The Return of ’90s Watches to the Wrist

The Swiss watch world has mined the 1970s and ’80s for inspiration in recent years. Now, just like Backstreet, the ’90s are back… all right! 

They contrast, too, with the rather less appetizing ’80s models that — with the exception of Chopard’s recent reworking of its glamorous mid-1980s ski bunny, St Moritz, as the Alpine Eagle — didn’t produce many highlights.

Back in the ’90s, having survived the quartz crisis, which saw affordable electronic watches from Japan decimate the market for mechanical watchmaking, the Swiss watch industry was back on its feet. And no brand more so than Omega, which became a leading figure in the watchmaking revival. On the wrist of megawatt signing Cindy Crawford, Omega reinvented the women’s watch as a quotidian luxury instead of a cocktail trinket.

Enter the dainty yet high-glam two-tone Omega Constellation, which, as the adverts featuring Crawford trumpeted, was her choice. It’s now also the choice of her daughter, fellow Omega ambassador Kaia Gerber, who is following in her mother’s footsteps with eerie symmetry.

With its diamond and mother-of-pearl combination, the Constellation, like the other pieces here, blends femininity with craft and versatility; all can slip seamlessly from day to night.

Another classic back with a glow-up is Cartier’s Baignoire. While this collection takes its lead from a piece originally introduced in 1912, it was in the ’90s that it really resonated, seemingly embodying haute couture in horological form.

Speaking of Paris, the City of Light’s other grande dame also has her finger very much on the pulse. Back in 1986, the Première was Chanel’s first foray into watchmaking, inspired — like the No 5 perfume bottle stopper — by the aerial view of Place Vendôme.

But, as hinted by the elegant braided bracelet of the new Chanel Première Galon, the ’90s was when this Concorde-worthy status symbol really took flight, worn with matching 11.12 quilted purse and rose-red lipstick. That braided band, or galon in French, is totemic chez Chanel, as it’s the twisted hem that lends structure to every suit jacket.

And what of that ’70s disruptor, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak? The exposed screws and steely industrial facets of Gérald Genta’s original Jumbo design of 1972 has translated fabulously to cocktail proportions. What lends extra power-suited clout is its hammered texture, wrought via a historic handcraft that’s been ceded to AP through its work with Florentine fine jeweler Carolina Bucci.

As a decade, the ’90s always had something of the magpie about it, from pop music to street style. But as its revival continues, what that means in watch terms is pure elevation.