THE WATCH AND ITS BEATING HEART

Precision, materials, reliability or wearability: each of the following innovations concerns the watch itself, from optimisations to a complete rethink of its fundamentals and conceptualisation.

Acrotec: a non-magnetic regulating organ

Part of the drive to improve a watch’s chronometric performance and stability, Acrotec has developed a non-magnetic regulating organ (French acronym: ORA) that enables brands to guarantee optimal precision. Possibly the biggest innovation is that Acrotec supplies this key component across the board, from major names to smaller independents, as an alternative to patent-protected solutions.

Breguet: a magnetic pivot

The Classique 7225 that Breguet unveiled for its 250th anniversary incorporates a high-frequency 10 Hz escapement in addition to a magnetic pivot for the balance. According to Breguet, which has been researching this concept since the mid-2000s, “the magnetic pivot is for the wristwatch what the tourbillon was for the pocket watch.” The brand has, quite simply, harnessed what has always been a mechanical movement’s sworn enemy, magnetism, and used it to advantage. Two micro-magnets, one on each side of the balance staff, produce a magnetic flux that maintains a stable pivot by freeing its action from the effects of gravity. This dynamically stable system automatically recentres itself in the event of an impact. The result is substantially greater precision, with a certified deviation in rate of ±1 second per day.

Formex: a ceramic micro-adjustable clasp

The brand claimed the Innovation Prize at WatchTime Düsseldorf 2025 for the Essence Ceramica Skeleton Automatic COSC 41mm. Like the rest of the Essence Ceramica collection, it demonstrates Formex’s technical prowess when working with ceramic. In addition to an all-ceramic case and bracelet, it incorporates the brand’s proprietary Case Suspension System for superior comfort and shock-absorption, as well as the world’s first micro-adjustable clasp made out of ceramic.

F.P.Journe: stealth chronometer

You’ve seen it in tantalum, get ready for the Chronomètre Furtif with a case and bracelet in tungsten carbide: a virtually indestructible material that is heavier than tantalum and ultra-resistant to scratches. Taking stealth to the next level, only the wearer can read the time from the matte-finished numerals on the mirror-polished, anthracite grey grand feu enamel dial. Power reserve and moon phases are seen from the back, incorporated into the rose gold movement. This is quite luxury, redefined.

Franck Muller: aluminium expertise

The Vanguard Royal Bauxite collection is a showcase for Frank Muller’s expertise when working with ultra-light aluminium. A skeletonised architecture reveals the regulating organ at 8 o’clock, the mainspring barrel that supplies the seven-day power reserve at 12 o’clock, and the winding mechanism at 3 o’clock. Light on the wrist, complex to create, the Vanguard Royal Bauxite comes in multiple vibrant colours.

Grand Seiko: Ultra Fine Accuracy

More than two decades after the first 9R Spring Drive movement, Caliber 9RB2 U.F.A. - for Ultra Fine Accuracy - delivers unprecedented precision of ±20 seconds per year. Grand Seiko has achieved this feat through enhanced manufacturing and ageing processes for the quartz oscillator, and a newly developed thermo-compensating integrated circuit. This groundbreaking calibre, whose compact design fits into cases with a diameter of just 37mm, drives the most accurate mainspring-powered wristwatches in the world.

Rolex Dynapulse: optimised energy transfer

One of the year’s most talked-about innovations (that we covered in-depth in issue 3/25) debuted at the 2025 Watches and Wonders fair. Calibre 7135, which equips the new Land-Dweller collection, features Rolex’s first dual-impulse escapement. Composed mainly of silicon parts, and with an original architecture, the Dynapulse escapement is very light, virtually insensitive to magnetic fields and its energy efficiency is significantly superior to that of a standard escapement. This is because, unlike a conventional Swiss lever escapement that relies on sliding friction, the Dynapulse transfers energy through a rolling motion. This major innovation is protected by seven patents.

Rolex Quantum: an optical atomic clock

While largely beyond the bounds of luxury watchmaking, when in May 2025 Rolex set up Rolex Quantum SA at the Neuchâtel Observatory, speculation was rife. This new entity — dedicated to atomic timekeeping and a partnership with CSEM, the Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology — is a sign of Rolex’s intention to further explore the field of precision chronometry. Can we expect to be wearing optical atomic clocks on our wrist any time soon? Probably not, but the industrial and scientific applications are numerous… and will continue to fuel Rolex’s legendary reputation for precision.

THE WATCH’S ENVIRONMENT

Innovations in watchmaking materialise through brands but are also fuelled by an entire ecosystem of suppliers and startups. These advancements concern not just the heart of the watch but all that goes with it, from manufacturing to the customer experience.

AIS Collective: beautiful bronze

After more than two years of development in collaboration with Swiss industrial experts, AIS Collective presents the BronzePen: the world’s first cleaner specifically for bronze watches.

Collectorsphere: the voice of collectors

This private, invitation-only platform gives watch collectors a voice and influence through exchanges with brands. In addition, it hosts events, both online and in-person, and publishes Intelligence Reports on market trends.

Enquirus: a database for lost or stolen luxury items

Launched by Richemont and presented at Watches and Wonders, Enquirus takes the form of a vast database of lost or stolen watches and jewellery. More than 50,000 items have been registered to date and 200-plus watch brands are represented. Given the rise in watch and jewellery theft, added to the lack of a single, industry-approved method for declaring stolen items, Enquirus offers a useful solution for individuals - who can securely register their collections or report pieces as lost or stolen - as well as for brands, retailers, even insurance companies.

EveryWatch: price transparency

EveryWatch is an innovative platform that brings together global watch market data (auctions + secondary market) on a single platform. It offers analyses based on actual transactions rather than simply asking prices, providing a rare level of transparency. The platform provides powerful tools (trends, comparisons and collection tracking) that were previously unavailable to most collectors.

Froggy Pix: a 3D/NFC holographic case

Introduced at the Watches and Wonders 2025 LAB, Froggy Pix’s 3D holographic case with NFC recognition transforms how customers interact with and view products in-store. The customer configures dials, hands, numerals and straps simply by placing the corresponding element on a tray. The image changes instantly each time a new element is selected. The entire experience is completely intuitive and the rendering astonishingly realistic. The ultimate tool for ultra-customisation.

Hamilton: on a mission

The brand continues to explore the intersection of watchmaking, creativity and storytelling through its collaboration with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. This is the Swiss watchmaker’s third major collaboration in video games. In Black Ops 7, Axel Vermaak wears the Khaki Field Automatic 38mm. Now, gamers can experience the Khaki Field in the game and wear the same watch in real life.

Hirsch: slate on a strap

Hirsch combines authentic nature with modern technology. Thanks to a unique process, authentic slate is refined and made flexible in terms of colour and texture. Each variation reflects the colours and moods of the four seasons, offering a true expression of natural elegance and technical precision.

Institut Lumière Matière: complex-geometry piezoelectric crystals

Institut Lumière Matière (iLM), a research unit at CNRS-Université Lyon 1 in France, has developed an ion etching technology for sculpting monocrystalline sapphire or ceramics into novel geometries (spirals, arches and domes). These three-dimensional structures pave the way for mechanical, optical or electronic devices that are more compact, more aesthetic and high-performance. Shown at the EPHJ trade fair, it opens up new creative possibilities in the watch sector.

Louis Bélet: thread forms by polygon turning

Also at EPHJ, Louis Bélet presented a novel polygon turning solution that produces complex thread forms in a matter of seconds, cutting production time by up to 97 per cent. Already greenlighted for the medical sector, this technology is ideal for the watch and precision connector industries, enabling significant productivity gains.

Marteau & Co.: a new formula for watch auctions

Co-founded by Arthur Touchot and Léonard Pictet, Marteau & Co. is an auction house of a different ilk. Specialising in watches by independent makers, it is the first to pay a guaranteed “maker’s fee” (similar to an artist’s resale right) by redistributing 3% of the buyer’s fee to the creator of each watch sold: a bridge between the primary and secondary markets. Held online in October, Marteau & Co.’s inaugural sale realised CHF 1,526,280 or an average CHF 63,595 for each lot in a highly selective catalogue of 25 watches.

Ming: a 3D-printed titanium bracelet

The Polymesh is a one-piece bracelet/strap in grade 5 titanium, comprising 1,693 components. Made using additive manufacturing and laser sintering, it incorporates a pin buckle and quick-release 20mm spring bars.

Orkos: a secured bracelet clasp

The French startup and inventor of the Watchlock® micro-locking clasp was an exhibitor at the Watches and Wonders 2025 LAB, where it demonstrated a new function. The Watchlock Code Tech gives the owner of the watch the option to set a personalised security code that blocks the clasp pusher and prevents it from opening, whether accidentally or by a would-be thief.

Origify by Bosch: secure authentication

With the number of fake watches on the rise, and as demand for traceability grows, authentication of luxury products is a major challenge. Winner in the Digital & Tech-Driven Luxury Innovation category at the Luxury Innovation Summit 2025, Origify authenticates a product by recognising its unique surface pattern or “fingerprint”, using an ordinary smartphone and with no invasive markings or chips. Ready for the Digital Product Passport that will be obligatory in the European Union from 2028.

Positive Coating: chameleon colours

Specialists in innovative coloured surface treatments, Positive Coating explores dichroic colours with MorphoColor. Like a chameleon that uses a lattice of nanocrystals to reflect different wavelengths of light, MorphoColor harnesses the characteristics of interference colours to produce a constantly changing play of hues. Surface finishes - brushed, microblasted, engraved, chased, guilloché, circular-grained - interact with the colour to create vibrancy, depth or shine.

Preciflex: mechanical luminescence

Preciflex is well-known for developments in fluid energy: HYT and its fluidic time displays are a prime example. At the cutting edge of innovation, the company has launched a battery-free mechanical module which, by transforming motion into electricity, illuminates a function on a watch’s dial or, hinting at synergies with the métiers d’art, an aspect of its design.

PulseSpeed: innovating in wearable health tech

Since its creation in 1984, the Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) has been at the forefront of technological innovation in Switzerland. Its Inventor Award 2025 went to Philippe Renevey for his PulseSpeed patent. This innovation enables high-precision measurement of a person’s heart rate and physical activity without energy-hungry GPS tracking. Applicable to all types of wearable devices, this breakthrough technology is already integrated into watches by Tissot and Festina.

Quantum Brand Protection: Invisible Quantum Tattoo

Quantum’s revolutionary authentication solution is an invisible quantum “tattoo”, embedded in a watch component. Resistant to light, washing, scratches and temperature, this digital watermark proves the watch’s authenticity without contact, without energy and without altering its appearance. Winner of the Exhibitors Prize at the 2025 EPHJ fair.

Salin: an interchangeable system

Salin’s revolutionary EasyFix is a patented system for attaching and removing a watch’s metal bracelet in seconds, tool-free. Invisible, lightweight, compact and compatible with industrial standards, it taps into growing demand among luxury buyers for personalisation. Yet another innovation spotted at EPHJ.

Swatch: “artistic intelligence”

AI-DADA is Swatch’s new AI-powered tool that transforms any idea into a unique watch design in under two minutes. Inspired by over 40 years of Swatch creativity and the playful spirit of the Dada movement, it lets users create a personalised New Gent model starting from a blank canvas, with optional tweaks like indexes and movement colour.

Watch Certificate: digital authentication

Watch Certificate is a Blockchain-secured platform for Digital Product Passports (which will be obligatory as of 2028). This unique document tracks a watch throughout its entire life cycle, including warranties and service history. As proof of authenticity, it facilitates resale by the watch’s owner. For brands, it provides valuable CRM data as well as opportunities to communicate with customers about a product’s heritage, for example, or ESG commitments.

The Watch Register: peace of mind for pre-owned buyers

With a database of over 110,000 watches - a figure likely to increase given the rise in watch thefts -, The Watch Register is a valuable source of information for pre-owned watch dealers, pawnbrokers, auction houses, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies and private individuals. Proof of its effectiveness, 50% of recovered watches are found within a year and 35% within six months.

Zammy ai: high-fidelity AI video content

Artificial intelligence is omnipresent and already creating incredible 2D images - although AI-generated video has yet to reach a comparable level. Also a winner at the Luxury Innovation Summit 2025, in the Creative Commerce & Digital Consumer Engagement category, Zammy ai aims to change this. Its technology transforms a single 3D image into high-fidelity video content that does not distort shapes, opening up a new era of virtual creation for brand marketing. Customers still have to visit a store to feel and touch a product… but for how much longer?

FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY

However much we try and skirt the issue, even with current headwinds, sustainability is not going away. Nature will always come back to bite us, and neither watchmaking nor luxury are exempt. All the more reason to consider innovations in an area that is fundamental to the industry’s resilience and relevance.

CompPair: self-healing composites

Set up in 2020, the Swiss firm focuses on extending composites’ lifespan and preventing waste. Made from recycled carbon fibres, its carbon composites incorporate HealTech™, a built-in repair capacity that recovers scratches and dents by heating to 100°C for one minute. Already used by ID Genève for its Circular C watches and United Nations SDGs limited edition, this technology has wide-ranging applications in other industries, particularly transportation and mobility.

Goold AG: lab-grown gold

Swiss company Goold AG synthesises sustainable materials, including gold salts from industrial wastewater and protein left over from (Swiss) cheesemaking, to produce 24k gold nanoplatelets which it transforms into liquid.goold, light.goold and 2D goold. Given the impacts of mined gold – for every kilo of mined gold, 100 tonnes of waste rock are extracted and 12.5 tonnes of CO2 emitted, not forgetting water consumption and the release of mercury into the environment – this lab-grown gold presents obvious environmental benefits. Goold AG won the Luxury Innovation Summit 2025 award in the Sustainable Luxury & Circular Innovation category.

Notpla: bye-bye plastic

Notpla launched in 2017 after a successful crowdfunding campaign, with the objective to “make packaging disappear”. Its Notpla Rigid, used by ID Genève, is a revolutionary seaweed-based packaging that can be home-composted and biodegrades within four to six weeks. The British firm, which raised £10 million in 2020, also offers alternatives to plastic cups and bottles, food packaging and, since 2023, paper. Proof that solutions exist, if we only look for them.

MycoWorks and other alternatives to animal leather

Mushrooms really are magic! They have a network of filaments, called mycelium, that perform the same function as plant roots, feeding the mushroom and helping with reproduction. MycoWorks’ Fine Mycelium™ technology engineers mycelium cells to grow luxurious, environmentally friendly alternatives to animal leather, such as Reishi™. Hermès made a mycelium version of its Victoria bag in 2021. In July 2025 Ligne Roset released the Kobold Sofa Made with Reishi™, demonstrating that beyond watch straps, Reishi™ can redefine sustainable interior design at boutiques.

Alternatives to animal leather are gaining traction. Atelier du Bracelet Parisien offers a range of plant-based or eco-friendly materials. Take your pick from pineapple, cork, jute or cactus. Nisiar makes straps from grape marc and can even trace the residue back to the vineyard: ID Genève (them again!) has straps from Château de Beaucastel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In Germany, Revoltech’s Lovr™ is a zero-plastic, 100% natural strap made out of hemp while in the United States, Natural Fiber Welding produces MIRUM®, a bio-based, rubber-based alternative to leather.

Tissot PRC 100 Solar: Lightmaster Solar

A pioneer in solar-powered timekeeping, Tissot’s latest innovation, the Lightmaster Solar, converts both natural and artificial light into energy… not through photovoltaic panels under the dial but microscopic honeycomb-structured cells that are almost invisibly integrated under the sapphire crystal. Energy is transferred through a zebra connector, integrated into the case, to power the quartz movement. Surplus energy is stored in a rechargeable accumulator so that fully charged, the watch will run for an impressive 14 months in the dark. Just ten minutes of daylight is enough to charge the battery for 24 hours.

Ugiel: Nano-colouring by precious metal deposition

The company has developed a technology for grafting gold or silver nanoparticles onto the surface of raw materials to achieve long-lasting colour effects without pigments, varnishes, paints or chemical treatments, by modifying the surface’s optical properties on a nanometric scale. Fully customisable, this environmentally friendly solution colours metals such as titanium, zirconium and steel, with multiple applications in watchmaking, jewellery and industry.

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