5 timepieces : a splash of colour for your summer

Whether it is pastel pink, mint green or turquoise... Once limited to subtleties, colour has now truly established itself as an actual creative playground for watch brands. Throughout this show, Frank Sans C, Françoise-Marie Santucci — journalist at Le Nouvel Obs — and I will take a closer look at some of the latest releases. It proves that in watchmaking these days, watches no longer just tell the time... They also set the tone.

By Chloé Redler

When colour tells a story

At Hamilton, you simply cannot talk about the Ventura without being transported straight back to 1957. Even at a time when round cases rule the roost, the American brand chooses an asymmetric triangle sketched out by car designer Richard Arbib. A watchmaking UFO that also stands out as the very first mass-produced electric timepiece.

A watch so uncommon that it looks like it comes straight out of a science-fiction film today, even though it was sketched out back in the late 1950s by industrial designer Richard Arbib.

A few years later, Elvis Presley cemented her status as an icon in the 1961 film Blue Hawaii, before she was revived later on the wrists of the Men in Black agents.

The Hamilton Ventura timepiece became the personal favourite of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock’n’Roll.

Nearly seventy years on, Hamilton is still keeping their hands off that iconic design of theirs, while just playing with the colours. Two brand-new Ventura Quartz S models are joining the lineup: a turquoise green iteration and a pink one, taking their cues straight from Hawaiian landscapes and hibiscus flowers.

Pink or turquoise green for the new Ventura Quartz S.

A deliberate nod to the film starring Elvis? It is hardly all down to chance: the yellow tip of the seconds hand evokes the pistil of a tropical flower. The whole lot sits in a 24 x 36mm steel case. It is water-resistant to 50 metres and powered by a quartz movement. It comes on an EasyClick strap that you can swap out without needing a single tool. See, even a legend is still being allowed a bit of fancy.

The yellow-tipped seconds hand is a nod to the pistil at the heart of the hibiscus flower.

Citizen is on the same page, giving one of its most one-of-a-kind timepieces a modern spin: the Tsuno Chrono. Its “bullhead” design — with its hallmark push-buttons positioned at 12 o’clock like a pair of bull horns — is a direct nod to the model launched in 1973.

The Tsuno Chrono by Citizen highlights a “bullhead” case recognizable thanks to its crown and push-buttons positioned at 12 o’clock.

This new generation preserves that very distinctive shape while modernising it with two dial options: an off-white one taking its cues from the original model, and a striking luminous green, limited to 4,000 pieces, of which only 200 are earmarked for the French market. The orange accents are a nod to the 1970s. Beneath this vintage look ticks a quartz movement housed in a 38mm case, protected by mineral glass and water-resistant to 50 metres. The chronograph subdial and date window have been cleverly repositioned to give it a better sense of balance.

Luminous green or white dial for the new Tsuno Chrono by Citizen.

Colour in order to highlight technics

In watchmaking, colour is not always just a matter of style. It can also enhance readability or showcase a technical feat.

The hot pink of the Certina DS Action Diver 38mm Titanium Flamingo.

The new 38mm Certina DS Action Diver proves just the point. Available with hot pink or turquoise hour markers and hands, it ticks all the boxes of a proper professional dive watch. Its 38mm Grade 2 titanium case combines lightweight with corrosion resistance, while its ceramic unidirectional rotating bezel is properly scratch-resistant.

That turquoise accent that had already made waves in this lineup comes back, this time paired with a ceramic bezel.

Water-resistant to 300 metres and ISO 6425:2018 certified, it has been designed with the new DS Concept Extreme Shock Resistance. Inside, the Powermatic 80 self-winding movement boasts roughly an 80-hour power reserve. The coloured Super-LumiNova-coated hands and hour markers ensure excellent legibility, even at depth.

Water-resistant to 300 metres and ISO 6425:2018 certified, it meets the absolute highest reliability standards for diving, including luminescent hands and hour markers for top-notch legibility whatever the conditions.

When colour becomes a material

If one watchmaker refuses to treat colour only like a finish, it is Hublot. For several years, the manufacture has turned coloured ceramic into a proper laboratory. And getting a pink, mint green or sky-blue ceramic is a far cry from just splashing a bit of paint onto a dial.

The Hublot Big Bang Summer Multi-Colored Ceramic 42MM is powered by a Unico self-winding chronograph flyback movement with column wheel.

Beneath these pastel hues lie years of research, patents, and a process that yields a ceramic a hardness roughly 300 times that of traditional ceramic, whilst retaining outstanding scratch resistance.

The case is crafted from polished and microblasted pink and mint green ceramic. It features a sky-blue ceramic bezel, which is polished and microblasted as well.

This mastery shines through several new releases. The two Big Bang Summer models blend shades of pink, mint green, and sky blue inspired by Mediterranean light. The first is a 42mm Unico Flyback chronograph, limited to 200 pieces. Its in-house HUB1280 calibre, paired with a column wheel, beats at 4 Hz and boasts a 72-hour power reserve.

Measuring 44mm across, the self-winding in-house tourbillon, limited to just 10 pieces, highlights more architectural looks: its see-through pink sapphire glass dial showcases the movement.

The second, a striking 44mm Manufacture Tourbillon, limited to just 10 pieces, reveals its HUB6035 self-winding movement thanks to a see-through pink sapphire glass dial. It is powered by a micro-rotor which also boasts a 72-hour power reserve. Both models come with interchangeable straps thanks to the One Click system, available in sky blue, pink, or mint green. At Hublot, colour is definitely not a simple adornment on a watch: it showcases know-how.

Thanks to a micro-rotor that ensures optimised energy efficiency, visible through the dial at 12 o’clock, the model boasts a 72-hour power reserve.

With these various offerings, the four watchmakers fully embrace the idea that colour is not just for aesthetics, but it is a language in its own right. At times a hallmark, at times a legacy, it gives each timepiece a personality all of its own. And judging by this summer’s window displays, one thing is certain: watchmaking still has plenty of colour up its sleeve.