10 watches that are turning heads in 2021

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra watches come in 38mm and 41mm sizes. The blue ceramic dials have been laser-engraved with a pattern inspired by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games emblem.

Omega: Seamaster Aqua Terra Tokyo 2020

OMEGA, the official timekeeper to the Olympic Games since 1932, has crafted two timepieces dedicated to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The new Seamaster Aqua Terra watches come in 38mm and 41mm sizes, and are encased in striking yellow gold. The watches feature polished blue ceramic dials that have been laser-engraved with a pattern inspired by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games emblem. The timepieces are driven by a Co-Axial Master Chronometer calibre.

Speake-Martin Watches: London Chronograph Collection 

London Chronograph Collection's iconic movements get re-edits every year. The new limited edition is a tribute to the Valjoux 72 Calibre, among the world's finest manually-wound chronographs due to its column wheel and its three counters, which first made an appearance in 1938.

The popular chronograph movement is used by large movement manufacturers such as Rolex (in its Rolex Daytona that last sold for $1 million at an auction) and Tag Heuer.

The sophisticated 17-jewel Valjoux 88 incorporates a column-wheel chronograph, three counters, date, day, month, moon phases and quick calendar corrections.

The London Chronograph has a 42mm bronze Piccadilly case with a three-dimensional dial and three floating white counters that indicate a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, the real-time 60-second counter at 9 o’clock, and the 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock. There are two dial versions available -in blue and grey - both with colour gradients enough to offer depth to the dial.

The orange colour of the chronograph is a tribute to sport racing counters, while the gold colour is used for the hours/minutes/seconds function. The wheel at the centre of the dial is shaped like the Speake-Marin symbol and rotates with the hours. The central rotor is engraved with words London and Chronograph that appear at 12 o’clock.

Available at: Regalia Luxury Retail in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.

Frederique Constant: Vintage Rally watches 

The Vintage Rally series brings together the passion for automobiles and fine watchmaking. This engineering marvel is a tribute to the legendary Austin-Healey, a British sports car maker.

The two new stylish Vintage Rally models combine precision, timeless design, leather and metal, and a certain Art de Vivre (the art of living well).

The timepieces showcase the original "Healey" logo on the dial and boast Vintage Rally Healey Automatic Small Seconds, which are in short supply with only 888 pieces of each available.

One of the iterations has the colour green extending across the whole dial in an allusion to Frederique Constant’s collaboration with Austin-Healey. It showcases luminescent silvered applique hour markers with the 6 and the 12 being generously proportioned and an off-centre small seconds hand at 9 o’clock.

The other version has a rose gold plated case and hour markers, hands and crown, which sets off the midnight blue dial beautifully. The case backs of these two new models have been engraved with a Healey being driven at full throttle. The famous Healey 100S NOJ393 was purchased by a collector for £155 in 1969 and sold for nearly €1 million in December 2011. Each piece comes in a collector’s gift set, along with a miniature replica of the NOJ393.

Cartier: Santos de Cartier

Cartier's Santos de Cartier is encased in 18K yellow gold and embedded with brilliant-cut diamonds. It is the Maison's first square watch for the wrist, at a time when the pocket watch was still around. It was made by Louis Cartier for the famous aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont. With each decade, Santos de Cartier has been reinvented to reflect the times. The screws, traditionally hidden in watchmaking, have been made visible in the watch and have become the aesthetic code of the collection. The bezel of the watch is set with 206 brilliant-cut diamonds. The timepiece features an Interchangeable QuickSwitch steel bracelet and calf leather strap.

Available: Art of Time boutiques.

Breitling: The Premier Heritage Collection

The Premier Heritage Collection pays homage to three generations of Breitling pioneers. Léon Breitling, who founded the company in 1884 and patented a simple timer/tachymeter that could measure any speed between 15 and 150 km/h; his son, Gaston, who created one of the first wrist-worn chronographs with an independent pusher at 2 o’clock; and Léon’s grandson, Willy, who patented the second independent chronograph pusher at 4 o’clock.

The latest generation of Premiers includes six watches divided into three distinctive categories: The Chronograph, The Duograph, and The Datora. All feature Arabic numerals, vintage-inspired hands and semi-shiny alligator straps with tone-on-tone stitching. Every watch is water-resistant up to 100 meters.

The 40 mm Premier Heritage Chronograph is manually wound, just like its 1940s predecessors. It is powered by the Breitling Manufacture Caliber B09 and comes in two variations: with a trendy pistachio-green dial encased in stainless steel or a stately silver-coloured dial encased in 18K red gold.

The Premier Heritage Duograph comes with a blue or black dial. Its rattrapante (French word meaning to catch up or recapturing function), one of the most elaborate in watchmaking, enables the wearer to measure two elapsed times simultaneously, thanks to its two superimposed chronograph hands.

Like its 1940s predecessor, the 42mm Premier Heritage Datora stands out for its complex functions, namely its day, date, and moon-phase displays. 

Casio: Pac-Man A100

Casio and the creators of the Pac-Man arcade game have joined forces to design the retro-style Pac-Man themed watch. The A100WEPC Pac-Man edition has a design based on Casio's F-100 digital watch, dating back to 1978. The AW100WE model offers water resistance, a 1/10 second stopwatch, daily alarm, hourly time signal, auto-calendar and LED light.

Bovet 1822: BOVET-Boat Tail integration

The watchmaker’s two new tourbillon timepieces have been engineered in parallel with a coach-built Rolls-Royce, and integrate bespoke BOVET timepieces into the dashboard. The holder and the timepiece - all 51 components engineered and manufactured by BOVET - had to be tested like any other part of the car for vibration, security and safety for its dashboard version. Equipped with five days of power reserve, the mechanical tourbillon timepieces are designed to remain precise even when kept in the vertical position.

Rolls-Royce had demanded that the system be developed and mounted into the dashboard at the exact time the interiors of the car were finished, as no one wanted to have to open up the dashboard later. The watch designers chose to keep all the mechanical parts of the system on the outside of the dashboard. Wristwear versions of these watches are also available.

Jaeger-LeCoultre: Reverso Tribute Enamel

Jaeger-LeCoultre has launched the exquisite Reverso Tribute Enamel timepieces, a marriage of European craftsmanship and Japanese art. The reverse side of the case celebrates eastern art with an enamel miniature painting that reproduces a woodblock print of Kirifuri Waterfall made by Katsushika Hokusai in the early 1830s. The watch dial is decorated with a wavy guilloché pattern, executed by hand, that echoes the effect of moving water. In a carefully orchestrated process beginning with the case back, the decoration of this timepiece presented many challenges that were particular to this work of art. First among them was to reproduce a work measuring 37 x 24.5 cm onto a surface little more than one-tenth the size of the original – capturing every detail in perfect scale, including the group of tiny human figures at the base of the waterfall.

Fossil: Solar Watch

Fossil’s limited-edition Solar Watch houses a solar-powered movement with a rechargeable battery, which can reach a full charge after eight hours in the sun and retain charge for up to three months. The 42mm watch case is made with castor oil while the rPet strap is crafted from plastic bottles. This sustainable watch is packed with features such as the compass, stopwatch, alarm, timer, and world time function.

“Over the last two years, our teams have worked diligently to identify areas of our business that make the largest environmental impact. Some of these changes include: introducing more pro-planet materials like recycled stainless steel and litehide leather into our assortment, removing foam material from packaging, and moving to ensure all paper goods are made from a minimum of 80% recycled material,” says Steve Evans, EVP Chief Brand Officer.

Jaipur Watch Company: Pichwai Watches

These watches have a hand-painted dial, painted by miniature artists from Rajasthan. Pichwai (pichvai) is a style of painting that originated over 400 years ago, in the town of Nathdwara in Rajasthan. Intricate and visually stunning, Pichwai paintings depict tales from Lord Krishna's life. Creating a pichwai dial can take over a week, and requires immense skill. The hand-painted dial is encased in a 43mm stainless steel case, the movement is Miyota Super GL30, and the strap is genuine leather.