Tine timepieces, like most luxuries, give us a glimpse of the prevailing zeitgeist.

Every year, the watch world descends on Switzerland to attend Baselworld, the biggest and most important watch fair. I combed the sprawling exhibit hall for a sense of where luxury watchmakers are headed this year and though the road ahead looks less than exciting, the trends to come promise to bring the industry back on its feet after a rollercoaster ride last year.

Indeed, with little assurance of any sustained rebound in consumer confidence, most watch companies have kept things safe and predictable this year with the introduction of minor upgrades to existing models. The buzzwords at the fair were "classic" and "understated", and indeed, for most brands at least, sober and slim is in, while big and loud is out. The consensus in the media and among watchmakers themselves is that the exuberance of the last decade is over, and customers are looking for timeless classics and investment pieces to replace the shock and awe(ful) pieces of previous years.

From what I can tell, here are at least four trends in 2010 and the best new models that represent them:

1. Monochrome Beauty
Black is the new, well, black. I mean all-black: case, dial, hands and strap. White, too. This is a fine example of a street trend making its way up the luxury retail ladder. Street brands have been doing this for some time now and fashionistas taken by the trendy designs have had to trade down, so to speak, for a chance to own one of these watches. Not anymore.

As you might suspect, the monochrome dials are often impractical for telling time but the trend only proves that luxury watches will continue to play the role of high-end fashion accessory.

Monochrome watches also allow watch manufacturers to experiment with new metals and materials like ceramic, graphite and slate.

Best of Show: CHANEL J12, Hublot
King Power Chronograph, Jaquet
Droz Grande Seconde

2. Classical Purity
Nothing expresses the post-economic crisis zeitgeist better than a return to classical design. But what we saw at Baselworld wasn’t just a return to simplicity—what we saw seemed more like a return to the original designs themselves. This trend runs parallel to a surging interest in vintage mechanical watches. It could be nostalgia for an imagined past of watchmaking purity, or, sadly, like vintage and classic cars, perhaps older designs are simply better.

Best of Show: Glashutte Original
Senator Diary, Rolex Explorer, Patek
Philippe Ref. 5170

3. Mechanical Transparency
Skeletonized watches are short of impossible for telling time, but that's really not the objective of the transparent design anyway. These watches are all about celebrating and displaying the mechanical heart that powers our timepieces. The naked style works best for watches with grand complications and tourbillons which are the equivalent of mechanical eye-candy.

Because a 10-dollar quartz watch can tell the time just as well as a 10,000-dollar mechanical timepiece, a visible handcrafted movement becomes a badge of sophistication.

Best of Show: Breguet 7047 Tourbillon,
Omega Skeleton Central Tourbillon

4. Masculine Femininity
Ladies watches have been an integral part of any watch brand's portfolio.

For the most part, however, ladies watches have been manufactured and marketed more as jewelry rather than serious mechanical horology. That seems to be changing as more and more brands revamp their ladies line with bigger, sportier and mechanically complex watches.

As more women take on positions of influence in business and society, they tend to take the accoutrements of power more seriously. And since her male counterparts or subordinates can't tell a Birkin from a Kelly bag, the objects she chooses to project power with need to be skewed more towards the male gender. This partly explains why more women are making more masculine consumer choices in terms of cars and watches—the two publicly displayed, big ticket items men appreciate and understand.

Best of Show: Omega Ladies
Seamaster, Patek Philippe Ref. 7071