Here at PDJ we love a few things. We’ve already talked about loving Halloween, same-sex marriage, and of course Tacori, but we also love fine art. Merging our love of art with our love of Swiss watches, we’ve put together a little list of some of our favorite luxury-grade timepeices and the fine art that may have inspired them.
-
Hublot MP-08 Antikythera Sunmoon King Gold and Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss
The Watch:
Part of Hublot’s Masterpieces collection, the limited edition MP-08 Antikythera Sunmoon King Gold watch (Model #908.OX.1010.GR) by Hublot is truly one-of-a-kind watch. Made of 18-karat rose gold, the Antikythera Sunmoon is a tribute to the mysterious navigation device (thought of as the first analog computer) found in a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera. The watch itself has 295 complications, month, moonphase, and sky position indicators that features the names of constellation as well as the astrological sign that the moon is currently under. Additionally, the MP-08 is manually winding and is limited to a run of just 20 models.
The Painting:
Austrian-born Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was extremely influenced by the art of the ancient Greeks, and was a pivotal figure in the burgeoning Art Nouveau scene. The Kiss (1907-8), is probably Klimt’s most well-known piece. In the piece, Klimt skillfully combines classical European imagery with innovative artistic methods to create a painting that seemingly exists in multiple times and place at once. Strangely mystical yet instantly recognizable, The Kiss marks a point in early modern art where the lines between representation and expression begin to merge. Simultaneously folding into their own expansion.
-
Hublot Big Bang Pop Art and David Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures)
The Watch:
From Hublot’s popular Big Bang collection, the Big Bang Pop Art (Model #341.VG.9089.LR.1622.POP15) takes traditional European stone-setting techniques uses them to create this loud fashion-forward piece. This 18-karat yellow gold timepiece is adorned with nearly 200 gleaming green tsarvorite stones, and features a distinctly-colored alligator strap. Additionally, the skeleton-style hands and charming minute, date, and calendar complications only add to the sense of high-class functionality and controlled madness that the piece evokes.
The Painting:
Born in 1937, David Hockney played an important part in the development of pop art in the early 60’s. Hockney’s pieces tend to be bright, clean, and seemingly simplistic yet ultimately complex, similar to Hublot’s Big Bang Pop Art watches. Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures) (1972), comes from a point in Hockney’s career before he moved into the world of experimental photo collage, a preoccupation with self-portraiture, and other innovative creative technologies (Hockney has been called the foremost “i-Pad painter” by some modern art critics), and is typical of his interest in motion, light, space, and the influence this all has with relationships and emotionality.
-
Hublot Classic Fusion Enamel Britto and Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow, 1930
The Watch:
Made of slick-looking polished black ceramic, the Hublot Classic Fusion Enamel Britto watch (Model #515.CS.0910.LR) pays homage to the kinetic pop art of Romaro Britto. Simple, yet still somehow complex, the Classic Fusion Britto fits nicely into the already established family of Hublot Classic Fusion timepieces with its signature bold solid metal bezel and distinctive exposed screws. Additionally, unlike some of the other watches on this list, the Classic Fusion Britto is water resistant up to 50 meters, allowing it to be a watch that someone would be able to wear in situations that other models just couldn’t handle.
The Painting:
Painted in (obviously) 1930, Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow is one of Piet Mondrian’s (1872-1944) most quickly-recognizable pieces. As one of the founding members of the De Stijl artistic movement, Mondrian was concerned with creating works that dealt in pure abstraction. Sacrificing nearly all representation for expression, Mondrian’s work was quickly embraced by the European and American avant-garde, and has had a lasting and intense influence on the fashion and design world.
-
Carl F. Bucherer Patravi Scubatec and Roy Lichtenstein’s Brushstroke
The Watch:
Shifting from Hublot to Carl F. Bucherer, the Carl F. Bucherer Scubatec watch (Model #00.10632.22.33.01) is one of the most classic diver’s watches in the game. With a unidirectional ceramic and 18-karat rose gold bezel, large easy-to-read numbers, and innovative screw-down crown, this watch, and the others in the Patravi Scubatec family, are as functional and hearty as they are stylish. Additionally, the Bucherer Scubatec is water resistant up to 500 meters and, unlike the other watches on this list so far, the Scubatec features automatic movement, so the wearer doesn’t have worry at all about winding.
The Painting:
Painted in 1965 as a part of his a series of paintings called Brushstrokes, this piece by Roy Lichtenstein (1932-1997) was made to poke fun at the at the haphazard way the Abstract Expressionist painted. Brushstroke is typical of Lichtenstein’s work in that it resembles comic book print (and apparently inspired by a story in the October 1964 issue of Strange Suspense Stories) and is especially concerned with the precision and symmetry of every single stroke.
-
Carl F. Bucherer Patravi Tribute to Mabu and J.M.W. Turner’s Peace–Burial at Sea
The Watch:
Also from Carl F. Bucherer’s Patravi collection, the Manero Tribute to Mabu watch (Model #00-10903-03-13-01) is a throwback to the innovatinve Valijoux 92 movement that gained Carl. F. Bucherer significant attenion in the early 1950’s. More than just a tribute, each Manero Tribute to Mabu model contains the actual refurbished mechanics from a number of the original Valijoux 92’s. Made with a 18-karat solid rose gold bezel, the Tribute to Mabu features chronograph, tachymeter, and manual inner-movement.
The Painting:
A forerunner of the Impressionist movement, the paintings of J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) often portrayed epic scenes of historical moments, where the chaos of time was expressed in subtle and muted tones and colors. For this painting, Peace — Burial at Sea (1842), Turner decided to paint the sea burial of his close friend, and was hung along with a painting called War that was meant to be a comment on Napolean’s “shamful” death. More than just capturing the explicit details of this sad moment in Turner’s life, the muted and demure tones Peace invokes a feeling of immediate loss and grief, while simultaneously projecting a feeling of celestial optimism and forethought.
Now It’s Your Turn!
What are some of your favorite watch styles?! Or even favorite artists?! Comment, or hit us up on our Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, and show off your favorite watches! ~~Heather