When we first brought you a hands-on impression of the original watches Fiona Krüger was creating, Ariel mentioned that the pieces were very reminiscent of the skeletons you see associated with “Day of the Dead,” or Día de Muertos. The exception, to my eyes, was the fact that they were rather monochromatic. Now, I’m not a necessarily a celebrant of that day, but it calls to mind something very vividly colored. With her latest model, the Fiona Krüger Celebration Skull, that’s all changed.

As you can see by these photos, the Fiona Krüger Celebration Skull very much hews to the aesthetic of the celebration. It follows the basic geometry established in the earlier watches, and adds the use of colorful lacquer (and superluminova) to the three-layer dial. For me, this sort of juxtaposition of lively color and the epitome of mortality (a skull) is something I can certainly appreciate, though it’s not a theme I personally am drawn to.

The Fiona Krüger Celebration Skull also marks the first time a Fiona Krüger watch has had any luminant on it. Here, she took the opportunity to use white Superluminova, which gives you the ghostly outlines, with an almost neon sign-like look to it. I have to say I rather like the usage of it, and I am torn as to whether or not the hands would have been well-served by having some lume as well.

On one hand, without the lume, you have, basically, no night-time readability of the watch, which seems strange when the dial has portions glowing. On the other hand, it would likely have lightened the hands, and made them stand out against the dial (yes, I know there are dark lumes, but there’s an aesthetic at work here), which would have diminished the attention given to the dial itself. In other words, yes, this is a watch, but it is very much a design-driven piece, with the time-keeping as a sort of bonus feature.

Speaking of time-keeping, that’s the next spot on the Fiona Krüger Celebration Skull that we see some more firsts from the designer. For starters, there is an automatic movement (previous models were manually-wound). You can see this through a biomechanic-inspired exhibition window, through which you will also note that the rotor on the TT738 movement has had the colorful lacquer applied as well. Last, but not least, a date complication has been incorporated, showing up on the forehead of the skull.

The final change to the lineup, is the number of the Fiona Krüger Celebration Skull that will be made. With previous watches from Fiona Krüger, they were made in limited editions of 12 pieces. While this latest iteration will be limited as well, the edition has been expanded to 24 pieces. Pricing for the Fiona Krüger Celebration Skull is 25,800 Swiss Francs. We hope to take a closer look at Baselworld 2015 later this month.  fionakrugertimepieces.com

Tech specs from Fiona Krüger

• Case detail and material: Stainless Steel 316N with custom opening on the back
• Case size: 57.4 x 41.3 mm (length x width), 10.9mm thick
• Glass: Sapphire
• Colour of dial & style : 3 layered dial in stainless steel 316N with black PDV treatment, hand-finishing and hand-painted lacquer and superluminova décor
• Hands: Blued Steel
• Movement: Mechanical Automatic movement, TT738 with skeletonised and custom- black PVD coated bridges and customised oscillating mass
• Buckle: Steel pin buckle
• Bracelet: Hand-stitched calf leather