When it comes to watchmaking, some brands out-dazzle each other with gems and otherworldly designs when all we want is wrist zen. Minimalist watches with a pared-down essence of style are a strong trend. And to paraphrase Mies van der Rohe, God is in the minimal details.
Minimalist watches for timeless style
Ressence Type 8 Sage Green
Belgian industrial designer Benoit Mintiens set out to completely upend our concept of what a mechanical watch could look like, bringing 21st century design nous to traditional engineering. The results speak for themselves: the Type 8 is the brand’s simplest creation to date, honing the idea of rotating dials (the minute hand orbits the dial as it rotates) and crown-free, smooth cases to a new degree. The titanium case ensures it feels as minimal as it looks.
IWC Portugieser Automatic 40
IWC’s Portugieser collection has been overshadowed lately by the success of its pilot’s watches and the reintroduction of the Gerald Genta-designed Ingenieur. But to many it represents the heart and soul of the brand, in its truly minimalist, mid-century encapsulation of the bare minimum required of a watch. Overhauled in April 2024, the collection now comprises mostly gold-cased models with a focus on characterful dial colours, as with this white gold, ice-blue number that comes on a soft Santoni leather strap.
Writer: Chris Hall
Unimatic Modello Due U2S-8BB
Bringing a contemporary, graphic sensibility to the largely unchanging genre of dive watches, Unimatic has acquired cult-favourite status for its careful reworking of a decades-old template. Removing all numerals and almost all text in favour of blocky, stencilled markers and sharp, angular hands, it has managed to be minimalist while also sturdy and rugged. The U2S-8BB is part of a recent collection of all-black designs; powered by a Sellita movement and water-resistant to 300m, it is limited to 99 pieces.
Cartier Tank Louis Cartier
This is the distilled essence of French watchmaking with its deep gloss dial and architectural case. The Louis Cartier is the equivalent of a black Chanel dress and an understated instrument of time, and black goes with everything, right? Set in gold, the Tank Louis Cartier might just be the perfect one-watch collection.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ceramic
The ascent of Bulgari’s Swiss-based watchmaking division has made the Roman jeweller a force to be reckoned with. This time, designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani offers up a dark reinterpretation of the architectural Octo Finissimo. Stealth is the word when the spectacular wrist presence of the Finissimo is toned down with a muted shade of black ceramic.
Laurent Ferrier Classic Micro-Rotor Evergreen
Driven by a quest for subtle perfection, the small team of Laurent Ferrier has a bespoke approach to the art of wristwear. With impossibly slim spear-shaped hands and elongated indices, the result brings a quiet balance to the Classic Micro-Rotor in pink gold (pictured top). With the studied calm of a sartorial brushed dark green, time itself seems less than important.
Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle
In this story of minimalist-watch joy, the new Traditionelle from Vacheron Constantin seems more detailed than the rest. But with its subtle shade of green and gold, it emanates a calm confidence only the world’s oldest existing watch brand could offer. And that includes the zen feeling of a manual winding movement finished and assembled by hand.
H Moser Endeavour Vantablack Tourbillon
Vantablack is the darkest form of black known to man (and artist Anish Kapoor, in his Vantablack sculptures), and H Moser & Cie uses it to full effect. An infinite feeling of deep space sets the stage for the company’s Tourbillon in a classic 42mm gold case. It takes a strong will to not get drawn in by the twirling mechanical art of the prima ballerina at 6 o’clock, set in a deep abyss of black.
Kurono Grand Urushi Aoyama
Kurono is the accessible brand of Hajime Asaoka, the sensei of independent Japanese watchmaking. This 37mm threesome offers traditional Japanese urushi lacquer dials within a smooth case. The deep gloss emanates from a plant-based lacquer that takes up to two months to dry, lending an ethereal air to the dials. With a thickness of only 9.5mm, these svelte watches offer showstopping dials at their most minimal.
Rado True Thinline
Rado was the first brand to offer a ceramic bracelet, and the high-tech gloss is still its calling card. The Rado True Thinline (pictured top) is perhaps the ultimate expression of its design nous, with a paper-thin 4.9mm case. This sleek expression of darkness is in fact the slimmest the brand has ever produced, with a 39mm scratch-resistant case and a quiet, stealthy presence.
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