The fall season can often seem grey and colorless. To beat those autumn doldrums, here are five colorful watches destined to lift your spirits every time you look at the time on your wrist.
The Glashütte Original Sixties Iconic is perhaps the most colorful set of timepieces to come out this fall. Exuding a hip 1960s style, this new line building on the Senator Sixties collection that made its debut in 2007 definitely captures a currently stylish retro feel without forgetting the comforts and needs of today’s watch consumer.
The biggest eye-catcher is, of course, the five new dials that have been stamped using a vintage stamping tool from the 1960s to create what the brand calls a dégradé effect. The stainless steel Sixties Iconic, which is powered by an in-house automatic movement, is available in five colors including red, gold, blue, brown, and grey. They are available to purchase through Glashütte Original and Tourbillon boutiques at a price of $7,500 each.
For much more information and original photography of these richly hued timepieces, please see Sixties Iconic: Glashütte Original’s Richly Multicolored Homage To Vintage East German Style.
Likewise hailing from Glashütte, Germany, Nomos Glashütte debuts the new Neomatik collection. This brand – the largest producer of mechanical watches in Germany – is known for its classic Bauhaus style and fair pricing structure. This fall, that beautifully understated Bauhaus style gets a splash of orange – just the right amount – on ten new automatic timepieces
These ultra-svelte, fashionable, and eye-catching timepieces range in price from $3,360 to $3,800 and can be ordered online at Nomos Glashütte’s e-shop. For more information and to see original photography of these bright beauties, please see Nomos Glashütte Neomatik: A Sensibly Priced, Efficient, Fashionable, And Mechanically Sound Tribute To The Past And Future Of Glashütte.
Another German that has produced brightly colored watches – albeit from a different corner of the country – is Grieb & Benzinger. And the color that this boutique brand specializing in ultra-luxurious and bespoke timepieces loves is blue – a blue that has been most lovingly utilized in a set of five rare timepieces that is collectively called Blue Chips.
My favorite of this bunch is the Blue Tulip, which features a painstakingly skeletonized movement that has been minutely galvanized with the brand’s signature blue platinum. Surrounded by a luxurious 43 mm frame of rose gold, the whole ensemble just pops. For around $42,000 depending on the level of customization.
For more information on the Grieb & Benzinger Blue Chips, please see New Blue Chips In Grieb & Benzinger’s Blue-Tone Polaris And Tulip Collections.
Precisely cut and applied lavender jade and blue agate tiles measuring a maximum of two millimeters in length are what gives the Logical One Secret Kakau Höfke by Romain Gauthier its vibrant color. Three hundred and fifty-two of them, to be exact, applied using a technique called micro-marquetry.
It took three months to apply these tiles to the white gold micro-mechanical masterpiece called the Logical One Secret; their combined form is easily discernible as a rendition of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro – the hometown of artist Kakau Höfke, who created the original painting that this colorful mosaic represents.
For original photography of this masterpiece, please see Christ The Redeemer On A Watch: Logical One Secret Kakau Höfke By Romain Gauthier.
Finnish watchmaker Stepan Sarpaneva has joined forced with Black Badger Advanced Composites to create the Korona K0 Northern Lights, a typical Sarpaneva timepiece outfitted with his funky moon phase, but with a fluorescent twist: extreme, colored luminescent material underneath the dial grille.
The automatic Northern Lights in stainless steel comes in blue, violet, or green – but hurry, they’re limited to only eight examples each at €14,000.
For more information and original photos, see Stepan Sarpaneva’s Striking Korona K0 Northern Lights.
Elizabeth Doerr is the editor-in-chief of Quill & Pad, an online publication that keeps a watch on time.
