Collab Timepieces We Dare And Wish Were True

I repeatedly fail to recall a recent time or a not so past moment from the watch world that was as crazy, as spectacular and as hyped as the MoonSwatch drop in March of 2022. I vividly remember popular news channels broadcasting the snaking lines of people all eyeing for a then-fresh outta the oven Bioceramic Speedmaster. My over-anxious parents, who obviously dismissed the news and my testimony for the same, chose to declare it as some crazy rush for the Covid cure. Sensing a risk of abandonment, I allowed their misconception to persist. It was a crazy moment from an already crazy period for watches. Although this wasn’t the index case for the phenomenon, the MoonSwatch sorts of concretized the practice of collaborations in the watch industry which as of today have attained a hypebeast rep in the industry.

This practice obviously borrows the trends from streetwear industry where a scaled execution of “drop culture” strategy is an omnipresent influencer. Flexing their pop-culture muscles, watch brands too collaborate to stay solvent to a dominion of young consumers which find exceptional affinity for fleeting trends. Embracing the unstoppable retail trend of product drops, brands teaming up yields novel executions which seem alien to their core product catalogs. For the otherwise slow-moving industry, collaborations inspire new directions in regards to design, marketing and general consumer perception surrounding the participating entities. Such collabs have sorts of yielded a mash-up of the peak sellable attributes for these brand-brand or brand-celeb pairings. Like the major order of existing civilizations, in the realm of watch collaborations too, opposites seem to find the best attraction and outcome.

The watch industry of today isn’t short on collaborations. Gradually permeating the mainstream collecting psyche, collaborations exist in a multitude or multiverse of styles, levels and types. When it comes to creating hype and instant market affinity, collaborations are generally the way to adopt, for these creations usually occur in strictly-limited production numbers making them even more desirable. Remember, scarcity equals desirability. The modern age of watch collabs yields examples that are more singular and complete in their execution. Unlike a tiny Domino’s logo on the dial, the current realizations of this practice feel more native as they are collaborative in their conceptualization as well as the techniques of design, craftsmanship, execution and marketing.

While the recent endeavours have linked some note-worthy brands in very hyped collaborations, there is genuinely an ocean of opportunities yet to tap into. And why not? Like the exciting prospect of an online baby generator, we fantasize our own watch collaborations by pairing partners, alike and very much not. Let’s see how this weird and vivid spin-off materializes.

Audemars Piguet x Star Wars

If there’s a film that defines the space sci-fi genre, it’s Star Wars. Rightfully deemed as a cinematic revolution, the original Star Wars from 1977 is a complete benchmark for demonstrating the captivating power of celestial adventures and its true mastery in terms of speculative storytelling. The movie which evolved into an accomplished series is a cultural institution of incalculable proportions. The Star Wars universe has permeated an ample expanse of pop-culture-specific merch and memorabilia. Investopedia considers the Star Wars brand at par with the most well-known corporations, and rightfully so, for the franchise has garnered more than $10 billion at the box office.

With a fanbase that exceeds ten billion globally, the Star Wars brand is a bankable entity to get into a collab with for any watch brand. For a fitting pairing with the franchise, why not render the Royal Oak Concept aesthetic as a Star Wars thematic. Audemars Piguet is no alien to marrying sci-fi and movie culture touchpoints with its tech and designs as evident in the Marvel collabs. Our spin-off imagines the Audemars Piguet x Star Wars collab timepiece in a somewhat similar styling vein to the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon “Spider-Man” but with the imposing figure of the Sith Lord Anakin Skywalker a.k.a Darth Vader in a synonymous embrace of the dark side of the Force. As imagined in the rendering above, the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon “Darth Vader” would make a seductive timepiece that could even mature into a collab series.

Breguet x Swatch

There’s heavy speculation as to which brand among Swatch’s portfolio will next get the Bioceramic treatment. If we understand the current occurrence of the collab lot, and since they've already done the moon and the oceans, the next thing they need to do is go for the skies. There’s absolutely every element in logical favor that hints at the next collaboration being an aviator style or a pilot’s watch. We need not dig that deep to highlight a very historically significant pilot’s watch from the Swatch portfolio - the Breguet Type XX.

In popular Swatch collab tradition, these Bioceramic examples have been part of a broader strategy to promote, create excitement and garner mass audience appeal around brands or watches that are somewhat dormant within the catalog and lack mass market hype. It is kind of a brand awareness exercise intended to get people to the doors, not necessarily of Swatch, but of Omega, Blancpain, Breguet and so on. From these collabs, they want that spike in desirability that generates huge amounts of revenue, even though that definitely points to a short-term revenue bump. They had to start with the MoonSwatch as the Speedmaster Moonwatch is undisputedly the most known entity under the Swatch Group umbrella. Owing to its hit, the Bioceramic sequels were and are potentially destined for success and thus better poised to attract hype or at least mass awareness around the ailing Swatch brands of which Breguet is a current example.

Swatch Group has a ton of brands in their portfolio, but the number of watches that are strong candidates for this kind of collab is anything but extensive. Although the heritage is very strong and so is the potential, Breguet isn’t exactly a household name brand. Well, at least not at the level of Omega or Swatch itself. Breguet needs and deserves more visibility and a Swatch collab for their iconic Type XX would definitely yield expansive and sustainable interest for the brand. This is a watch that has enjoyed iconic status for more than 70 years. As evident from my vague Photoshop exploits, it’s definitely going to be an aesthetically accessible and interesting inception in a Bioceramic execution. A Bioceramic case with the Breguet classic coin-edge fluting would be a killer piece of must have. As it’s a tradition established by the MoonSwatch and the Scuba Fifty Fathoms, they tend to go for something a bit historic with a story to tell and the Swatch iteration is actually a souvenir version of the original. So, in that sense, a Swatch x Breguet Type XX “PilotSwatch” makes perfect sense.

Jaeger-LeCoultre x seconde/seconde/

He’s the Banksy of the watch world, a maverick in his own right and a prankster of all sorts. Yes, I’m talking of Romaric André, who you might know as seconde/seconde/. He surfaced on the mass-media scene in 2019, when Watches and Wonders was still Baselworld. And to be honest, he's been on a roll since. As someone who has had his fair share of fun with Photoshop, getting to see Romaric’s quirky ideas is a weirdly satisfying dose of ecstasy for me. Each of his creations is fun and pun intended with a deeply sentimental remark or expression that we all acknowledge. One particular timepiece where his constructive vandalism can bear exciting outcomes is Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. Honestly, I had infinite fun Photoshopping the prospects and here I’ve shared my take on seconde/seconde/’s possible take on the iconic JLC Reverso. It’s got hours on the Recto dial and minutes on the Verso dial with comic inscriptions in classic seconde/seconde/ style. Yes, that throws utility out the window, but isn’t that a desired derivative of watchmaking idiosyncrasy?

Under the stewardship of Jérôme Lambert, a restlessly inventive guy and JLC’s newly-appointed CEO, a Jaeger-LeCoultre x seconde/seconde/ Reverso could emerge from the brand. Despite the culture of design at Jaeger-LeCoultre often leaning heavily on tradition, they’ve done quirky watches in the past like the Memovox Parking, a watch that sets the alarm for a specific duration in order to avoid parking tickets. Now, for a watch that can literally flip, that definitely deserves Romaric’s prank job.

Blancpain x Biver

When I think of it, it’s collaborations that despite being distant from tradition, celebrate true brand legacy. They somewhat yield a better fertile ground for true watchmaking creativity which on many levels is adjacent to the inherent pursuit of extravagant innovation. While my list of fantasy watch collabs is too big to be distilled down in any way, the above trio expresses the essence, the contemplation and the cognizance of what I think will make a dream duet. There are many more that I’d truly be delighted to witness in a tangible sense and among those many, none holds more sentimental worth than a tribute collab between Jean Claude Biver and Blancpain, a brand that Mr. Biver devoted his heart, soul and youth to. It would have to be the ultimate haute horologerie rebirth for the ultimate Blancpain, the Fifty Fathoms.

If wishful thinking persists, I can envisage many a few collab creations that can invigorate the somewhat sedated and leisured progress of the watch industry. I say bring more color, heat and excitement every once in a while among portfolios to keep us on our toes. The MB&F x Bulgari Legacy Machine Flying T ‘Allegra’ was exactly that and I’d love the prospect of a similar collab in the near future. The legacy of the Swiss watch industry is rooted in shared expertise and the modern practice of pairing crafts is imbuing the outcomes with everything from a bit of light-hearted fun to engineering extraordinaire.

Disclaimer: All images are artistic renderings created with Photoshop and do not represent actual products from the brands. These visuals are intended to explore potential design outcomes for hypothetical collaborations.