How much does the design style of an era transcend brand distinctiveness?

I'm constantly struck by how similar many watches from different manufacturers look in a given historical period. For example, it seems that almost every brand in the early 1970s made a c-style watch with a bracelet and chunky squared off hands.

For my own part I'm inexplicably fascinated by conservative-style watches from the mid to late 1960s that all look much the same... 😁 They all have narrow, often inlaid or black-striped hour markers, silver sunburst dials, narrow baton or dauphine hands, simple straight lugs that are often chamfered, usually automatic movements and with date complications being the most popular option. I'm pretty sure that taken together, these features pretty much date a watch to the period bewteen about 1963 and 1969. I suppose the 1960s Seamaster Deville is one classic example - but here are my 168.010 Constellation and my IWC R802AD:



Where do these defining styles of an era come from? Does one manufacturer introduce a watch that is so popular that everyone else copies it, or does fashion just inexplicably reach a common consensus, however needlessly precise..?

I quit showing my wife which watch I am wearing because "they all look the same".

Stick lugs, stick hands, the epitome of ugly. I cannot comprehend how many people think this is the best thing on the planet.
Dauphine hands and curvy cases or this faceted case are what I like.

Yes, I’ve posted three of my King Seikos there.. just waiting until I have a third watch of the style above from another brand to post again there.. I’m working on it!

Yes I too love that classic 60's dress watch style and have dozens in my collection but it doesn't matter how many I have I couldn't part with one of them.

What is interesting is to see how my collection has changed with a maturing of my eye and how that occasionally morphs into watches that are far removed from my favourite classic style.

It's interesting that watch and car designs follow an identical pattern: golden era in 50s/60s, some classic funky designs in the 70s, and then it all went downhill. Oil crisis with automobiles, quartz crisis with watches. I tend to think fashion and taste reflect the zeitgeist of any given era.