Behind the times: the best retro watch designs

The Lip Secteur watch was available in three case shapes - round, rectangular and square (Image credit: Photography: Tyler Little)

The 1960s and 1970s were characterised by a surge in creativity for watchmakers, who experimented with avant-garde designs at a time when the quartz crisis threatened the industry.

‘There were the aesthetics of new forms, new displays, new technologies and everything in between,’ says Mitch Greenblatt, co-author of Retro Watches: The Modern Collectors Guide. ‘Many were likely prototypical and never produced in large numbers, hence the extreme rarity and relative obscurity.’

The new book, co-authored by Josh Sims, looks at the rare and unusual watches that defined three decades of watch design, when both new and more established watch brands played with rewriting traditional design codes.

‘Watches and their shapes were at their most adventurous during the 1960s and 1970s – mirroring the mid-century and the space-age with implied aerodynamics, intentional asymmetry, restrained minimalism and new technologies. A chronograph from this era often looked as cool as the cars they were intended to ride in,’ adds Greenblatt. ‘A rare new technology like LED (light emitting diodes) were inside stainless steel or solid gold casing and likely cost more than a Rolex of the era.’

Greenblatt and Sims celebrate everything from the more unusual design tweaks to the mechanical Swiss digital watches which spearheaded a new time-telling movement in the book. ‘I think if these watches are united in any way, design-wise, it’s in the willingness of the designers behind them to experiment,’ says Sims. ‘Comparatively, watch design today is so much safer – possibly because that’s what’s dictated by the dynamics of a market in which there are fewer brands than there were in the pre-quartz era.’

A zenith watch — Movado Zenith with wooden dial.

INFORMATION

Retro Watches: The Modern Collector’s Guide, published by Thames & Hudson

Hannah Silver is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, spanning national newspapers and independent magazines. Currently Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles for print and digital, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury since joining in 2019.