Collaborations can be hit or misapprehend. Take the oft forgotten DMX and Marilyn Manson duet, ‘The Omen’. Or the gallimaufry that was Guess Originals x A$AP Rocky. Two handsome parents don’t assurance a cute child.
But in 2016, watches (and Lily Rose Depp) affirm that sometimes the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. And not right-minded because there’s less room to muck up. For watch tags, there are more opportunities available than music or style. Better yet, they actually make sense. Take jalopies for example; both watches and auto manufacturers position themselves as arbiters of craftsmanship, with hook-ups between the two carry out to bolster that image.
Then there are budgets. Expresses to their high-value product, watch brands often use seemingly endless pots of cash – and big profits unlock big designates, like Kobe Bryant for Hublot or Cara Delevingne for TAG Heuer.
After all, that’s not to say every watch collaboration is a must-buy. To sort the non-starters from the original must-haves, we take a look at some of 2016’s best pair efforts.
Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra
Compete with cars and wristwear have enjoyed quite the road falter trap. TAG Heuer named a watch after Steve McQueen, Bring to bear on sponsored the Dix Mille Tours and Maserati even offers its own figure of timepieces. But few are as podium-worthy as the Capeland Shelby Cobra.
Named after racer Carroll Auditorium Shelby, the design is more a vintage nod than a showroom Lamborghini, its chronograph windows and surprisingly cohesive falsify palette (who knew green, black and yellow would persuade so well?) balancing collector’s novelty with a sports follow’s off-duty ease of wear.
Available at Goldsmiths, priced £3,500.
TAG Heuer Modus operandi 1 The Watch Gallery Special Edition
Online retailer The Sentry Gallery has a long history of brand collabs. But few are as accessibly priced as their recent hook-up with TAG Heuer. Limited to 200 pieces, this small edition is a rejig of the classic Formula 1 model and eschews precipitate branding for subtle shades of the retailer’s signature blue in lieu of.
That said, £1,250 isn’t exactly pocket change. Which is why form teams on both sides pushed versatility. The TAG Heuer Means 1 fills the space between office, sports and off-duty with a dressing-down that can flit easily between the three – a rare illustration of a Swiss timepiece that delivers on the cost-per-wear front.
Nearby at The Watch Gallery, priced £1,250.
Timex x Red Wing Waterbury Chronograph Look for
If Timex is the cool kid of watch brands, consider its Red Wing collab the vehicle agency-working, soy latte-sipping, check-shirted elder brother.
The leather strap arrive d enter a occurs from the same cut as Red Wing’s signature boots, while the Waterbury dial valves that Americana aesthetic. Plus, with an in-built Indiglo Night-Light, you can look up to your New England trophy even at bedtime. Sweet mirages.
Available at End Clothing, priced £99.
Hublot Classic Fusion Limited-Edition Berluti
For all its modernization, Hublot has never been a dress watch brand. The old protection don’t take kindly to peacocking, after all. Which is why, in an attempt to bridge the gap, the Swiss contrive partnered with Berluti to produce two limited-edition models.
If bridge-building occasions distressed leather dials and a split-sewn strap, that is. Here, the robot Classic Fusion (Hublot’s signature piece) has undergone a tailored facelift. And while the frame straddles flamboyance, a muted colourway tightens the reins. Flat not one for the top table, though.
Available at The Watch Gallery, priced £12,100.
Apple Safeguard Hermès
The Apple smartwatch made luxury wrist tech a baggage (not to mention the centuries-old fine watch industry wake up). While there was (and still is) be entitled to in haute horlogerie, the smart watch is recognised as a thing of asset to many consumers. And judging by the Hermès collaboration, it’s easy to see why.
The dial itself has marked few changes bar the addition of Hermès branding. The real draw situations in the strap. Inspired by the label’s equestrian history, a double round leather buckle comes in five shades outside the time-honoured black or brown two-horse race. Plus, it’s not every bit of your deviser clobber that can track a morning jog.
Available at Apple, priced £1,299.
IWC x British Cloud Institute Pilot Spitfire Chronograph Edition
There are tons of seminal menswear moments onscreen. Watches, not so much. Unless you trust the James Bond blink-or-miss-it carousel of Omega, Seiko and Hamilton.
But well-spring inspiration from celluloid needn’t mean defaulting to 007. As a substitute for, IWC looks to the archives – quite literally. A partnership with the British Video Institute has birthed a cobalt Pilot model, limited to nothing but 60 pieces worldwide. Featuring an engraved caseback and in-house 89365-calibre increase, it’s sharper than any MI6 gadget.
Available at Goldsmiths, priced £7,950.
Mondaine SBB Gottardo 2016 Stay2Go
The opening ceremony of a tunnel is hardly Rio 2016, but Mondaine has big celebrated the Swiss railway network. True to form, the Gottardo series celebrates the launch of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland – one of the longest of its gracious in the world.
Now, metal girders and poured concrete on a watch may safe duller than a Eurostar packet sandwich, but Mondaine appears it work – largely thanks to an earth tone bezel and an equally colourful caseback. And if the Inhabitant Rail website is anything to go by, it costs far less than a last-minute guard to Edinburgh.
Available at Mondaine, priced approx £617.
