The latest trend in watches might surprise you

Set in a sleek, lacquered rectangular casing and adorned with 20 baguette-cut yellow beryls — set in gold, to match the opulent golden chain from which it dangles — Chanel’s latest launch looks like a lipstick at first sight. But there’s more to it. With a click, the lipstick case opens to reveal a watch dial at its center.

Named “Kiss Me,” the timepiece is part of the French luxury house’s capsule collection, which was unveiled at the Watches and Wonders trade fair in Geneva in April. Fusing beauty and horology, the collection also includes “Protect Me,” an amulet-like pendant that reimagines the evil eye as founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s own kohl-lined gaze, and “Give Me Luck,” a talismanic necklace featuring rubellite cabochons and five pink tourmalines arranged in a Byzantine motif that Chanel herself loved. Twist either pendant and, again, a hidden watch is revealed.

Creating timepieces that bear little resemblance to ordinary wristwatches (which traditionally feature a dial plate and hands, and attached by a strap, designed to be worn around the wrist) may seem like an unexpected move for Chanel, known for its classic styles. But it’s part of a broader growing trend that has also extended to the red carpet: See the custom Lorraine Schwartz watch choker that Taylor Swift wore around her neck to the Grammy Awards last year.

“It’s a new way to wear time — one that celebrates uniqueness and individuality,” said Manon Hagie, sales director of watches at Sotheby’s, on a phone call with CNN.

‘It’s not immediately clear it’s a watch’

Timepieces in unlikely shapes and sizes featured across the Watches and Wonders fair, which concluded on Monday.

Van Cleef & Arpels unveiled a new diamond-studded edition of the Cadenas — a bold, padlock-inspired design with a shackle-like clasp that looks more like a bracelet than a watch — marking the 90th anniversary of one of its most beloved styles. “When you look at it, it’s not immediately clear it’s a watch — and that’s what makes it modern and intriguing,” said Rainer Bernard, head of research and development at Van Cleef & Arpels, attributing the design’s enduring appeal to its dual identity as both a jewel and timepiece.

Similarly, the diamond-studded open cuff featuring Cartier’s iconic panther — caught mid-leap, paw outstretched, prowling over its prey — may initially look like a daring adornment. Upon closer inspection, however, the feline sits opposite a discreet watch dial that is only revealed when the piece is tilted by the wearer. These newly introduced Panthère jewelry watches — which also include a pared-down version in gold — play on the silhouette of last year’s Réflection de Cartier. (That model featured a mirrored finish in place of the panther, allowing the time to be read through its reflection, as the name subtly suggests.)

Cartier’s appetite for no-watch watches also extends to the men’s department with its revival of the Tank à Guichets. Deceptively minimalist, the new model features neither a dial nor hands — just two tiny apertures, or “guichets” (French for ticket windows), showing the hour and minutes as digits at the top and bottom, respectively. First introduced in 1928 as a reinterpretation of the classic Tank, the limited-edition style returns in 2025 in yellow gold, rose gold and platinum.

Unusual-looking timepieces also took center stage at a special Sotheby’s sale in April. Titled Area 51 — a playful nod to the US military site in the Nevada desert, long associated with UFOs and conspiracy theories about alien technology — the auction spotlighted 51 timepieces with uncommon case shapes or made with materials rarely used in watchmaking. Ranging from vintage Patek Philippe models to futuristic creations by independent brands like Urwerk, the lots fetched a combined $1.6 million.

For Sotheby’s Hagie, the result reflects “how the watch audience is evolving, with more women and Gen Z collectors entering the space.”

Pendant and brooch watches

Customers looking for less risqué styles may be drawn to pendant watches. All the rage during the Roaring Twenties, when they swung from the lithe frames of bob-haired flapper girls in fringed dresses and lowered waistlines, the style is enjoying a revival amid newfound interest in unusual watch forms, Hagie observed. She linked the trend to nostalgia, but also watchmakers’ growing focus on female clients and their heterogeneous tastes.

Indeed, in recent years, Jaeger-LeCoultre and even the sportier Richard Mille have introduced watches designed to swing from one’s neck. Meanwhile, Chanel’s playful new take on its signature octagonal-dial Première watch features an extra-long gold and leather chain designed to wrap not only around the wrist but also the neck.

At Piaget — where pendant watches have long been part of the brand’s repertoire — they’re back in the spotlight: This year, the Swiss watchmaker unveiled a model featuring a rope-like gold chain and ruby-root beads, with a ruby-root dial framed by a festoon of spinels and yellow sapphires arranged as a fan. A more pared-down version highlights a trapeze-shaped dial, the core design element of the newly launched Sixtie collection.

At Watches and Wonders, they were intentionally displayed next to “patrimony” timepieces from Piaget’s archive that are not for sale, explained Stéphanie Sivrière, the brand’s jewelry and watch artistic director. “We create a fluid narrative where past and present collide — until you forget which is which,” she said, adding that, as of late, pendant watches have “been so successful we can barely keep up with demand.”

At more accessible price points, Van Cleef & Arpels has reimagined its signature Alhambra, Perlée and Ludo designs as pendant watches featuring juicy colored gems like turquoise, lapis lazuli and carnelian. Meanwhile, Dior’s jewelry division has introduced pendant versions of its Gem Dior watch — one with jazzy malachite, the other with delicate aragonite — dangling from a thread-thin link-bar chain. “I love the idea of jewelry that tells time,” Victoire de Castellane, Dior Joaillerie’s creative director, wrote to CNN over email. “And I find wearing a watch as a pendant amusing.”

A lighthearted approach was also taken by Philippe Delhotal, creative director of Hermès Horloger, who turned the house’s iconic anchor chain motif into a brooch watch, rimmed with diamonds and adorned with a pink tourmaline, as part of the Maillon Libre collection unveiled at the fair.

“Historically, watches have also been carried in pockets, worn on ties or styled as brooches. So rather than designing a brooch to hold a watch, we first created the watch itself — then the idea of the brooch came naturally,” Delhotal explained. “It’s a nomadic piece that can be shared or styled differently — pinned as a brooch or worn as a pendant on a sautoir. In doing so, it offers the wearer a spectrum of possibilities.”