Five Unusual Watches with Monsters, Aliens and Ghosts

A watch that looks back at you takes some getting used to. So does one that asks you to read the hour from a spider’s severed claw.

For our Halloween video, we brought together five unusual watches featuring a one-eyed monster, an underground spider battle, an alien invasion and two rather unsuccessful attempts at ghost control. The line-up includes Louis Erard × Konstantin Chaykin, Mr Jones Watches, AWAKE and Spinnaker × seconde/seconde/.

These are watches we’ve handled at MVS Watches, and the appeal goes beyond their appearance. Some turn the characters themselves into a way of telling the time. Others reward a closer look or a switch of the lights.

Several of the featured pieces have since sold. This is a look at their designs and the details we enjoyed, rather than a list of watches currently available.

Louis Erard × Konstantin Chaykin Le Régulateur: the watch that stares back

The Louis Erard × Konstantin Chaykin Le Régulateur is our strongest contender for the creepiest watch in the group. That single eye attracts your attention, but the moving mouth holds it.

Its face is built around a regulator display, which separates the hours, minutes and seconds. The eye at the top shows the hours, the central hand indicates the minutes, and the saw-toothed mouth at the bottom counts the seconds.

Once you understand that arrangement, the creature becomes readable. Before then, you might reasonably wonder whether it is telling you the time or sizing you up.

The clever part is how closely the character depends on the mechanism. As the displays move, the expression changes. The face would lose much of its unsettling quality if it were simply printed beneath an ordinary pair of hands.

The example in our video measures 39mm across. It doesn’t need an enormous case to make an impression: the eye and rotating mouth do plenty of work on their own.

Of the five, this is the one we’d most want to show someone running. A photograph introduces the monster. The seconds display gives it life.

Mr Jones Watches Monster Melter 1904: telling time during a spider attack

Mr Jones Watches takes a different approach with the Monster Melter 1904, designed by artist Onorio D’Epiro.

There is an entire adventure on the dial. A mad inventor equipped with a steampunk jetpack is confronting an enormous spider in the sewers. The metallic copper artwork gives the scene the character of an old illustrated adventure book, with enough detail to keep your eye wandering.

The characters also provide the time display. The inventor’s arm indicates the minutes, while the spider’s red, severed claw points to the hour.

That makes the design particularly satisfying. Learning to read the watch means learning your way around the scene. What initially looks like an illustration gradually reveals itself as a working display.

The Monster Melter is our choice for the strongest miniature story of the five. There is a setting, a hero and a very obvious problem, all contained within a watch dial.

Whether it is frightening depends largely on your feelings about spiders. If you dislike them, having this one accompany you throughout the day is unlikely to improve matters.

AWAKE Dare & Dream: an alien invasion with a sense of humour

The AWAKE Dare & Dream, created with artist Nicolas Barrome Forgues, feels considerably less threatening.

Its little alien characters appear to have taken possession of the watch. They interfere with the hour markers and make off with parts of the AWAKE logo, turning the dial into a scene of organised mischief.

Here, the pleasure is in looking closely. You notice one character, follow what it is doing and then spot another small disruption elsewhere.

Unlike the Louis Erard and Mr Jones, the AWAKE retains conventional central hands for reading the time. The illustration plays around that familiar arrangement, making the watch easier to decipher at first glance while leaving plenty to discover.

The characters glow blue in the dark, giving the artwork another dimension when the lights go down.

It is the friendliest watch in our line-up. These aliens look more likely to raid your fridge than destroy civilisation, which is precisely why the design works. It has humour without needing much explanation.

Spinnaker × seconde/seconde/ Phantom Blue: a dial full of ghosts

The Spinnaker × seconde/seconde/ Phantom Blue brings us back to a more traditional Halloween subject.

A crowd of luminous ghosts occupies the dial, giving the familiar diving-watch format an unexpected cast of characters. The “Fifty Phantoms” name adds a watch-world joke, playing on the celebrated Fifty Fathoms name.

The ghosts are the main attraction, especially when illuminated. Where the Louis Erard relies on movement and the Mr Jones invites you to decode its illustration, the Phantom Blue delivers its joke immediately.

There is something appealing about that simplicity. You can enjoy the luminous characters without knowing the reference behind the name, while enthusiasts get an extra layer of humour.

Spinnaker × seconde/seconde/ No App: the ghosts haven’t gone far

The second Spinnaker continues the story with “No App”, short for “No Apparitions”.

A no-ghosts symbol on the dial suggests that the problem has been resolved. Look at the bezel, however, and the ghosts are still there. They have simply moved outside the supposedly protected area.

Apparently, the exorcism only covered part of the watch.

Of the two Spinnakers, this is our favourite visual joke. The dial sets up the idea and the bezel supplies the punchline. It rewards that second glance without needing an elaborate display or a lengthy explanation.

Placed beside the Phantom Blue, it also shows how much a small change in the relationship between dial and bezel can alter the character of a watch.

Which is the scariest?

Our vote goes to the Louis Erard × Konstantin Chaykin Le Régulateur. The single eye is strange enough, but the moving, saw-toothed mouth makes it the most unsettling of the five.

The Mr Jones Monster Melter 1904 is a close challenger for anyone with a fear of spiders. AWAKE wins for the friendliest characters, while the Spinnakers bring the best ghost jokes.

What makes the group memorable is the variety of ideas. A regulator becomes a face. An illustrated battle becomes a time display. Aliens rearrange the dial, and ghosts refuse to stay where they belong.

Halloween gave us a reason to bring them together. Their imagination is worth enjoying all year.

You can explore more distinctive designs in our changing collection of microbrand and independent watches.