A tricky time in the economy is pushing customers towards less tricky watches, with brands increasingly serving up variations of their best-selling models.

“People are looking for a comfort zone on the wrist,” The Australian Financial Review’s watch editor Bani McSpedden told attendees of About Time during a Q&A at Lillian Brasserie in Society restaurant in Melbourne on Sunday. “While clever mechanics never lose their appeal, over-the-top executions and mad takes are not what watch lovers currently want.”