Luxury watch brands often elevate watches beyond instruments of time-telling. On the technical side, brands often pursue precision and develop novel functionalities, while on the creative there are watches that bring a certain story, narrative, culture, emotions, and imagination to the fore. In this article, we showcase 7 latest watches from brands like Titan, Roger Dubuis, Chopard, Bangalore Watch Company, Nomos Glashutte, Grand Seiko, and IWC Schaffhausen that beautifully express different inspirations through their design elements. 

Jalsa from Nebula by Titan takes inspiration from one of the most recognised UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Hawa Mahal or Palace of Winds, located in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The timepiece celebrates 225 years of this majestic architecture by featuring hand-painted miniature art by renowned Indian artist, Padma Shri Syed Shakir Ali, of the Hawa Mahal on the dial; also painted is Maharaja Sawai Pratap riding on an elephant. Miniature art is a centuries-old technique done with a single-strand squirrel hair paint brush, and using natural sources of colours like indigo, lac, turmeric, khadiya and more.

The 37.5 mm watch is a limited edition of 10 pieces. You can read more about the timepiece here. 

2. Roger Dubuis Excalibur Monobalancier Lord Ganesha Edition

Recently, India’s leading watch retail boutique, Art of Time, celebrated its 10th anniversary with two timepieces crafted in collaboration with Roger Dubuis - the Excalibur Monobalancier Lord Ganesha Edition and the Velvet Automatic. The former honours India’s beloved deity, Lord Ganesha, on the dial. Limited to just 8 pieces, the 42 mm watch replaces the traditional astral star of the Excalibur model with the metallised depiction of Lord Ganesha on the sapphire crystal. Read more about the timepiece here. 

Beautifully interpreting the slow passing of the seasons through a rotating disc on the dial, Chopard’s Imperiale Four Seasons conquers the art with pure elegance. Encased in 36mm ethical white gold, the dial features a delicate silhouette of a lotus on the upper half — a recurring motif in the Imperiale collection – while the lower half of the dial reveals the painted disc marking the seasons. The rotating disc completes a full revolution over 365 days. More details can be added via four interchangeable alligator leather strap options, each indicating a different season. Read about the watch in great detail here. 

Taking inspiration from the great Indian outdoors, Bangalore Watch Company has introduced a new watch collection called Peninsula Professional. The collection features four watches: Laccadive, which pays tribute to 7500 kms of the Indian coastlines with a blue dial; Mannar, as an ode to the freedivers of the Gulf of Mannar, with a dial made entirely from a rare black mother-of-pearl; Zanskar, which glorifies the high peaks of the Himalayas with a white dial; and Agumbe, inspired by the lush rainforests of India, featuring a green dial. The lines’ Agumbe and Mannar have also been accepted as GPHG nominations this year in the ‘Sports’ and ‘Challenge’ categories, respectively. Read more about all four watches here. 

5. Nomos Glashutte Club Sport Nomatik Worldtimer

Appearing in six hues inspired by natural formations like volcano, magma, dune, canyon, glacier, and jungle, Nomos Glashutte’s Club Sport Nomatik Worldtimer watches are limited editions of 175 pieces each. With a clean yet fun implementation of a worldtimer complication,. one can see 24 timezones on the rehaut of the dial, and the second timezone displayed on the subdial located at 3 o’clock, which can be set via the crown at 2 o’clock. The watches were released at Watches and Wonders this year, and you can read more about them here. 

6. Grand Seiko SBGW323 Heritage Collection

Grand Seiko’s arsenal has several watches inspired by nature and spanning inspirations like sunrises, moonlight, starry skies, snowflakes, white birch, Mt. Iwate, and more. With the latest SBGW323 Heritage Collection, the brand has interpreted a purple-coloured dial inspired by the purple colour of the kiri, the official flower of Iwate Prefecture, where Grand Seiko’s mechanical watches are made, on the brand’s signature Mt. Iwate patterned dial. It’s a beautiful time only watch encased in 36.5mm stainless steel. Read more about the watch here. 

7. IWC Schaffhausen Big Pilot’s Watch 43 Tourbillon Le Petit Prince