Squelette is the French word for skeleton, and in watchmaking it describes a movement that has been extensively cut away — from its bridges, plates, and sometimes even its wheels — to expose the internal mechanics to view. The technique transforms what would be an opaque movement into a three-dimensional mechanical display, allowing the wearer to observe the gear train, escapement, and other components in motion. The term is used interchangeably with 'skeletonised' in English-language watch writing, though squelette carries a more specific connotation of the haute horlogerie tradition of the craft.

Skeletonisation requires significant skill. Once material is removed from a bridge or plate, the structural integrity of the movement must be maintained while simultaneously making the remaining metal as visually refined as possible. Every remaining surface — and there are many, since each cut creates new edges and faces — must be finished: bevelled, polished, or decorated with côtes de Genève or perlage. A poorly executed skeleton movement looks crude; a well-executed one is a genuine work of decorative art. The labour involved means truly fine skeletonisation is almost exclusively found in high-end and independent watchmaking.

There is a distinction between movements designed from the outset as squelette and those that are skeletonised after the fact. Purpose-built skeleton movements, like those from Jaeger-LeCoultre, Roger Dubuis, or Richard Mille, are engineered structurally to function without the material that a standard movement relies upon. Retrospectively skeletonised movements take an existing calibre and remove material as decoration — a less rigorous but still visually effective approach used at many price points.