I have often heard people saying that “everything happens in the watch world, but 10 years later”. However, when it comes to the current trend of soft-toned, desert-inspired dials, it seems like the watch world is actually spot-on with the times.
Sara Garanty, a Swedish interior expert with a strong focus on colour psychology, who has worked for several architects and brands like Bollinger and Samsung, visited the Salone del Mobile in Milan (the annual furniture and design fair), which was held just after Watches and Wonders.
“An overarching colour theme in Milan was related to Pantone’s colour of the year, Mocha Mousse,” she said, pointing out the similarity with Hermès Arceau Le Temps Suspendu brun desert. “But now there are all tones of warm browns; silky soft, earthy tones including desert sand. This is based on the sophisticated quiet luxury trend, where you want to symbolise a natural, relaxed feeling using a lot of nature materials,” she continued.
This could explain why Audemars Piguet has gone one step further in the 11.59 Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon, where they have even created a new 18-karat gold alloy that ties in with the trend: sand gold, which, according to the brand’s website, “hovers between white and pink gold and plays with the light”.
But the big question is: why is this happening now? According to Ms. Garanty, there are two main reasons: chaotic politics with wars, and a disrupted economy, which make for an unpredictable world. “When nobody knows what will happen we seek out the calmer tones like creamy beige, terracotta, and desert in order to find a calm within ourselves,” she said, in a sentence tying in 2025 novelties like Rolex Oyster Perpetual beige, Oris Big Crown brown, Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer Dune, and Chronoswiss Small Second Desert, where the techniques to achieve the natural-tone dials range from lacquer to Chronoswiss’ laser-engraved and nano-printed sand-like creation. “The desert symbolises another type of luxury: a place for seeking inner peace, purity, and silence; a longing for our truest self,” Ms. Garanty said.
The development towards softer and softer hues of brown is something that often happens with trending colours in fashion, interiors and watches. Just look at the strong purples of 2022, which calmed down to blueberry before moving on to burgundy or pastel pinks. Now, with the brown tones there is a similar arch of colour development going from coffee and chocolate to mocha mousse, and now more and more sand, beige and creamy ivory. “This year we will also see a lot of butter yellow. It has only just begun, but this will explode like the new beige,” Ms. Garanty said.
She also thinks that these nature-based colours and a strong yearning for authentic, natural materials with handmade finishes also ties in with an emerging AI-fatigue. “We have already seen so many AI images, and now we want to have the human touch again,” she said, adding that trends are speeding up. “Today, trends are moving faster and faster. Whereas overarching trends used to be around for 10 years, or two years, we can now see big changes every six months. It seems like watches are keeping up with this.”
