The Skeleton Clock Pandemic
Fernando AldeaIn recent years, the obsession with showing the inner workings of watches has unleashed an avalanche of skeletonized designs that prioritize visual impact over elegance. What began as a technical feat now seems like a formula that's been rehashed over and over again.
There was a time when skeletonized watches were a rarity. One-off works created to showcase technical virtuosity in one-of-a-kind or extremely limited-production pieces. Today, however, skeletons abound not only at Mexican festivals. More and more high-end brands are embracing this aesthetic, which, rather than celebrating tradition, seems more concerned with garnering likes or paying heartfelt homage to Coco . Skeletonization has become an aesthetic virus that threatens to displace the true beauty of watchmaking: the subtle, the restrained, the beauty that leaves room for mystery.
Some of the most recent releases serve as a clear example of this craze. The stunning Vacheron Constantin Overseas Grand Complication Openface, ref. 6510V/110T-128C, represents the most emblematic case. A technical marvel turned into a noisy piece, with so many open layers that it's hard to know where to look. The TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph I F1, ref. CBW2190.FC8356, suffers from the same ailment, only worse. An aggressive design that replaces the classic charm of the Monaco line with a hideous visual display. Along the same lines, Audemars Piguet launched its Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar “150th Anniversary”, ref. 26585XT.OO.1220XT.01, a name that sounds perfect, but seems to have been designed more for a casino than a wrist. IWC, for its part, presented its Big Pilot's Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL, ref. IW357701, a technical feat worthy of applause, but trapped in a WTF -type design.
This rise of skeletonized watches is no coincidence. In a saturated market, where everyone fights for the user's attention, visual impact has become THE priority criterion. But in this eagerness to be noticed, many historic brands are neglecting their own legacy. Skeletonization has become a shortcut, an easy way to impress without resorting to refinement or craftsmanship. This isn't to deny the complexity behind these pieces, but to point out that this complexity is often expressed stridently, losing sight of the fact that a great watch can also be quiet, elegant, and reserved.
Fortunately, there are still brands that swim against the tide. Patek Philippe, for example, has demonstrated with its Calatrava 6196P-001 that less is, indeed, more. A clean, salmon-colored dial with contrasting dark markers, a delicate small seconds hand, and perfectly proportioned timepieces at 6 o'clock reminds us that elegance—like many other things—lies in the details. IWC, this time with the Ingenieur Automatic 35, ref. IW324906, rewards us with precise sizing and firmly eschews the superfluous, focusing on the purity of industrial design. That Genta design, so different from the Big Pilot's mentioned above. Parmigiani Fleurier also eschews unnecessary skeletons with its new Toric Quantieme Perpetuel, available in platinum with a "Morning Blue" dial or rose gold with a "Golden Hour" dial. These two perpetual calendar watches emphasize formal consistency and chromatic sophistication to capture your attention and your wallet. Beautiful watches, both available from September 2025.
In this era of visual saturation, good design becomes a brave act of resistance. It's time to reclaim the value of a well-proportioned dial, of a caliber that doesn't need to be fully displayed from the front to be admired. That's what the transparent caseback is for. Watchmaking doesn't need to strip down to reveal its soul. Sometimes, a line, a nuance, or just the fine display of complications is enough. Perhaps the time has come to treat the skeleton watch pandemic with the best vaccine: a return to design that both conceals and reveals, that seduces.
