it into precision, balance, and applied mechanical art. Its 40 mm steel case, inspired by Gérald Genta’s iconic 1970s design, pairs harmoniously with an integrated bracelet, creating a fluid, contemporary silhouette. The black grid-patterned dial captures and reflects light with captivating intensity. At the heart of this piece, the automatic 32111 caliber, with a 120-hour power reserve, guarantees remarkable accuracy. A soft iron inner case shields the movement from magnetic fields, while water resistance to 100 meters enhances its technical edge.

 

Vibrant Turquoise — NORQAIN Wild One Skeleton 39 mm

The turquoise of crystalline waters infuses the NORQAIN Wild One Skeleton with an eternal summer spirit. Every detail seems to breathe freshness and lightness, like a plunge into an alpine lake on an August day. The 39 mm NORQAIN Wild One Skeleton stands out with its black NORTEQ® case accented by turquoise touches. The automatic NN08S caliber animates the skeleton dial, revealing its inner mechanics. Water-resistant to 200 meters and weighing just 64 grams, this watch embodies the spirit of exploration.

 

 

Bleu matin – Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Quantième Perpétuel Platinum Morning Blue

Morning blue. A soft, silent shade that cloaks the Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Quantième Perpétuel in suspended elegance. Its grained dial, inspired by the first light of day, pairs perfectly with the 40.6 mm platinum case and the signature fluted bezel. Beneath this serenity, the hand-wound PF733 calibre in rose gold orchestrates 265 components with a 60-hour power reserve.

The calendar indications blend gracefully into the dial, preserving perfect visual balance. With this Toric Quantième Perpétuel, Parmigiani presents a timepiece for those who choose silence over noise, restraint over showmanship, harmony over spectacle. Limited to just 50 pieces, it embodies the rare balance between technical virtuosity and modern sensitivity.

 

Glacier Blue — Rolex Land-Dweller

Glacier blue, the frost of suspended time, wraps the Rolex Land-Dweller in polar calm. Far from having a heart of ice, it’s the 7135 caliber that breathes life into this watch. This 5 Hz high-frequency automatic movement, the result of over seven years of development, integrates the revolutionary Dynapulse escapement, offering exceptional precision and a 66-hour power reserve.

Its 40 mm Oystersteel case, inspired by the angular lines of the 1970s Oysterquartz models, pairs harmoniously with an integrated Flat Jubilee bracelet, creating a fluid, contemporary silhouette. The glacier-blue dial, adorned with a femtosecond laser-engraved honeycomb pattern, reflects light with icy intensity, while applied Arabic numerals at 6 and 9 o’clock evoke the Explorer. Water-resistant to 100 meters, the Land-Dweller combines robustness and elegance, embodying Rolex’s spirit of innovation and exploration.

 

Monochrome Blue — Zenith G.F.J. (160th Anniversary)

Blue, Zenith’s signature color, takes center stage in three watches celebrating the house’s 160th anniversary. Among them, the G.F.J. stands out with a deep-blue lapis lazuli dial, flecked with golden pyrite like a starry sky. This watch pays tribute to the legendary Caliber 135, the most awarded movement in chronometry competitions, with 235 distinctions between 1949 and 1962. Reintroduced for this limited edition of 160 pieces, the manual-winding caliber has been modernized with a 72-hour power reserve and COSC-certified accuracy of ±2 seconds per day.

The 39.15 mm platinum case houses a three-part dial: a guilloché “brick” outer ring, a lapis lazuli center, and a blue mother-of-pearl small seconds counter at 6 o’clock. Faceted white gold hands and indexes complete this refined composition. The watch comes with three interchangeable straps: dark blue alligator, black calfskin, and blue Saffiano calfskin.

 

Military Green, Deep Blue — Panerai Luminor Marina 44 mm Collection

Military green, a sober and strategic shade, clothes the Panerai Luminor Marina Titano with natural authority. This color evokes a mission tool, but this watch, designed to withstand marine depths, also comes dressed in deep blue. Its varied shades make it an essential ally for tackling everyday challenges as well.
Featuring a 44 mm steel case, slimmer and lighter than its predecessor, it offers exceptional water resistance up to 500 meters. Its automatic P.9010 movement ensures a 3-day power reserve, while the crown-protecting dial and leather or rubber strap emphasize its marine robustness.

 

Magic Red — Hublot Big Bang 20th Anniversary Red Magic

Brilliant red, a pulsing incandescence, sets the Big Bang Unico Red Magic vibrating to the rhythm of horological revolutions. Hublot pioneered red ceramic, a technical feat introduced in 2018. This anniversary edition, limited to 100 pieces, features a sharp 43 mm red ceramic case housing the HUB1280 Unico automatic flyback chronograph movement with a 72-hour power reserve. Its skeleton dial reveals the complexity of the movement, while the red rubber strap completes this bold aesthetic. A watch that, through its color, evokes desire and passion.

 

And if color became the new watchmaking complication?
This year again, it’s no longer necessary to highlight each brand’s technical achievements — they now express themselves through a vibrant palette of hues. Every shade reveals more than just style; it embodies a mindset, an intention, an emotion. Incandescent gold, glacier blue, vibrant red, or strategic green are no longer mere finishes — they may well be the emotions we wear on our wrists today.

In 2025, a watch is no longer just about telling time. It reflects our era, our taste, our drive. Watches and Wonders proves it: watchmaking is venturing into new aesthetic territories, asserting a future where luxury is alive, luminous, and infinitely expressive.