I’m usually not a big fan of most wristwatch advertising but I love this 1966 advertisement for the Tissot PRS 516 Chrono Auto Valjoux. They recently re-issued the design at this year’s Baselworld and I found myself taking a liking to this old campaign versus their new one.
There was a time when Rolex would write down the name of the retailer on the face of the wristwatch and there was a time when Cartier used to sell Rolexes in their stores. Put two and two together and you’ve got a stack of antique Rolexes out there with the Cartier signature like this 1967 Double Red Sea Dweller up for auction that has a pre-sale estimate of between $25,000 to $45,000. Credit: Hodinkee for spotting this.
If the Onion, the fake news humor site, wrote a parody of a wristwatch press release, this would be it:
In a world of constant reflection on the past and constant worry about what tomorrow may bring, the main goal of the Now is the Time wristwatch is to inspire timekeepers to live in the only moment that matters – right now. Void of numbers, the Now is the Time wristwatch is instead filled with a uniquely inspirational message. In place of the missing digits, the words “Now is the Time” are laid out in typical clocklike fashion.
“This is more than a wristwatch,” stated Van Strickland, creator of the Now is the Time wristwatch. “It’s a gateway to dream realization.”
Ulysse Nardin’s puts a new spin on the luxury phone trend by creating a phone that requires a mechanical rotor to power it just like your mechanical watch. There are no details yet but they intend to reveal it during the upcoming Baselworld 2009 which I’ll be covering in detail.
Luxury watchmaker Hublot, a recent member of the Louis Vuitton All Stars, has teamed up with Zai to create a limited edition ski called the Hublot All Black. Only 111 sets have been produced and they will be available exclusively through Hublot and Zai outlets.
Artist Ignacio Uriarte has created an art installation that shows a time-lapse of 60 seconds. Here’s how it works – 60 watches are attached to each other like a circle. They are adjusted to the local time except for one difference – each one is one second ahead of the previous watch. So time flows at a speed of one circle per minute and when an hour passes by, a beep tone goes around the circle, jumping from one watch to the next. (more…)
Here’s a cheeky product idea by a design group called the Poor Life – Since watches are on the decline due to the rise of the cell phone, they’ve suggested a product called PRZEPRASZAM that is a bicycle bell attached to your wrist so you can use it to get people to move out of the way as you walk down the street.
Jean-Christophe Babin, the CEO of Tag Heuer seems to be modeling himself after Nicholas Hayek aka Mr. Swatch by imitating his signature habit of wearing more than one watch on his wrist.
A simple wall calendar that isn’t just notable for its simple but clever composition but that the designer, Sebastian Bergne, made it through Ponoko – the new website where you can create your own products.
Even though the Oracle watch was the most popular post last month, October’s biggest story on Wrist Fashion based on traffic was the unfortunate Ventura bankruptcy with three entries in the top ten category:
