Watches and Wonders 2025: The Jewellery Watch Returns with Fresh Audacity

Long before timepieces started prioritising precision and functionality over ornamentation, watches were treasured above all as decorative jewels. In the 17th century, they were commissioned not for split-second accuracy but as emblems of identity and status ― suspended from chatelaines at court, concealed within elaborate brooches, or clasped to cuff bracelets. These early ‘jewellery watches’ were prized not for their timekeeping but for their exquisite craftsmanship: adorned with gemstones, intricate enamel work, and masterful engravings, some were so lavishly embellished that they hardly told time, existing purely as objets d’art, passed down through generations. 

At Watches and Wonders 2025, that ethos returned with sharp modernity. Today’s jewelled timepieces reclaim watchmaking as an art of adornment: diamond-set dials catch the light like faceted stones, sautoir necklaces conceal miniature mechanisms, and ring watches announce personal style in the subtlest of ticks. In other words, today, the jewelled timepiece is not an afterthought but the apex of horological and jewellery savoir-faire — a declaration that even in the digital age, a wristwatch can still be the ultimate expression of self. 

Therefore, GMT India revisits Watches and Wonders (W&W) 2025, spotlighting the most dazzling W&W novelties, where an alchemy of brilliance and craftsmanship redefines the modern jewellery watch.

‍Piaget: Sculptural Heritage

When Yves Piaget insisted “a watch is first and foremost a piece of jewellery”, he captured his house’s DNA. Since the 1950s, Piaget has draped its ultra-thin movements in sculptural gold and gemstones — most famously, when Jackie Kennedy wore a twisted gold cuff in 1971. Their latest collection revisits that lineage with novelties that stand out as wearable art. The Sixtie reworks the Maison’s 1969 trapeze motif into interlaced 18K rose gold links that drape fluidly on the wrist, with the small white dial almost concealed within a symphony of geometric bravura. Piaget’s Swinging Sautoir revives its chain-pendant watches with a detachable dial framed by a 29.24 ct yellow sapphire and a 6.11 ct aquamarine, suspended like a jewel on a fine gold rope. The Essentia is an 18K rose gold arc, fully pavéd in brilliant diamonds and featuring a tiger’s-eye opal dial. In the Hidden Treasures cuffs, serpentine enamel and opal inlay part to reveal a discreet face — the only hint that beneath each surface lies a meticulously crafted movement.

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Chanel: Couture Icons

Chanel’s watchmaking journey began in 1987 with the Première, a timepiece that mirrored the octagonal geometry of Place Vendôme and the stopper of Chanel No. 5. In 2025, the Maison returns to those design foundations, distilling Gabrielle Chanel’s personal symbols — lions, tweed braid, the little black jacket — into timepieces that read as high jewellery. The Lion of Mademoiselle Toi & Moi ring-watch pairs two sculpted lion heads in yellow gold around a baguette-cut diamond dial, translating the ‘twin’ motif into a compact talisman. The Coco Black Jacket pendant conceals its face beneath the brim of Mademoiselle’s sculpted hat, unfolding a tiny lacquered surprise. Chanel’s J12 Bleu marks the first matte blue ceramic in the line while J12 Bleu X-Ray, crafted entirely in sapphire crystal and diamonds, appears to float, a study in technical restraint and couture flair.

Hermès: Subtle Sophistication

Drawing on its 19th-century saddle-making origins, Hermès treats watchmaking as a craft of hidden depths. The 2025 Maillon Libre watch reinvents the Maison’s signature anchor-chain link as a continuous bracelet, integrating a tiny off-centre dial into one link. Variations set in terracotta tourmaline or full diamond pavé underscore Hermès’ expertise in materials. A brooch version, complete with leather cord, references early 20th-century pocket-watch brooches and the Maison’s equestrian codes. Here, the emphasis is on the luxury of discovery rather than on overt display.

Chopard: Ethical Elegance

Since introducing Happy Diamonds in 1976, where free-moving stones danced atop the dial, Chopard has blurred the boundaries between watch and jewel. At Watches and Wonders 2025, its L’Heure du Diamant collection presented diamond-pavé cases so dense that they flowed like liquid crystal, each stone meticulously snow-set to amplify scintillation. The Imperiale Moonphase Joaillerie elevates celestial complication into high jewellery: a mother-of-pearl sky punctuated by amethyst stars, rose gold hands tracing the moon’s cycle through diamond-framed apertures. Every surface gleams with gem-setting artistry, reaffirming Chopard’s mastery of texture and light. In keeping with its sustainable commitments, the expanded L’Heure du Diamant range uses Fairmined gold and the dials are pavé-set with ethically sourced diamonds. 

Cartier: Feline Forms

Cartier’s panther first appeared in advertising in 1913, inspired by Jeanne Toussaint’s bold style and Louis Cartier’s vision of the modern woman or Dame à la Panthère. In 1933, Toussaint became the director of Cartier’s haute joaillerie, cementing the panther as the House’s emblem of power. The feline prowls anew in the Panthère Jewellery Watch of 2025. One edition sculpts the cat in polished yellow gold with onyx spots and tsavorite eyes, its sinuous form wrapping the wrist; flip it to expose a minimalist dial under the haunches. The white gold variant, set with 1,100 brilliant-cut diamonds and emerald eyes, becomes a living bracelet. Though powered by quartz, these watches assert that Cartier’s panther remains the ultimate union of animal artistry and horological design.

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In a world awash with digital immediacy, these pieces reclaim the ritual of the wrist glance, transforming every moment into a private ceremony of craftsmanship and self-expression, inviting us to wear time as a treasure.