When it comes to horology’s landmark decades of the 20th century, the 1950s springs to mind for the birth of the professional dive watch, the 1960s as the era of the chronograph and the 1970s as the dawn of luxury steel sports models with precious metal prices. The 1980s might be best forgotten since it saw a boom in quartz that threatened the very existence of mechanical watches. But then the 1990s arrived, bringing with it a true watchmaking renaissance.

This is the decade when dormant makes began to rise from the ashes. When big luxury groups seized on the marketing gold hidden behind old dial names. And when new independent brands emerged, making watches that combined tradition and modernity.

These were the foundations of what has become the horological boom of the 21st century. But the question is: are we ready to revisit these formative years? We’ve already had a few successful reboots – such as IWC’s Ref 3705 Pilot’s chronograph – but the quintessential 1990s “look”, all soft-edged cases, small dials and modern typography is one that still splits opinion. Oris’ recent revival of a little-known dual time model from 1997 is the latest evidence that, cautiously, we might be about to see a wave of 1990s throwbacks.

In that spirit, we’ve assembled a list of models from that decade that are ripe for rediscovery.

An ultra-thin Piaget wristwatch was deemed an essential piece of operational equipment by every self-respecting 1970s playboy. But the brand took a decidedly more robust approach 20 years later with the statement-making Key Largo that sought to merge luxury with practicality.

The Key Largo was a 38mm dive watch with a rotating bezel on which the dive scale was raised and finished in white gold for yellow gold cased versions, or yellow gold for those made from white gold. A thick sapphire crystal and a bolt-down case back helped to provide 200-metre water resistance. But the “tool watch” engineering didn’t prevent Piaget from adding some extravagant touches, such as elegant, fluted lugs and a cabochon on the end of the screw-down crown.

But perhaps the most striking feature of the watch (starting price £16,760) was the matching gold bracelet made from a combination of fluted central bars mounted to a complex arrangement of links designed to provide strength and articulation.

The Key Largo was also available on an ahead-of-its time Cordura dive strap that could, if the owner desired, be embellished with a version of the bracelet model’s fluted bars that were designed to be slipped on when a more glamorous look was called for after a hard day’s diving.

Breitling made some of the most coveted watches of any brand back in the 1990s, the most sought-after of which were the multiple variations of its signature Navitimer pilot model.

The basic chronograph version wasn’t basic at all thanks to its celebrated (and patented) circular slide rule, but far more complicated Navitimers were also available, peaking with the perpetual calendar of the Montbrillant QP. Perhaps the most information-heavy Navitimer, however, was the mind-boggling TwinSixty that took its name from the fact that it had two minutes hands – the first being centrally positioned and running in tandem with the seconds hand , the additional one being found on a subsidiary dial at six o’clock.

Designed for displaying measured time across 60 minutes, it enabled an instant reading and was a useful aviation aid that could be used, for example, for monitoring flight times in relation to fuel reserves. Other functions of the TwinSixty included an analogue calendar, a seconds subdial and 24-hour readout – with the overall set-up requiring a total of no fewer than nine separate hands. Retail price in 1997 was £3,835.

Launched at the 1997 Basel fair, the Rainbow Flyback was the latest in a line of Rainbow models that debuted five years earlier and took their name not from the colours on the dial but from the celebrated J-Class racing yacht that won the America’s Cup in 1934.

It was obviously pure coincidence that the name perfectly summed-up the yellow, green and blue “sector” colours used on the Rainbow Flyback’s 30-minute counter alongside the urgent red highlights of the rotating bezel and minute hands. The eye-catching design was no gimmick, however – the high contrast legibility is thanks to the watch being originally developed for the French Air Force, but the subsequent cancellation of the order led to the completed watches being offered to the public (at an original retail price of just £1,995).

As this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Rainbow Flyback, might it be too much to hope for a revival?

When IWC Schaffhausen’s long-standing partnership with Porsche Design came to an end in the mid-1990s, the brand set about using some of the lessons it had learnt in producing the avant-garde PD watches to develop sports models of its own.

The first was the GST Chronograph of 1997, the letters “GST” standing for “gold, steel, titanium” – the three metals in which the watch was available. It could also be had in two case sizes (36.6 and 40mm) and with two different movements (traditional automatic, or “meca-quartz” hybrid).

The GST Chronograph was a beautifully made watch with a suitably high-end, integrated bracelet. And offering it in three materials made it accessible to a broad range of buyers, since prices started at around £2,000 and rose to more than £12,000.

The strength and depth of modern-day IWC chronographs – from the Pilot’s to the Portugieser, a whopping 77 different chronos exist in the range – makes a revival unlikely. But the brand has shown it is both in touch with its archive and has the gusto to try new things, so who knows.

Vacheron Constantin’s flagship line of the mid-1990s was the Phidias collection, a range of classic designs made from 18-carat gold and with matching, integrated bracelets. The Phidias was, ostensibly, the successor to the 222 (revived this year, of course, to great fanfare) – but looked nothing like it.

In chronograph form, the Phidias had a smooth, sloping bezel engraved with a tachymeter scale and a clean and simple dial with a trio of counters. Slim, almost delicate looking hands and baton markers took up minimal space, while substantial “pump” pushers made using the chronograph functions practical and positive.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Phidias chronograph, however, was that integrated bracelet. Of unique design, it featured a concave middle through which ran the cylindrical bars found at the centre of each link. Phidias, in case you were wondering, was the chief artist of the Greek politician Pericles and was responsible for creating many of the greatest sculptures and monuments in Athens.

Girard-Perregaux began revisiting its past as early as 1982 with a replica of its celebrated Tourbillon with Three Gold bridges pocket watch. But it was not until the 1990s that it set about reviving some of its classic wristwatch designs. The Three Gold Bridges movement was reduced to wrist size in time for the maker’s bicentenary in 1991, after which the introduction of a new piece in the Vintage range became an annual tradition.

For 1999, Girard-Perregaux created a chronograph featuring a self-winding, column-wheel movement fitted into the already established square case of the 1945 line. Measuring a statement-making 47mm, the watch was beautifully finished, with more wearable proportions than its size might imply. Pink, yellow or white gold cases were offered, all topped with a spherical crystal and water resistant down to 30 metres. Prices started at around £8,300 for yellow gold versions on leather straps.