The variety of wristwatches on the market is huge: from sports watches for as little as 40 euros ($59) to pilots’ chronographs that can cost thousands. There is no clear trend this year but it’s evident that big watches up to 5.5 centimetres in diameter are in trend, according to Germany’s Jewellery and Watch Organisation in Pforzheim.
"Pizza Watches" are also becoming popular with women.
Looking in jewellery shop windows around Christmas time, it’s clear that watches with gold trimmings are also causing tills to ring, much to the delight of shopkeepers.
A host of watches use gold in their manufacture including Rolex’s Yacht-Master II Regatta Chronograph, the women’s watch Love from Cartier, the Doumetre Chronograph from Jaeger Le Coultre, the Lady Royal Oak Offshore from Audermars Piguet and the Senio Meissen from Glasshuette.
Some of those luxury watches can cost as much as a mid-sized car but, at least according to the Jewellery and Watch Organisation, the trend towards expensive luxury time pieces remains strong.
Nevertheless, a high-end watch can be had for less than a small fortune. A sporty alternative is the Fly-Back-Chronograph made by Timex that has a compass and second time zone. It has a titanium body and retails for 549 euros.
A more elegant watch is the Legend Diver from Longines. It has a stainless steel casing 4.2 centimetres in diameter with two crowns, a diving timer as well as a synthetic wrist strap.
The watch’s luminous hands are set against a black face and it has a recommended retail price of 1,440 euros.
Montblanc has a lady’s watch studded with diamonds. The face of the Ministar White Gold Lady has both black and white diamonds and costs 19,500 euros.
For that amount of money, customers can choose between a white or black mother-of-pearl watch faces.
Carrera Watches also has a glittery timepiece in keeping with the trend of moderately priced, fashionable watches decorated with gemstones, according to Horst Valentin, president of the Central Association of Watch, Jewellery and Time Keeping Engineering