Watches are like Wine. They taste as good as their packaging, which should explain why this particular watch chain store caught my eye. Based in the Netherlands, Watch! gives itself a timewarp look by adding morphing windows on the outside and adopting a similar packaging concept, where the produce is slide into a silver bag, vacummized and sealed.
If Home Depot sold watches, these would be it - Stanley has launched a line of wristwatches with built in tools. So whether you’ve always wanted to carry a measuring tape or a screwdriver in your pocket, now you can with these handy gizmos.
According to Pierre Maillard of Europa Star, Al Jazeera, the news channel that makes it their business to step on everyone’s toes, took on the Swiss Industry at this year’s Basel:
“The press conference ended on a rather amusing note. The representative of Al-Jazeera from Germany insistently demanded a precise definition of ‘Swiss Made’ implying that this term was merely an empty shell. Upon hearing the rather confused and imprecise explanations of a number of Swiss representatives, it was finally the watch industry representative from France, Patrice Besnard, who spoke up. Still, the cover was quickly placed on this boiling question. “
Telephone calls to Maillard about what really happened ended in a restraining order.
Addendum to our earlier post: “You are what you wear”, Observers are saying that there are signs that the new Pope, Joseph Ratzinger may be more progressive than his record would suggest. These signs or indications or what have you, aren’t based on insider information but on what designer accessory the Pope is sporting:
- Pricey Serengeti sunglasses (the brand Val Kilmer wears)
- Pope’s reading glasses are Cartier’s Santos
- A stylish retro wristwatch with black hands, dial and straps (No word on what brand but our little elves are working on it)
- and a pair Black and gold cufflinks.
All this apparently outweighs his record as a Cardinal. Go figure.
Seth Godin, marketing guru and author, recently wrote about celebrity endorsements and refers to Omega’s Pierce Brosnan deal in a recent entry in the book blog of his latest book - “All Marketers are Liars”:
“One of my favorite silly endorsements is Pierce Brosnan endorsing Omega. They’re not paying Pierce because they care about Pierce’s opinion (or that you care about his opinion). They’re paying him because he embodies a fictional character, invented fifty years ago by a now-dead author.
So, otherwise rational and intelligent men spend hundreds or thousands of dollars extra to buy a watch endorsed by a fictional character controlled by anonymous film producers and embodied by an actor. Because it makes them feel good. They buy the story.”
Tucked under the armpit of Pierce Brosnan is a copy of the Weekend Standard that has the goods on Omega’s single biggest customer - North Korea’s Kim Jong Il. (cue dramatic music)
According to the article, the Korean dictator moonlights as Omega’s unofficial brand ambassador by spending approximately about USD $ 1.1 million every year on Omega watches and since 1998, Kim has used the extra aid he received to fight famine in his country to purchase a total of USD $10 million of Omega’s over three years!
Unintentionally echoing Seiko’s “You are what you wear”campaign, the New York Times profiled architect Giuseppe Lignano, not because of his work, or his art installation for what he takes pictures for but his affinity for a camera watch gadget and how it makes him a curiosity:
“Having taken countless pictures of industrial sites for his work - airports, factories, truck yards, ductwork - he noticed a few years ago that there were never any people in his shots. That was when he bought a Casio wrist camera (black and white, introduced in 2000) and started snapping his friends. Soon he was taking pictures of almost everyone he met. He upgraded to a color model, the WQV3D, and a few months ago upgraded again to the WQV10, for about $210 at B&H Photo.
With one megabyte of memory, the camera can hold 100 pictures, albeit those with only 25,000 pixels. Mr. Lignano downloads them to his home computer - some 2,500 so far - and lets them play on a slide show as a permanent art installation.
The camera’s allure is not in its stealth but its surprise. In that regard, it is a kind of secret weapon, a different take on disarmament. “It really takes people’s defenses down,” Mr. Lignano said, adding that though few people like having their picture taken, people often laugh freely for his wristwatch.”
There’s nothing really to write about the new Video Wristwatch by the Israeli Army except for its dorky name - The V-Rambo.
The watch will be used to receive video transmissions directly from drones in real time at 30 frames per second and are intended to used for “urban warfare”. (And we very well know where it is going to be used.)
Design blog, SwissMiss, spots a clever media campaign by watch brand, IWC.
