It is often thought that simple, clean designs are the easiest to create. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. The cleaner the design of the watch is, the more weight individual details have on the overall look. The trick is to incorporate just the right elements, and not a single one more, and create a synergy between them. This is also a much-needed aspect, as otherwise, your clean design would be boring. The following four watches are good examples that got it just right.

Nomos Orion 33 Duo

Nomos is a brand that takes particular pleasure in getting all the details of their watches just right. The Orion 33 Duo is as straightforward as a mechanical watch can be, with just two hands and a manual wind movement. It gets its character from the slim gold hands and hour markers and the long lugs. The domes sapphire crystal further adds to its personality. The icing on the cake is the fact that you cannot see the beautifully finished in-house caliber Alpha.2 due to the closed caseback. As already mentioned, less is sometimes more.
Grand Seiko SBGY007 Omiwatari

That a more restrained design also often results in a more elegant watch is something Grand Seiko proves with the SBGY007 Omiwatari. The dial is inspired by the frozen water of Lake Suwa, and has an almost delicate texture. Because of the clean look of the case, it becomes a focal point, but one that is best appreciated up close and personal. This highlights another aspect of watches that favor the R...