TAG Heuer’s Carrera Heritage Calibre 6 watch embodies many of the trends seen at BaselWorld 2011. It has a 39 mm case, two-tone rose gold and steel bracelet and a clean design that takes its cues from earlier TAG Heuer models.

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Basel--Understanding the trends that prevailed at BaselWorld 2011 is simple. Brands debuted cleaner styles that are in line with what today’s consumer craves: a well-made product that is stylish yet understated.

Or, as Edward Faber, president of New York City’s Aaron Faber Gallery puts it, “less Liberace and more Lauren.”

Watchmakers are abandoning the oversized cases and diamond-heavy bezels that dominated the show floor in Switzerland just a few short years ago and are instead prying open their vaults to re-discover the clean dials and marker shapes of bygone eras.

“You see all the major companies reaching backward into their history trying to show off tradition and legacy,” Faber said. “Legacy and tradition are important.”

Legacy and tradition connect the wearer with simpler, less complicated time and allow watchmakers to attach meaning to their product. Meaning is important in a time when an ever-growing number of gadgets--think mobile phones, tablet computers and iPods--threaten to make the wristwatch obsolete.

“I think plain pieces in the absolute are redundant,” Faber said. “The timepiece should be a detail of presentation of someone who has made it and wants that connection with a legacy of some kind.”

How consumers will take to this simpler-time aesthetic is something only time will tell.

Breitling U.S.A President Thierry Prissert said he felt a “vibrant excitement” for the industry on the show floor. The challenge now is to translate that feeling to the consumer.

“Having every retailer excited is a great thing. We also need to find a way to present that to the consumer and have them excited about the watch,” he said.

Downsizing
Faber, whose book “American Wristwatches: Five Decades of Style and Design” is now in its fifth printing, said about seven years ago, strong Russian influence in the watch market pushed case sizes skyward. Men’s watches with 46 mm and 48 mm cases were the norm, with the trend really hitting its stride around 2005.

The big cases didn’t have staying power, however. A combination of the shift from Russia to Asian markets and the economic crisis that gripped the world starting in 2008-- which made flouting oversized anything taboo--are bringing case sizes back down to earth.

While a number of larger models still were visible at the show, many were brands were reverting to cases in the 32 mm to 42 mm range. “As quickly as it rose up, it faded,” Faber said of the oversized trend. “It was simply too large.”

For the fairer sex, the size pendulum seems to be swinging in the opposite direction. Chanel and Dior launched ladies’ watches with larger cases sizes, as did women’s watch specialists Bedat & Co.

The company increased the case size for its No. 1 (now 33.30 mm x 40.50 mm) and No. 3 (33.50 mm x 38.70 mm, below) models in response to customers’ requests for more noticeable watches.

Simpler times
Clean, simple looks that harken back to watches worn in 1950s and 1960s were the inspiration for many of the old-is-new again timepieces that debuted in Basel.

Breitling unveiled an updated version of the “Transocean” chronograph (below) that first debuted in 1958. The 43 mm timepiece features Breitling’s own self-winding Caliber 01 movement and, on the dial, an 18-karat gold version of the “B” that served as Breitling’s logo for many years.

Swatch Group-brand Longines redesigned and re-issued the watch it originally supplied to Swissair in the 1950s and dubbed it the “Longines Twenty-Four Hours,” for its distinctive 24-hour dial (below).

As a nod to its 130th anniversary, Japanese watchmaker Seiko crafted a limited edition version of the first Grand Seiko from 1960. The timepiece features the new hand-winding Caliber 9S64 movement with a 72-hour power reserve. Seiko is making 1,300 of the watches in stainless steel and 130 each in yellow gold (below) and platinum (below).

TAG Heuer was another watch brand digging in the archives for inspiration in launching the “Carrera Heritage” collection.

In creating the 39 mm Calibre 6 watch and the 41 mm Calibre 16 chronograph, TAG Heuer drew inspiration from the original Carrera chronograph launched in 1964 (below, left)--the hand shape on the 2011 and 1964 versions are identical--while the raised Arabic numerals, pushbutton, digits, crown and index designs are modeled after a Heuer watch sold in 1945 (below, right).

In living color
Watch bracelets and straps branched out from stainless steel and basic brown to incorporate color at BaselWorld.

Watch industry veteran Jeffrey Cohen, who just took the helm as president at Citizen Watch Company of America Inc., said that the colored metal trend was very prevalent, with yellow gold, still-going-strong rose gold as well as two-tone bracelets seen all over the show. “Rose gold showed a strong presence and was permeated throughout many collections in both men’s and ladies’ product offerings,” he said. “Yellow gold was also a leading feature there as well.”

Longines introduced steel and yellow gold and steel and rose gold (below, left) models into its “DolceVita” collection, while Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil extended its “parsifal collection” with pink gold additions in both women’s and men’s styles (below, right).

Another color trend with staying power is black, Cohen and Faber note.

Swatch Group brand Rado introduced the “True Thinline,” the world’s thinnest high-tech ceramic watch in both white and black ceramic (below). The timepiece, which also features rose gold indexes and Rado logo, has a black ceramic case and black physical vapor deposition (PVD)-treated titanium case back.

It was a blackout for Hublot, which introduced the matte-finish “Big Bang All Black Carbon,” (below) the first Big Bang made entirely of carbon fibers. The 44 mm timepiece has a completely black HUB4100 movement comprised of black PVD, ruthenium and black gold coating with a black gummy alligator strap, the underside of which is made of natural rubber that is, of course, black.

Citizen, meanwhile, has a black ion-plated men’s timepiece in its Eco-Drive “Stilleto” collection (below), billed as the thinnest light-powered watch in the world.

“Black ion-plating continues to hold a strong interest that appears to sustain a growing, popular trend,” Cohen said.