IN the early days, when man graduated from telling the time with a sundial to something a little more portable, watchmaking was purely functional and craft-oriented.

It was all about producing well-made timepieces that one kept in the coat pocket, to be taken out only for the occasional airing and to aid punctuality.

Aesthetics took a back seat to more pressing concerns of accuracy, precision and craftsmanship.

But as the pocketwatch moved from the jacket to the wrist, styling took on a newfound importance.

The discerning connoisseur wanted to do more than tell time - he wanted a showpiece he could wear.

'In the last 20 years or so, aesthetics have become more important, especially as watches are increasingly being looked upon as a statement of one's individuality,' observes Wong Mei Ling, managing director of The Hour Glass Singapore that stocks design-oriented brands like Ikepod (helmed by industrial designer Marc Newson, Alain Silberstein (the eponymous label of architect Alain Silberstein) and MB&F whose designs are the brainchild of up and coming industrial designer Eric Giraud.

Industrial designers have become the collaborators of choice, 'to up the ante on design', adds Ms Wong.

The industrial designer Ross Lovegrove (who designed the Sony Walkman) for one, has been a popular designer with many watchmakers.

'Good, solid mechanics are a prerequisite of course, but over the years, design has really become a key consideration factor for watch buyers in Singapore,' says Ms Wong.

Often helmed by creatives who start off as designers as opposed to watchmakers, these design-led watches are carving a niche for themselves in the market alongside the traditional brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe.

Veteran watch collector Bernard Cheong agrees. He has all three of the above mentioned brands, and he also recommends brands such as De Grisogono and Maitres de Temps.

At a lower price point, Porsche Design is a brand to look out for within this category.

'Many watch snobs turn up their noses at design-oriented watches because they believe that it's what's inside that counts and that looks don't matter,' observes Dr Cheong.

'But that's rubbish - a watch with a beautiful movement that looks like crap will never sell.'

'What these designer watches offer is identity, something that the classic watch houses do not offer,' he adds. 'These design-oriented watches are for people who want their watches to say something about them, be it that they are creative, a well-heeled creative or a creative that doesn't care about money.'

He adds that these design watches are giving the traditional houses a run for their money because they've started to offer solid movements alongside cutting edge designs.

'In the past, designer watches were famous for using quartz or offering terrible movements, but things are very different today. Even if these designer-led watch houses don't know how to make a good movement, they get somebody who can to come on board. This means that many of these brands can offer the best of both worlds - solid movements and design, which makes them very worth buying indeed.'

This probably explains why watch retailer Sincere Watches decided to bring in Guy Ellia, who has successfully merged his high jewellery design background with innovative movements to create strong offerings for his brand.

'Brands like Guy Ellia, who have effectively managed to straddle both innovative designs with cutting edge movements, are the sort of brands that a watch retailer like us would look out for,' says head of Sincere Watch Academy Patrick Tan.

'To be able to offer both makes Guy Ellia a very compelling brand indeed.'

Perhaps inspired by the growing demand for aesthetically pleasing watches, more industrial designers and artists have also started to jump on the watchmaking bandwagon.

A prime example is Ikepod, the brainchild of influential Australian industrial designer Marc Newson who is best known for designing the Lockheed Lounge chairs, one of which sold for a record US$1.5 million in 2007, setting a new auction record for a living designer's work.

The design-oriented label has achieved considerable success, thanks, no doubt, to Newson's popularity as a designer.

'There are a lot of people out there, who want to own one of Marc's works, but obviously, not many people can afford them,' says Ikepod CEO Alexandre David.

'Ikepod allows these people to have a piece of Marc Newson's creativity, without breaking the bank. More importantly however, I believe that if you do design well, like we do, it is a very effective differentiating factor for a young watch brand like us. We're about to launch a new collaboration between Marc and artist Jeff Koons which we believe will do very well, especially given the increasing popularity of modern art in today's society.'

Adds The Hour Glass' Ms Wong: 'It's all a matter of perspective. If you look at these watches more as works of art rather than just timepieces, then you start to understand their value.'

Beautifully designed watches also have the added advantage of reaching out to a feminine crowd, says Delaneau's director and designer Cristina Thevenas who has given the brand a new identity by offering more artistic looking watches solely for women.

She says: 'It cannot be denied that solid movements are important but when it comes to women, they are emotional shoppers. Once they know that what is inside is good, the final deciding factor is how the watch looks on their wrist, because let's face it, every women wants to buy something that looks good.'

That said however, Sincere's Mr Tan believes that while there will always be a niche market for design-led watches, the economic crisis will inevitably spark a return to the classics for collectors.

He concludes: 'People feel more secure when they buy watches that they feel can last through the generations, which is what they are looking for in these times. But that is not to say that these design-led brands will not succeed. Instead, what I believe is that in order to survive now, watch companies need to look deep within themselves and focus on what they feel they do best be it design or movements rather than trying to be everything and I think that if they do so, they have a higher chance of riding out the crisis.'

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This article was first published in The Business Times