Baring It All – In a New Way
Twenty years ago, it was Roger Dubuis and Cartier who dared to take skeletonizing into the 21st century. The few other skeletonized watches to be had were simply stuck in a baroque kind of form language that, seemingly, hadn’t changed much since the art of skeletonizing watches was pioneered in the 1760s.
But now it is a completely different story. Now every brand worth its salt is doing skeletonized – or at least open-worked. And it is done with traditional arts of decorations, but with a contemporary expression: Sharp angles, straight lines, rhodium-plated or the use of titanium are just some of the modern ways used in skeletonizing today. Just look at H. Moser & Cie., Cvstos, Richard Mille, Lorige, TAG Heuer, Armin Strom, Audemars Piguet, and Zenith; if a brand has muscle, it also has a skeletonized or open-worked watch crafted with a contemporary design.
“Everybody must get stoned.”
In 2026, stone dials are everywhere, and, seemingly on every price level, including Dennison, Biver. H. Moser& Cie., Piaget, Rolex, and many more that are also embracing the trend. We first saw stone dials on wristwatches from Piaget around the time that Bob Dylan wrote "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” which is the name of the 1966 song in the sub headline. (Which by the way, is not about illicit drug use, but a biblical reference to punishment.) After that first heyday of stone dials, which lasted around a decade, they almost disappeared, But now it is all the rage: Green and stripy malachite, blue shimmering lapis lazuli, ultra-black, shiny onyx, and caramelly Tiger Eye are among the most popular stones, not forgetting the marble(!) from Bvlgari.
What stones will we see at Watches and Wonders 2026?
