Collaborations—be it artistic, technical, or ideological—are built into the fabric of the watch industry. Brands routinely join hands with artists, organisations, even other watchmakers to create timepieces that showcase the different ways in which both the brand and the line can evolve. is year has already thrown up a fair share of strong partnerships, but none so emphatic as Audemars Piguet’s association with John Mayer. It is a known fact that the seven-time Grammy winner is a collector of ne timepieces, including several from Audemars Piguet, and the watchmaker harnessed that passion by announcing him as its Creative Conduit. e lofty designation means that Mayer will act as a bridge between collectors and Audemars Piguet, bringing to the latter the information on what collectors might like from the brand. e occasion was marked by the launch of the stunning, limited-to-200- pieces Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar ‘John Mayer’ Limited Edition.
This was truly a coup, but then Audemars Piguet often collaborates with artistes, bringing their essence to its watches. In recent months, there has been one with Cactus Jack, the brand and record label founded by American hip hop artiste Travis Scott, and one with designer Tamara Ralph.
The other collaboration that recently dropped and once again saw snaking lines outside stores was the all-white Swatch X Omega Moonswatch ‘Mission to the Moonphase’ highlighting NASA’s safety mascot Snoopy on its moonphase counter. Tudor, too, upped the ante by first announcing its partnership with the football club Inter Miami CF as its Ocial Timekeeper, and then immediately followed that up with the introduction of a Black Bay Chrono in Pink. Rado also recently collaborated with Japanese designer Kunihiko Morinaga to create a special edition watch whose dial changes colour according to the available light.
What I am trying to illustrate with all these examples is that collaborations in the watch world are like canvases showcasing new pieces of art. Our cover watch is one such piece. Montblanc’s Iced Sea dial watches have within two years become its best-selling line, just like its 0 Oxygen watches have steadily risen in popularity. The 0 Oxygen concept is directly inspired by Mark Maker, adventurer and alpinist Reinhold Messner, whose summits without supplemental oxygen inspired the 0 Oxygen concept. Now the brand has unveiled a new watch with a new material that further gives it an innovative edge. Read all about it in the story ‘High & Mighty’ (P. 70). Another brand we have proved, and that wholly believes in the power of collaborations is ID Genève. Everything that ID Genève does, from sourcing and materials to processes and partners, is geared to be socially and environmentally relevant. In a bid to be truly eco-friendly, the brand has collaborated names like Magical Mushroom and Notpla, UK-based companies that produce compostable packaging, US-based Mirum that makes plant-based straps, and the Italian company Vegea that makes vegetal textile. We had the chance to sit down with co-founders Cédric Mulhauser, and Singal Depéry to learn about how they have built an impact-native brand, in the story ‘Time for Change’ (P. 46).
The spirit of collaboration is peppered throughout this issue, be it in our interview with Panerai’s longstanding ambassador Mike Horn (‘Man on a Mission, P. 78), where he speaks about their partnership and the resulting watches, or in our microbrand feature on Urwerk (‘In a League of One’s Own’, P. 96) where we detail how co-founders Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei created their futuristic brand. It really is about being stronger together. Turn the pages of this issue to see how this idea has unfolded in the watch world.
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