Has the “fun” watch trend going too far?

In the other week, the Luxury Watch Company Bamford, based in London, published its latest model, a collaboration with the Hip New York Clothing Outlet Rowing Blazers.

It had Babar, the elephant on the dial.

Today the British Microband Studio UGD0G publishes the AV0CADAO and the Guacam0le, the latest in its watches with colorful dials on the subject of food, which included the Watermel0n, the B0iled egg and the Pfeffer0ni.

Last year, the Christopher brand Ward worked with the “creative disruptor” Seconde/ Seconde/ on two watches, the desk that made fun of the tropics of the office life and the representation of a mini-post-IT note on the dial and the word games around the bezel and the Twelve Snake, a watch with a “green green” and Art game, which was recorded on the Alcia-Nokia-Nokia-Nokia-Nokia-Dialy-Dialy Dial-Nokia-Nokia diagram and art with the alcohol-nokia diagram. Snake.

In other recent events in the Watch World, Audemars Piguet has teamed up with Marvel for the Royal OAK concept “Spider-Man” Flying Tourbillon.

Before his Babar watch, George Bamford, head of the above -mentioned Bamford watches, established himself as King of Character Watches with time mutants with Popeye, Big Bird and a lot of snoopy.

The customer for Cartoon watches used to be easily identifiable -either they wore shorts and their parents went to school, or they were eccentric hobbyists like Kerry Lewis, the man from Missouri, who spent a lifetime with 8,500 Mickey Mouse watches.

The trend for watches, the main purpose of which was to smile the faces of the people, was at Watschen and Wunders in the past month, the annual Geneva Mass and the largest event in the Watch World calendar.

One of the main topics was a fashion for colorful dials, which seemed to fly in view of the idea that the Swiss watch world stuffy and Staid: Sellita editions of the Oris Big Crown Zucker date models in yellow, blue and purple; H.Moser's Endeavour-Pop collection in retro fabulous pairings of turquoise and orange corals, Birmanisch-Jade and pink opal and Lapis Lazuli and lemon chryoprase; Nomos Glashüttes New Club Sport Neomatik Wordimer came in colors that were apparently raised from the fourth year Homeray book: “Jungle”, “Canyon”, “Glacier”, “Magma” and “Dune”. Even Rolex (Rolex!) It is new oyster perpetuals, “subdued lavender”, “warm sandy beige” and “fresh pistachio green”.

We approach the point where “fun” seems to be a standard requirement for wristwatches. A strange condition, especially for the large Swiss brands, for which the legacy and serious watchmaking are the twin columns on which their shops rest.

Luxury watches used to be investment pieces and their ability to insist on the integrated time test in their ticket price. But you have to ask yourself how well one of today's pieces will get up in five, ten or fifty years.

And although it is true that high-end horology and Disney have ever made sweet art, according to Gérald Genta's legendary performance of the 1980s with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy; You have to ask yourself how well today's pieces will get up in five, ten or fifty years.

In addition, most of these youthfully centered watches come on the contrary of £ 2,400 for Bamfords Babar and $ 6.2 million for a purely black version of the AP Spider-Man.

It's not for everyone.

“There is something to write about the fall of the taste in the watch world,” said a MD of a luxury label and even a collector of classic Rolex and Omega recently written. “What is the tip of the tip? Is there a moment or a certain clock that means the switch of tasteful and complicated elegance to Showy-Offy waste?”

“These days, everything revolves around the pizza clock, Grandad” – I wrote back in joke.

“I am old -fashioned,” she trumped back. “Cool today = Vintage Gold Dress Watch.”

“That's the truth.”

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Celebration dial dial

Others suggest that the “fun” watch stays here to stay.

“Luxury is defined as” a state of great comfort or elegance, especially if it is great costs “” esquire. “There is nothing to say that it has to be serious, and in fact I would go so far to say that good humor is the highest condition of the comfort.

“I'm all for a fun watch,” says Toby Bateman, CEO from MR Porter. “Especially since we enter the summer and carry more color and short sleeves, a funny watch can be a great statement. Of course there is a fun clock, so I speak a slight smile in comparison to roaring cheerfulness.

Bateman points out the continuation of a trend that has been on the rise for several years.

“Brands like Bamford always played with watches to make them less serious-Snoopy-Collaborations, for example, quickly sold out. Of course, they are not the only ones who have worked with Snoopy-OMEGA famous the” Snoopy Speedy “-a much-coated watch among the collectors. Moon researcher.

In fact, Morgan suggests that we may just start.

“I think we have Monty Python, who we can thank you for having crossed the boundaries of” Peak Dumy “, and a Babar watch does not even tickle the second row of the golden circle of Peak Dumy, let alone the nosebleeds,” says Morgan.

“When Rolex, the seriousest watch brand of all time, has a watch with emojis, we know that the future will be all flavors of all flavors of fun!

“From all the funny watches out there, by far the funniest celebration switch of the Rolex Auster is by far.

Regardless of whether it is a decline in the taste of simply a loosening of the collar, where watches once whispered the sophistication, today's Technicolor dials, emoji displays and cartoon camen are more than just a flash in the pan.

The industry, which was once buttoned and awesome, has a smile on the (wax) face.