Celebrate Day of the Dead in style with these proud, colourful watches that perfectly pay tribute to the Mexican holiday.
Taking place on November 1st and 2nd, Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos is a holiday where families honour and celebrate deceased loved ones and ancestors. The Mexican holiday involves offerings, food and various activities, and upholds strong Aztec and Spanish Catholic traditions.
Day of the Dead is most commonly recognised by La Catrina, a skeleton figure that represents death and inspires ‘sugar skulls’ face paint and iconography. With this in mind and to honour the Day of the Dead, many watch brands have crafted their own themed watches.
I’ve rounded up nine of our favourite Day of the Dead watches below, including models from Richard Mille, Chopard, Timex, Louis Vuitton and more.
Richard Mille RM 052 Tourbillon Skull
Richard Mille debuted the RM 052 Tourbillon Skull back in 2012, so it’s an extremely rare, limited edition timepiece – and that’s if you can even find it! But we can still admire it, especially when parts of the watch’s movements are what make up the skull centrepiece.
The skeletonised dial – if you’re going to pay tribute to a skull, you might as well make the entire watch skeletonised – displays a titanium skull that’s formed from the baseplate and brides of the RM 05 movement. The mouth of the skull also looks like it’s eating the tourbillon cage’s ruby.
Jacob & Co Skull Double Tourbillon
Exclusively designed and available for its Mexican market, the Jacob & Co Skull Double Tourbillon is another skull-themed watch that incorporates the movement on the dial. At the top of the onyx black dial is the rose gold skull which has black hour and minute hands on its forehead.
Below the skull are two tourbillons which shows off the creativity of Jacob & Co’s movement. The watch measures 46mm and aside from being unable to buy it unless you’re in Mexico, it’s also limited to just 18 pieces, a.k.a it’s pretty impossible to get your hands on.
Chopard L.U.C Full Strike ‘Día de los Muertos’
Another limited edition watch, the Chopard L.U.C Full Strike ‘Día de los Muertos’ is a true work of art. Measuring 42.5mm, it’s made of ethical yellow gold which is displayed on the case, bezel and crown. The dial is an explosion of colour and has some fun hidden details within the skull.
The skull on the dial is made of colourful miniature inlays of milk and pink opal, orange and red carnelian and aventurine, gold obsidian and black jade. The L.U.C Calibre 08.01-L movement is visible on the right side as a playful cutout, with a wheel replacing one of the skull’s eyes.
Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Automata
My favourite in the line-up, Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Automata is a big watch at 46.8mm, but it has a lot to look at. Crafted from rose gold, the watch is a tribute to Day of the Dead while also keeping trademark icons from Louis Vuitton’s own brand.
The dial background of the Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem Automata has the LV pattern which is overlaid with a gold skull that has a gold tooth and a snake coming out of one of its eyes. The snake’s tail loops around a diamond, and there’s another snake head on the right side of the case atop the crown. It also has a power reserve indicator that’s depicted as an hourglass.
Timex Weekender Day of the Dead
The Timex Weekender Day of the Dead is a traditional depiction of La Catrina. Measuring 40mm, the watch has a black dial with an intricate, colourful skull at the centre. The skull is surrounded by different types of flowers, stars and hour markers that stand out in white.
For more brightness, the Timex Weekender Day of the Dead has an INDIGLO backlight that lights up when you press the crown. It’s fun to look at and is finished with an eco-friendly natural leather strap.
Bell & Ross BR-01 Laughing Skull
The Bell & Ross BR-01 Laughing Skull is another massive watch with a 46mm square case. Within the case is a skull-shaped dial, complete with bolts in the form of crossbones, and a carved mechanical skull that looks like it’s laughing – hence the name.
The case of the Bell & Ross BR-01 Laughing Skull has a guilloche pattern while the skull on the dial appears to be floating. While it can pay tribute to Day of the Dead, it also pays homage to 14th Century European autonomous mechanisms that often took the form of animated mechanised people.
Phillip Plein The $keleton Rainbow
For something more colourful, the Phillip Plein The $keleton Rainbow may have a dark dial but the bezel is strikingly colourful. The rounded square case houses a skeletonised dial with a main skull and crossbones at the centre that overlaps the movement. There’s an extra skull motif on the end of the seconds hand.
The part I love most about the Phillip Plein The $keleton Rainbow is the bezel which features 24 colourful crystals in the colours of the rainbow. It adds extra colour to the watch and celebrates the brightness of the Day of the Dead celebrations.
Mr Jones Watches Last Laugh Tattoo
If you ever want an outrageous watch, Mr Jones Watches is your best bet. Its tribute to memento mori, the Last Laugh Tattoo was made in collaboration with tattoo artist Adrian Willard and shows off a colourful skull with a bold cross on the forehead and flowers in the eyes.
The eagle eyed of you will have noticed the lack of hands and numbers. To tell the time on the Mr Jones Watches Last Laugh Tattoo, the hours are shown on the skulls’ upper teeth – which also has a jumping hour feature – while the lower teeth show the minutes. This watch has been discontinued, but Mr Jones Watches has debuted a similar skull watch that reminds me of the Joker.
Swatch D’oh of the Dead
Swatch is never one to miss out on celebrating a holiday, and it’s done so in classic Swatch way with its D’oh of the Dead watch. As the name suggests, this watch is part of Swatch’s ongoing Swatch presents The Simpsons collection, so in place of the traditional La Catrina skull, it depicts Bart Simpson’s skull instead. Why? I’m not sure but it’s only £96 and The Simpsons fans will probably love it.
