Is Purple The Hottest New Trend Colour For Watches? It Certainly Seems Like It!

Like seasons throughout the year, there’s a constant ebb and flow in terms of design, shapes, colours, sizes and materials in watchmaking. Colour is perhaps the easiest to change for brands, but also the one that’s the most susceptible to the public’s opinion and demands. With green being “the hottest thing since sliced bread” over the past years, it now seems there’s a very strong and definitive shift to another striking tone of colour; Purple! In the past, we would see purple watches every now and then, but recently more and more have been rearing their seductive heads, and here are seven of the coolest ones!

Baltic Prismic

Inspired by geometric shapes and luminous refractions, the Baltic Prismic is a surprisingly fun take on a “cocktail watch”. The charmingly compact watch has a purple dial with a guilloché-like centre pattern, a circular brushed ring, a grooved outer flange and a grained small seconds subdial with crosshair. The pyramid-shaped markers give the Prismic even more character. The caseback reveals the manually wound ETA Pesseux 7001. Worn on a leather strap for EUR 990 or a mesh bracelet for EUR 1,050 it’s a very sensible and stylish package!

For more information, please visit Baltic-Watches.com.

Quick Facts – 36mm x 9.2mm – stainless steel & grade 5 titanium case – stepped bezel – sapphire crystal front & back – 30m water-resistant – purple, green, salmon or grey-blue dial – faceted and polished markers – Dauphine style hands – ETA Peseux 7001 – hand-wound – 21,600vph – 42h power reserve – mesh steel bracelet or leather strap with pin buckle – EUR 990 (leather strap) or EUR 1,050 (mesh bracelet)

Louis Erard régulateur x Cédric Johner

Through a series of collaborations with designers and independent watchmakers, Louis Erard has made quite an interesting niche for themselves. The latest project is the Régulateur x Cédric Johner which has a handsome purple dial (or a blue one, if you want). The most notable element is the hexagonal shape, Cédric Johner’s signature style. The dial has a regulator-type display, with a grooved pattern radiating from the centre. Power comes from a Sellita SW266-1 with a uniquely finished rotor, it’s limited to 178 pieces and retails for CHF 4,000.

For more information, please visit Louis-Erard.com.

Quick Facts – 39mm x 12.82mm – stainless steel case, polished – domed hexagonal sapphire crystal & sapphire crystal caseback – 50m water-resistant – hexagonal dial in purple with radiant grooved pattern – central minutes, separate subdials for hours and seconds – Sellita SW266-1, élaboré grade – automatic – 28,800vph – 38h power reserve – special rotor with 230 beads – limited to 178 pieces – CHF 4,000

Armin Strom Gravity Equal Force Purple

The Gravity Equal Force by Armin Strom is a surprisingly versatile watch when it comes to colours. We’ve seen it in German Silver, green, all black, blue and many other shades. The Gravity Equal Force Purple has a purple (duh!) guilloché mainplate that highlights the openworked construction of the Calibre ASB19 perfectly. Most of the running components such as the micro-rotor, motor barrel and off-centre dial for the hours, minutes and seconds are all fully visible. Worn on a grey nubuck strap, only 25 are made each year for EUR 31,900.

For more information, please visit ArminStrom.com.

Quick Facts – 41mm x 12.65mm – stainless steel case, brushed & polished – sapphire crystal front & back – 30m water-resistant – purple guilloché mainplate – off-centred hour & minute dial – integrated small seconds dial – exposed micro-rotor & barrel with power reserve indicator – Calibre ASB19, in-house – 25,200vph – 72h power reserve – hand-finished – grey nubuck leather strap – limited to 25 pieces per year – EUR 31,900

Czapek Antarctique afterglow Purple

There’s no denying the Czapek Antarctique is one of our favourite luxury sports watches. The design, the movement construction, the dial pattern and the bracelet made it a very cool alternative to several unobtainable watches in the segment, and rightfully so. New for 2024 was the introduction of the Afterglow Purple, featuring a striking ‘Stairway to Eternity‘ stamped flinqué dial pattern. It gives a colourful spin on the Czapek Antarctique, which of course still has that amazing micro-rotor movement inside. It’s priced at CHF 23,000 before taxes.

For more information, please visit Czapek.com.

Quick Facts – 40.5mm x 10.6mm – stainless steel case, brushed & polished – sapphire crystal front & back – water-resistant to 120m – purple “Stairway to Eternity” stamped flinqué dial – luminous markers & hands – Calibre SXH5, in-house – micro-rotor automatic – 4Hz frequency – 60-hour power reserve – integrated stainless steel bracelet with folding buckle – CHF 23,000 (excl. taxes)

Speake Marin Openworked Ultra-Violet

Speake Marin has been playing around with different colour combinations for one of its most complex watches in the catalogue, the Openworked Tourbillon. The latest is named Ultra-Violet, and there’s no second-guessing why. The openworked movement is accentuated by an eye-catching purple grid surrounding several key components; the micro-rotor, the barrel, the one-minute flying tourbillon and the power reserve. Quite something! It comes in a 38mm size, limited to 4 pieces for CHF 79,500 or a 5-piece limited run in 42mm for CHF 79,900.

For more information, please visit Speake-Marin.com.

Quick Facts – 38mm or 42mm x 12.35mm – grade 5 titanium case – sapphire crystal front & back – 30m water-resistant – openworked dial with ultra-violet grid – central hour & minute hands – exposed tourbillon cage, micro-rotor & barrel – power reserve display – Calibre SMA05, proprietary – 21,600vph – 72h power reserve – black alligator leather strap – limited to 9 pieces in total – CHF 79,500 (38mm) or CHF 79,900 (42mm)

H. moser & Cie Streamliner centre seconds purple haze

H. Moser & Cie is no stranger when it comes to colour, and one of the most recent releases by the indie watchmaker is the Streamliner Centre Seconds Purple Haze. The sunburst fumé finish darkens the purple tone towards the outer edge of the dial, where the white minute track and applied markers finish the dial. With no other distractions, the dial can fully work its magic when it is hit by sunlight. Around the back, the HMC 201 in-house automatic reveals a new architecture with openworked bridges and more. This Streamliner retails for CHF 21,900 incl. VAT.

For more information, please visit H-Moser.com.

Quick Facts – 40mm x 12.1mm – stainless steel case, brushed & polished – sapphire crystal front & back – screw-in crown – 120m water-resistant – Purple Haze gradient dial – central hands with Globolight inserts – transparent H. Moser & Cie logo – HMC 201, in-house – automatic winding – 21,600vph – 72h power reserve – in-house Straumann hairspring – integrated steel bracelet with folding clasp – CHF 21,900 incl. VAT

De Bethune DB28XS Purple Rain

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which one’s the purplest of them all?” The answer is simple, the watch is not; the De Bethune DB28XS Purple Rain. This latest masterpiece is purple from top to bottom. The polished titanium case, the patented floating lugs, the star-studded dial, some movement components and even the stitching of the strap, everything is finished in purple. The ultra-thin construction also makes it an absolute gem on the wrist, and of course, the overall finishing is stunning. It’s limited to 25 pieces only, with a price of CHF 90,000.

For more information, please visit DeBethune.ch.

Quick Facts – 38.7mm x 7.4mm – purple polished grade 5 titanium case – patented floating lugs – crown at noon – sapphire crystal front & back – 30m water-resistant – purple titanium star-studded guilloché dial – hour & minute ring with Arabic numerals – polished hands – Calibre DB2005, in-house – manual winding – 160 components – 28,800vph – 6-day power reserve – limited to 25 pieces – CHF 99,000