Ringing in the New Year: A Handy Guide to Ring Watches

Looking back at 2025, my most emotionally fraught horological journey came not from being stuck in limbo on a waiting list, hoping to catch favor from some authorized dealer. Nor was it being pipped at the post for a grail watch at an auction.

Nope. My story begins in October of 2024, when Timex announced the Timex x MM6 Maison Margiela, a reimagined version of the classic T80 digital watch, now in ring form. I woke up at an ungodly hour (at least for me) so that I could be the first to order that limited edition, and I somehow got through the online process. I was elated.

Then, a couple of hours later, my order was cancelled. Demand for the watch broke the internet, and Timex couldn’t keep up. I was devastated.

Fortunately, the story has a happy ending: a year later, the brand announced a do-over, and I finally got my hands on the Timex x MM6 Maison Margiela. I love it so much that I sometimes think about replacing my wedding band with it.

This story also illustrates how far ring watches – generally considered a whimsical alternative to a wristwatch – have evolved from ultra-luxe novelties for royalty to super-fun digital watches for digits.

Ring watches predate wristwatches by centuries, with the first known ring watch made in the 16th century, and the first known wristwatch created by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1810.

Made by the German clockmaker Jakob Weiss in 1585, one amazing example of an early finger watch is a gold-and-enamel piece that features a triptych of the Crucifixion of Jesus, an impressive artefact probably made for a high-ranking member of the clergy.
 

Considering the first “pocket” watches – large beasts known as the Nuremberg Eggs – didn’t appear until 1510, this tiny trinket made only 75 years later represented a considerable advance in portable timekeeping.

Although much smaller than pocket watches, finger watches were still unwieldy and tended to get banged up. So, they were pretty much made as playthings for the elite. However, by the mid-1700s, advances in miniaturization made them more practical – and popular. As cocktail watches did in the 20^th century, these late-18^th-century finger watches blurred the line between fashion and utility.
 

Moreover, because looking at a pocket watch was considered bad form at formal events, ring watches functioned as jewelry, for both men and women, that allowed them to discreetly check the time.

Still, ring watches have always been a niche timepiece. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t had an outsized impact on watchmaking.

The Art Deco era, for example, leaned heavily on geometric design and super luxe materials such as platinum and diamonds. However, to embrace the aesthetics of the time, watchmakers also needed to make advancements in the miniaturization of movements. Thus, some of the most inventive ring watches of the Jazz Age were made by Jaeger-LeCoultre and feature the brand’s teeny-tiny Calibre 101.
 

These watches are rare, but from a collecting standpoint, they also have a lot of value. For example, in 2014, a platinum Jaeger-LeCoultre ring watch from circa 1930, with a silvered matte dial, baton and dagger numerals, blued steel hands, and baguette-cut diamond-set shoulders, was sold by Christie’s for HKD 300,000; of the 69 Rolex lots at the same auction, only 12 fetched higher prices.
 

Kaitlin Koch (a.k.a. @little.old.watches on Instagram) got her first ring watch when she was around 10 years old. “I want to say it was from either Claire’s or from a catalogue like Delia’s,” she recalled. Inexpensive ring watches were very Y2K, but when she got into vintage as a teen, the genre still appealed to her.

“My first mechanical ring watch was a Gruen from the 1960s. [The dial] was blue with white rhinestones around it,” Koch told Watchonista. She is still partial to mid-century models. At the height of the 1950s Hollywood Regency design era, brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre and Rolex made some truly bold ring watches.
 

In 2021, Sotheby’s listed an opulent yellow gold 1950s Jaeger-LeCoultre, featuring calibré-cut rubies and brilliant-cut, flush-set diamonds with an estimate of CHF 4,000 to CHF 7,000.

For the Rat Pack-type, Rolex made 18-karat gold rings with a concealed watch beneath a hinged cover adorned with a sculpted crown. These weren’t after-market modifications either – Antiquorum sold one with its original fitted box in 2012. The hammer price? $11,250.
 

As you may have noticed, many of these examples come from old auctions, underscoring the rarity of high-end ring watches. Luckily, like with all things luxury, there’s a trickle-down effect. One of Koch’s favorites is a Girard Perregaux with a simple round dial and a flat-top crystal. A similar model sold at Bonhams in 2021 for just $640.
 

And eBay abounds with other bargains from the 1970s. Koch’s most treasured finger watches include mod pieces by Nivada Grenchen, Schiaparelli, and Piccolo (a Seiko sub-brand). There are also some very cool vintage Seikos with thick crystals that look like facetted gemstones.

With popularity came a rapid decline in quality. Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet were, of course, still offering haute horology versions, but most of the ring watches on the market in the late 20^th century were cheap, mass-produced mall watches. Fortunately, Nineties and Aughties nostalgia has fuelled a ring watch renaissance.

On the high-end, Chanel just introduced “The Lion of Mademoiselle” at Dubai Watch Week. This secret watch is crafted from 18k yellow gold and set with 256 brilliant-cut diamonds. The ring’s cover is a sculpture of a lion’s head.
 

We are now entering a new era of ring watches for the watch-obsessed. There’s a whole new generation of collectors who are into the novelty of having a timepiece that’s not a wristwatch. For example, Fossil has a series of ring watches for under $200 with faux hardstone faces that lean into the current trend for exotic dials.

You could argue that the current craze was fueled by the Japanese capsule toy company Statso Stand Stones, which released a series of six ring-sized, non-functional replicas of iconic Casio watches in 2023. These novelties were sold in Japanese gachapon (vending) machines but were so successful that they quickly popped up for resale online.

It didn’t take long for brands to figure out that fans wanted working versions of these toy timepieces. First out of the gate was the Timex x Margiela, followed quickly by the Casio CRW001 in December of 2024. And at the end of November (days after I got my Margiela), G-SHOCK shrunk the iconic DW5600.

“I knew ring watches were having a moment, and I thought they were neat in a ‘that’s fun for other people’ kind of way,” explained Chris Antzoulis, Founder of PoppingCrowns. “I had absolutely no plans to become a ‘Ring Watch Guy’ until I saw the G-SHOCK versions. They are actual G-SHOCKs that have been aggressively shrink-rayed, right down to the tiny strap and pin buckle…resistance was pointless.”

These finger watches are much easier to wear than their predecessors. Lightweight materials make them lighter, and advanced engineering has eliminated the pinchiness of the millennial expansion bands.

“It’s a little bulky, but it’s light,” Antzoulis said about his G-SHOCK. “The straps makes it genuinely comfortable, and after a few days, my brain fully accepted this as normal behavior. And just to be clear, because I know the question is coming, I still wear a watch on my wrist. I’ve embraced chaos, not abandonment of core values.”

Personally, what makes modern and vintage ring watches so appealing is that they are beautiful displays of ingenuity and help express one’s personality through a variety of crafts and price points (for instance, the G-SHOCK DWN5600 rings are priced at only $110 each).

There’s also a little bit of FOMO behind the trend. Fossil aside, these mini pops are limited editions. And they are currently all sold out. But never fear, just as the ring watch has been around for over half a millennium, these fun watches will be back.