A century has passed, yet the eternal elegance of Art Deco remains a muse to various disciplines of contemporary luxury. From the roaring ‘20s all the way to World War II, the Art Deco era was a design renaissance that struck a golden ratio between jazzy geometrics and exotic curves. Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Great Gatsby (2013) and Brad Pitt’s Babylon (2022) perfectly encapsulate the avant-garde opulence against the era’s relentless industrial prowess. Velvety, sharp, and shimmery, the Art Deco era left an immortal imprint in the worlds of high fashion, haute joaillerie, architecture, filmography, and, most importantly, luxury watchmaking. While some Art Deco icons were lost in the trenches of global warfare and economic drought, others endured, standing the test of time, ready to be embraced by yet another generation. We’re exploring luxury watches whose legacies began during the Art Deco era and still live today. This list includes timepieces that don’t necessarily boast an ‘Art Deco’ influence in their visuals but originated during the calendar era.
Cartier Tank

Worn by icons, from political leaders and sportsmen like JFK and Mohammed Ali to pioneering artists and musicians like Andy Warhol and Pharell Williams – the Tank is a universal paean of simple yet timeless opulence. Introduced right at the cusp of the Art Deco era, the Tank’s sleek shape was inspired by the rectangular physique of Renault military tanks used in World War I. With a perfectly rectangular case, brancards resembling a military tank’s treads, and clean lines, it starkly contrasted the curvilinear designs of the time. Its distinction in design was punctuated by Roman numerals, blue steel hands, and a railway minute track, which exuded Cartier’s counter-culture philosophy. Since its inception in 1919, the Tank has been a test bed for delicate cosmetic reinterpretation, but the aforementioned attributes remain central to its identity. Models like the Cintree, Americaine, Francaise, Asymétrique, and most notably, the Basculante are examples of its many alter-egos.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso

Circa 1931, British officers of a polo club were faced with a recurring problem: their timepieces couldn’t withstand the rigours of the sport as errant mallets damaged their crystals. To solve this, Swiss industrialist César de Trey devised a rectangular-shaped timepiece that could slip out of its case’s pocket, flip over, and expose its caseback. To bring this pioneering design to life, de Trey sought out Jacques-David LeCoultre III, Edmond Jaeger, and French designer René-Alfred Chauvot. ‘Reverso’ is Latin for ‘turn around’ – it was designed with a dual-case construction, Dauphines hands, and Arabic indexes, becoming JLC’s first-ever timepiece and one to boast a hefty dose of Art Deco elegance. The Reverso may have been conceived as an engineering solution to an Englishman’s polo irk, but it evolved into an eternal canvas of luxury craftsmanship, personal expression, artistic dexterity, and mechanical brilliance.
Patek Philippe Calatrava

I once heard a vintage watch collector say, “The Calatrava is the visual definition of what a wristwatch should look like” – and I couldn’t agree more. The Calatrava is the quintessential dress watch, and 1932’s Reference 96 was notably Patek Philippe’s first serially produced model. Aesthetically, some argued that it’s more “Bauhaus” than Art Deco, given the nature of its conception. As the Stern family took ownership of Patek Philippe, the Calatrava was their first attempt at beating the economic pressure caused by the Great Depression. They needed an elegant and affordable model over pocket watches, and the Calatrava’s flat, plain bezel clubbed with a minimalist stature delivered exactly that. To date, the Calatrava is celebrated for its simple beauty and despite its evolution incorporating hobnail bezels, guilloché dials, and contemporary complications, it remains a gold standard for dress watches.
Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921

The tale goes – In 1921, Vacheron Constantin was approached by a vintage car collector who commissioned a timepiece that could offer angular legibility while driving. By rotating the angle of the dial, Vacheron ensured that the timepiece could be read while the driver kept his hands on the steering wheel. In the process, the crown migrated to twelve o’clock and small seconds to three o’clock. This caused the entire movement to rotate 45 degrees, creating a one-of-a-kind icon that put watchmaking on a slant. Vacheron created only 24 of these cushion-shaped timepieces in 1921 and was revived a whole century later. Sizing 44 millimetres in diameter, it now comes in yellow, white, and pink gold casing options with the manual-wound calibre 4400AS inside.
IWC Portugieser

Dialling back to the late 1930s, two Portuguese merchants – Messrs. Rodrigues and Antonio Tiexiera, approached IWC Schaffhausen to create a timepiece with the precision of marine chronometers. IWC answered with a case model rubbed ‘Mod. 228’, which later officially became Ref. 325 with the title ‘Portuguese’ – taking after its commissioners. Despite being conceived during the Art Deco era, it reached mainstream production three years later in 1942. It was shipped to European dealers, particularly Portuguese, until WW2 struck a blow to its legacy. However, in the 1960s, IWC revived this icon, which continued to make a statement as the golden ratio between sophistication and function. It boasted a clean, open dial reminiscent of nautical instruments and was graced by Arabic numerals, slim feuille hands, and a railway minute track. Today, the IWC Portugieser collection carries this virtue, ranging from simplistically elegant time-only models as well as incorporating high complications like perpetual calendars, moonphases, and tourbillons.
Longines Weems Second Setting Watch – (Heritage Avigation)

Longines’ legacy as an ‘aero chronometer’ manufacturer began with 1925’s first-ever ‘Zulu Time’ indicating timepiece, in an era of radio-guided flights. During this time, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Philip Van Horn Weems revolutionized navigation by developing a system that relied on precise synchronization with radio signals. Recognizing the value of this innovation, Longines collaborated with Weems to create a wristwatch that brought his method to life.
Debuting in 1929, the Weems Second-Setting Watch featured a rotating inner bezel, which allowed aerial and naval navigators to synchronize their timepieces with a radio signal for unparalleled accuracy. In order to ensure legibility, it bore large indexes which comprised Arabic numerals and luminous hands. The socio-economic climate of the interwar period demanded precision and reliability in both military and civilian aviation, and the Weems became a trusted tool for those navigating uncharted skies and waters. Over the years, the watch’s legacy has been preserved through heritage reissues like the modern Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch as part of Longines’ Heritage Avigation collection.
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