Smaller watches are making it big: Bulgari, Omega and others follow Queen Elizabeth’s lead

At LVMH Watch Week in January 2025, Bulgari unveiled the BVS100 Lady Solotempo movement – the result of three years of research. The automatic movement’s oscillating mass is decorated with the Bulgari logo and snake scale patterns, which makes sense for the collection it was released for: the Serpenti, with slithering snake designs enhanced by sparkling diamonds.

What is most notable are its dimensions – a 19mm diameter and 3.9mm height – making it a viable option for other creations that require a smaller movement and size comparable to the Serpenti it was released in. The piece draws attention to a trend seen in the last few years of watchmaking, where brands are releasing smaller movements to increase design options for smaller wrists.

This is also not the first time Bulgari has innovated in this way for its Serpenti collection. Suzanne Wong, co-founder of Watch Femme, a non-profit working to promote women’s voices in the watch world, highlights Bulgari’s 2020 Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon as an example of this focus on mechanical movements for smaller watch silhouettes. The piece was powered by the calibre BVL150, one of the thinnest tourbillon movements in history.

Wong compares the trend to daintier styles with the transition from pocket watches to wristwatches just over a century ago. “Just like back then, there is now a push for smaller mechanical watches without compromise. The movements should be just as accurate and keep all the qualities you expect from a high horology watch. This represents an advance in horological knowledge. Smaller and better. The industry is more skilled today compared with only a few years ago,” she said.

Wong cited several reasons for this development: brands meeting the demand of the growing segment of women requesting high horology watches, the importance of Asian customers in the last 15 years, and a general – possibly cyclical – desire for smaller watches.

At Geneva Watch Days, Georgia Benjamin, an influencer with some 40,000 followers on Instagram @georgiabenj, was sporting not one, but two small vintage watches equipped with two historical movements from Jaeger-LeCoultre: Duoplan and 101. These rectangular movements, which debuted in 1925 and 1929, respectively, are still in production. The 101 – with its 14mm × 4.8mm measurements and 3.4mm height – is to this day the smallest mechanical movement ever made. The 101 is also famous for being the watch Queen Elizabeth wore for her coronation in 1953.

“I think a small watch is more a form of jewellery than a timepiece object,” Benjamin says. “It is a piece of jewellery, but also has a power because it has the time in it too. Having a tiny little movement in pieces like this sets them apart from bulkier watches and makes them very personal to me.”