Honestly speaking from my very personal point of view most of the watches shown in your initial post are nice examples for horological pieces of art (I avoid the term ‘kinetic sculpture’ here, because it could be considered as a little insulting in this context). They may present a functional aesthetic, but their form is not defined by their purpose. They are rather the result of the watchmakers trying to create a unique time piece and designing it to achieve a certain appearance.
A mechanical watch is supposed to receive mechanical energy, store it and release it stepwise into an indicator for time. So in minimum it needs a crown, a movement, a dial, hands, a housing and glass and last but not least a strap to put it on your wrist. This does not require any part of the movement to be present at the dial face. The watchmakers of our forefathers have already proven that it is possible to manufacture extremely complex watches with a movement manufactured to the highest standards of craftsmanship (including tourbillons, minute repeaters, perpetual calendars, etc.) behind a plain dial face and surrounded by a flush housing and glass.
Some of the examples you cited can be considered as old style. They include technical solutions which have been recognized as obsolete meanwhile (because they do not contribute to the accuracy of the movement anymore when combined with other technical improvements developed later on) or clearly mirror manufacturing methods of the 18th and 19th century. While representing the forefront of technology in former centuries, there is no purpose in transferring this style to a watch newly made in the 21st century except for the intention of the watchmaker to gain attraction by presenting an old style hand made watch. But in doing so in the 21st century this watch becomes a piece of art then, doesn’t it ?
May I cite one example of a more popular (contemporary) mechanical watch that is completely avoiding such retro-appearance by maintaining the tradition of the old masters in watch making to use the most appropriate (not the most fancy) technologies available at their time both in watch design and manufacturing: just look at the watches by H. Moser & Cie. That’s what I would call a contemporary (non mass produced) mechanical watch with a form defined by its purpose.
In case my point of view sounds odd, please forgive me: I am a mechanical engineer in the second half of his life. Anyway, nice topic. Thanks for bringing it up.
Heinrich
The foto shows a souvenir from the Museum Tinguely of Kinetic Art in Basel: a small kinetic sculpture ;-).