The hands of time move forward into the new year on watch faces that embrace two opposing trends: industrial designs and delicate, jewelry styles — and they don’t necessarily break along gender or cost lines.

What you’re not seeing a whole lot of in any category, though, is glitz.

“Watches have always been markers of important milestones in people’s lives,” says Mary Leach, chief marketing officer of Movado Group Inc., which counts luxury brands Movado, Ebel, Concord and Coach in its portfolio. “During challenging times, styles can be more subtle as consumers are feeling sensitive to the difficulties around them. Most consumers view iconic, timeless watch designs as an investment.”

One camp of watch-wearers — even in this age of computer clocks, ticker screens and always-in-reach cell phones — still uses timepieces to tell time. Others use watches as a fashion accessory, one that can be used almost daily.

“Watches are worn all day long, a true reflection of personal style,” Leach says.

Men tend to like a complicated piece with a chronograph — they’re the top sellers in the Ebel brand, for example, Leach says. There’s still debate among aficionados about dials with or without numerals. “For men, part of the idea they like about watches is form and function coming together.”

But then comes along a new watch brand like TOCS, an acronym for Timepieces of Color and Style, which expects women to embrace a graphic look with brightly colored faces and bands.

But women also like a “classic design with a twist,” Leach says. A favorite, she reports, is bracelet bands — which tend to do well in down economic times because they work for casual and dressy occasions.

Armitron, maker of mid-tier watches, reports success with themed dials– tiny elaborate paintings with whimsical details such as flowers, butterflies and hearts, says Drew Borrello, senior vice president of product development.

“The sweeter and more feminine the watch design, the more popular it has been with consumers,” he says.

You can also make delicacy a masculine thing.

Some of Armitron’s best-selling men’s styles right now have mother-of-pearl faces, or subtle diamond or crystal accents. “There are interesting things that can be done with the design of masculine watches with materials that, in the past, might have been considered too feminine for men from a brand like Armitron,” Borrello says. “Men do not have these inhibitions right now in their purchases.”