Luxury watches with a tactile, feel-good factor

From fluffy mohair knits to lacy crochet shirts and terry-cotton polos, getting dressed can be a sensory feast. Now leading watch firms are taking a leaf out of the fashion designers’ book with textural treatments that have a tactile appeal. “Collectors have grown bored of stainless-steel sports watches — there is the underlying desire to show individualism. [Textured dials] draw in a younger crowd who like jewellery-style pieces that their friends may not own or have ever seen,” explains Arwind Jhand, the founder of Tortoise Watches, a rare and vintage timepiece dealer based in Grays Antique Market in Mayfair.
Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral Limited Edition, £114,000; bucherer.com
Earlier this year, Carl F Bucherer, a brand better known for elegant, sporty watches, launched a trio of lacquered, laser-etched dial models with a 3D diamond-like pattern that catches the light in an equally brilliant fashion. It hints at the complex engineering that lies beneath, which includes a tourbillon — a cage-like component that spins to counteract the effect of gravity and improve timekeeping accuracy.
Genbi Valley Hi-Beat Limited Edition, £9,750; grand-seiko.com
Voyaging east, Grand Seiko — the shogun of luxury watchmaking — takes the master smithing traditions of Japan and applies them in a typically flawless fashion. The new Genbi Valley pays tribute to the delicate greenery of the landscape near the brand’s studio, with a gleaming dial that has been stamped and coated to evoke the texture of the foliage.
Purple Rain DB28xs, POA; debethune.ch
De Bethune, a maker that challenges expectations, has released the Purple Rain DB28xs, which wouldn’t have looked out of place on the wrist of Prince. It has a rippled titanium dial in an alchemic shade achieved by oxidisation at a high heat. Also championing a sci-fi approach is Ulysse Nardin’s Freak S Nomad, which in the absence of a dial features an intricately engraved backing disc framing a spaceship-like movement that is hand-worked using 18th-century machinery.
Animal Jewellery, POA; cartier.com
In the high jewellery realm, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Lady Jour Nuit displays the Parisian jeweller’s mastery of precious materials with a mother-of-pearl “fan shroud” and a Murano aventurine glass disc depicting the sun, moon and stars in diamonds and yellow sapphires, which revolves as the day ticks by. Just as glossy are Cartier’s Animal Jewellery watches (above), which hybridise the pattern of a zebra and a crocodile in a mélange of white gold, brilliant-cut diamonds and tsavorite garnets that mimics the animals’ coats. And Dior is putting its own spin on the trend with its La D de Dior Archi Dior (below), where white gold and diamonds create a lustrous lace effect on the dial.
La D de Dior Archi Dior, £49,000; dior.com
At the more rugged end of the spectrum, Omega’s Speedmaster (below) has had a shadowy makeover with the new Dark Side of the Moon edition: its openwork dial, achieved with a high-intensity pulsed laser beam, replicates the crater-riddled lunar surface.
Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8, £13,500; omegawatches.com
Alpine Eagle XL Chrono, £66,100; chopard.com
Also making the case for burly, athletic designs with textural merit is Chopard’s new Alpine Eagle XL Chrono in a warm rose gold, with a feathered, textured dial reminiscent of the plumage of the model’s namesake. They’re flying off the shelf.