Watchmakers seek balance as collaborations multiply

Ahead of this year’s 25th anniversary of its Freak collection, Ulysse Nardin collaborated with another watchmaker for the first time. The aim, says managing director Matthieu Haverlan, was to “convey a strong message” to the brand’s community.The result, following four years of development with fellow independent Swiss brand Urwerk, was the technically complex UR-FREAK unveiled at Dubai Watch Week in November. The objective was seemingly met: the 100-piece edition was oversubscribed. “We’ve received an outstanding demand for the watch,” says Haverlan.The design is one of a wealth of limited-edition collaborations between watchmakers in recent years. Paul Boutros, head of watches for the Americas at Phillips, suggests the high volume is down to their popularity with consumers. “And a brand likes to do it because it expands their reach, helping them to sell more watches,” he says.High-profile partnerships include the Omega x Swatch and Blancpain x Swatch releases, which Boutros says are “a very smart way to get people thinking about high-end watches at a much more affordable price”. At the higher end of the price scale, Bvlgari and MB & F teamed up for a second time last year.Louis Erard, which has worked with watchmakers including Alain Silberstein and Vianney Halter, released the Unfrogettable with Russian watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin in November. Manuel Emch, chief executive of the Swiss brand, says one factor behind the number of collaborations in the wider industry is a shift in how watchmaking is perceived and the increased focus on “emotional storytelling”. He points to high-end independent and niche brands with smaller quantities being two growing market trends, and says social media has disrupted traditional business models by bringing collectors closer to brands.

Consumers are looking for “something special” with which to differentiate themselves, says Emch. “People are more daring [when] it comes to watches than maybe 10 or 20 years ago, and that creates immense pressure on the bigger brands to try to reinvent themselves. A lot of these brands are lacking maybe a little bit of creativity and they obviously pull the strings of what they see is happening. Collaborations is one major trend.“I would even say there’s a certain fatigue because it’s been a bit overexploited. But it’s also a fatigue because a lot of the collaborations simply don’t make sense. They’re just marketing tools, and this is where it’s a bit of a danger.” He has failed to see the logic behind a few recent collaborations by other brands with watch customisation specialists.Partnerships between watchmakers have long taken place behind the scenes but the “21st-century phenomenon of collaborations being the story” began with Harry Winston’s Opus One, according to Boutros. The launch of three models in 2001 was the first release in a series of limited editions created with different independent watchmakers. The last, Opus 14, arrived in 2015.

Phillips sold an Opus One Chronomètre à Résonance (2002), created with FP Journe, for $838,200 last June, which it believes to be an auction record for any collaboration timepiece. Boutros says other sought-after designs include the “creative and fun” collaborations by MB & F.There’s a certain fatigue because collaborations have been a bit overexploited. A lot are just marketing toolsManuel Emch, Louis Erard CEOAuction houses sold multiple Louis Erard collaboration pieces last year. Having designs that retailed for under $5,000 appear at auction alongside premium watches is “very good brand building”, says Emch. He adds that collaboration “gives credibility” among collectors to Louis Erard, one of whose philosophies is to “make high-end horology accessible”.Collaboration has been a critical part of Studio Underd0g’s recent strategy. The young British brand, known for colourful and playful designs, embarked on its first partnership with another watchmaker in 2024 — with H Moser & Cie.RecommendedWatches & JewelleryThe watchmaking odd couple and their passion (fruit) project“What we wanted to be able to do was show that even though we’re a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously, we are actually taken quite seriously by some of the biggest and the best,” says founder Richard Benc. The “seal of approval” also showed the brand takes what it does seriously, he adds. “And that’s a message that we’ve continued to double down on through collaboration throughout the last year.”Studio Underd0g teamed up with the bespoke watchmaker Sartory Billard, and the British brands Fears and Christopher Ward in 2025. Benc says the company was able to tap into their experience to go outside its comfort zone, with the results “almost a little bit outside of the box”. Working with Studio Underd0g, meanwhile, allows a collaborator to “let their hair down”, he says. “We’ve been able to help them do that in a way where their loyal fan base will be on board.”Christopher Ward and Studio Underd0g launched the Alliance 02, a limited-edition pocket watch, last month. Profits are going to the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers. Jörg Bader, product director at Christopher Ward, says his brand learnt about colour from the project. “This is really the beauty of a collaboration: to work with somebody whose core strength is in a different field [to] where you sit at the moment,” he says.Bader thinks the volume of watchmaker collaborations reflects the wider luxury sector, suggesting Louis Vuitton’s partnership with the streetwear brand Supreme in 2017 helped ignite the trend. There will be more collaborations from Christopher Ward, he says, but only if there is a reason for doing it and the product adds something the brand doesn’t already offer. He says people are “fed up” of collaborations “just with a different dial colour”, and that this “sets the bar high where it should be”.