WorldTempus’ Top 5 ‘Square-ish’ Watches

From hard-edged icons to softly sculpted cushions, the square watch is having something of a moment. But why stop at four equal sides? This year, some of watchmaking’s most interesting designs have played with geometry, rounding off corners, stretching proportions and finding new ways to make the wristwatch anything but circular. Here are five watches for those that believe square can be a state of mind.

1. TAG Heuer, Monaco Evergraph

With its sharp corners and hard, automotive profile, few watches have a stronger claim to squareness than the Monaco, and the 2026 Evergraph pushes that geometry firmly into the future. Its 40mm Grade 5 titanium case retains the unmistakable motoring presence of the original Monaco, while a transparent dial exposes the avant-garde Calibre TH80-00 beneath. Yet the real story is mechanical. Developed over five years with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, the automatic chronograph uses a compliant mechanism based on flexible components rather than traditional friction-based systems. The COSC-certified movement beats at 5Hz and offers a 70-hour power reserve, while the square sapphire caseback provides another geometric window on to the movement. A hyper-square icon that’s been re-engineered from the inside out.

2. Chopard, L’Heure du Diamant Octagonal

While technically an octagon rather than a square, Chopard’s L’Heure du Diamant is an example of how clean, clear corners can make just as strong a geometric statement as  four straight sides. Combining the architectural outline of a 32mm case with the softer language of high jewellery, Chopard’s beautiful and morally sound 18-carat ethical gold is set with a lavish diamond-set bezel.

With 4.36 carats of diamonds in the white gold version, a sapphire crystal caseback, case sides adorned with Chopard’s famed prong setting and an automatic movement displaying hours and minutes, this is geometry in a most glamorous guise. Sitting somewhere between watch and jewel, a perfect example of how square-ish needn’t mean sporty, masculine or austere.

3. H. Moser & Cie., Streamliner Pump

As references to the 1980s seem to be taking over present day pop culture, it’s so fitting that one of the decade’s final flourishes – the Reebok Pump – has been reborn as the most desirable of timepieces. If ever there were a watch that demonstrated how far the idea of ‘square’ can stretch, it’s H. Moser & Cie.’s Streamliner Pump. Its 40mm cushion-shaped case, with its broad integrated bracelet and fluid curves, is more rounded rectangle than square – but its strong horizontal and vertical lines give it a distinctly architectural character.

Created in collaboration with Reebok, the Pump translates the sneaker’s famous orange button into a completely new mechanical winding system. Each press of the pusher at eight o’clock adds more than an hour of power reserve to the manually wound HMC 103 calibre, which stores 74 hours in total. The case is made from forged quartz fibre, wrapped around a titanium inner construction, while the watch is limited to 250 pieces per colour. A square-ish watch with a very well-rounded sense of humour.

4. Laurent Ferrier, Sport Traveller

Laurent Ferrier has long explored the possibilities of the square case, and the 2026 Sport Traveller Slate Grey takes that language into sportier territory. Its 42mm Grade 5 titanium case has a sculpted tonneau profile with softened contours – an evolution of the Maison’s Square case – creating a shape that looks almost blocky from some angles and distinctly curved from others.

Inside is the new LF275.01 automatic calibre, whose off-centred platinum micro-rotor provides a 72-hour power reserve. The dual-time function is operated by two pushers at eight and ten o’clock, allowing the local hour to be advanced or moved backwards one hour at a time without stopping the movement. With an integrated titanium bracelet and 100-metre water resistance, this is Laurent Ferrier’s typically refined take on the sports watch – all curves, corners and mechanical purpose.

5. Hermès, H08

The Hermès H08 may look like a square watch at first glance, but look just a little closer and its unique geometry becomes considerably more nuanced. The 39mm-wide case has softened edges, planes and a cushion-like silhouette, framing a distinctly circular dial. It is precisely this tension between angles and curves that gives the H08 its character.

The current H08 combines a case made from braided glass-fibre composite with a black ceramic bezel, while the Hermès Manufacture H1837 automatic movement offers approximately 50 hours of power reserve and a date display at 4:30. At 42mm lug-to-lug and 39mm across, it’s also a useful reminder that a watch doesn’t have to conform to a conventional round case to feel balanced on the wrist. Hermès, as usual, prefers to blur the boundaries – never losing that sense of fun.