If we’re to go by the taste of hip-hoppers and Hollywood starlets, the trend in timewear is super-expensive and diamond-encrusted. However, in the market for the cutting edge, a few alternative labels are setting a new time for watches: some are playful and irreverent, others rewrite the standards for European watch design excellence.

For those who can’t afford (or don’t really desire the bling) from Jacob and co., the Pimp watches are all the rage at the moment in Japan. It takes the concept of bling-bling, and injects it with both ’70s kitsch and a healthy dose of The Matrix. With gold-plated versions available and the perpetually blinking LED adorning the face, this is a watch for the pimps of 2039 who desire attention now. Hong Kong’s O.D.M’s DD99-Mysterious V has won three major design awards, including the prestigious Red Dot 2004 from Germany. It features monochromatic spring colors and a game-and-watch retro LCD screen. An all-plastic veneer ensures a little crass in its class; with a flea market collectible sensibility, it’s selling up a storm in the East.

The digital watch isn’t exactly a Swiss staple, with analog exclusivity seemingly part of the Geneva Convention. However, Ventura has redefined the rules with its line of v-Tec digital watches. Its predecessor, the v-Tec Alpha, is already a hit in the region, and the Ventura v-Tec Delta is sure to follow suit. Designed by Swiss architect Hannes Wettstein, who is also responsible for the Hyatt Berlin’s interior design, you’re ensured an aesthetic that is more Soho than Swatch, with a sexy attention to detail usually reserved more for lobbies than accessories. Also riding the designer-as-watchmaker trend is the Issey Miyake’s Vakio, designed by the illustrious Finnish designer Harri Koskinen. In Finnish, Vakio means “constant standard,” which is manifest in the timepiece’s inherent symmetry and blocky-chic styling. It epitomizes a style of Northern European industrial design that combines ruthless efficiency with understated dignity.

Whether you are feeling playful or classy, or in this case, oriental or occidental, these new watches will ensure that you’ll be telling more than time.


-Kenneth Yu

Photos: Pimp watches
ODM DD99-Mysterious V
Ventura v-Tec Delta