French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has launched his first watch collection in a partnership with odm. The watches come in six colors: green, blue, yellow, black, white and red. You probably don't need more than one watch per arm but you could.
Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini designed this limited edition black PVD Twirl watch specifically for Gucci's partnership with FFAWN. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each limited edition Twirl watch will be donated to FFAWN, an organization to help women gain the confidence and skills they need to reach their full individual potential that was founded by Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute. Gucci will donate $100 from the sale of each Gucci for FFAWN watch to the organization.
"Mary J. inspires all of us with her songs and now through her commitment to the empowerment of disadvantaged young women," said Giannini. "We are proud to support Mary's Foundation and the special edition Gucci Twirl watch that I have designed is a symbol of this partnership."
The Gucci for FFAWN twirl watch retails for $1,895. You can find out more about it here.
Movado, a swiss watch brand, partnered with artist Kenny Scarf for a line of limited edition watches. W Magazinereports that the original idea was just for one watch, but Kenny Scharf had lots of good ideas.
It’s no surprise, then, that when Efraim Grinberg, Movado's president and CEO, invited Scharf to trick out the firm's iconic Museum watch, the painter got a bit carried away. Rather than design one timepiece, as Grinberg had suggested, Scharf delivered a slew of ideas. "It was hard, but we narrowed them down to what we thought was a diverse group of offerings," says Grinberg, who purchased Scharf's 1983 painting Brazil after meeting the artist three years ago.
Six different watch designs were created. They will be sold at Movado stores as a set of six for $3,495 and individually for $695. Luxist says the names of the six watches are Movado Time, Blurple Time, Universal Time, Starring the Star, Ontime, and Time Flies.
Gucci creative director Frida Giannini has designed a limited-edition black PVD twirl watch to raise money for Foundation for the Advancement of Women. The watch is adorned with black diamonds. There is also a FFAWN engraving on the back of the watch case. FWD says the watch will debut at Gucci's Fifth Avenue flagship store on September 16th. The next day it will be available for purchase at Gucci's other stores as well as upscale department stores.
Speidel, a 105-year-old watchband distributor and manufacturer, has gone into receivership - a version of bankruptcy in Maine. JCK reports that the company's assets will go up for sale within 90 days. The Providence Journalreports that the Providence Watch Hospital, a watch repair business owned by Speidel, has also closed. National Jeweler also has a report on Speidel's bankruptcy filing.
This is a new watch from Issey Miyake called the Hu watch. The watch was designed by Ross Lovegrove. The organic shape of the watch is made from titanium and silicone materials. The unusual watch does not have a second hand. The dial of the watch slopes slightly to help make it easier for the person wearing the watch to read.
Gebson is a new fine-art Swiss watch brand based in Neuchatel that launched its first wristwatch collection on June 6, 2009. Gebson is part of the Geb Group Ltd that belongs to a family renowned since three generations for its complex watch cases. The impressive 18k yellow gold dragon watch pictured above is from Gebson's Earth & Sky collection. The dragon is set with yellow sapphires and engraved in fine details by hand.
Toy Watch USA has launched a line of watches called jelly watches. First Lady Michelle Obama wore an ultra violet neon purple Jelly watch during her Eiffel Tower visit. The Jelly watch cases and straps can be mixed and matched. You can see the many bright colors available here.
One complete watch costs $175. Extra cases and straps cost $65 each. You can see a brief video that shows how they work here.
Nickelodeon/Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP) and Nooka Inc. have partnered to create a line of watches inspired by SpongeBob SquarePants. Nooka has created two limited-edition watches featuring graphics and colors inspired by SpongeBob and Bikini Bottom. The designs of the pieces utilize two Nooka styles -- the ZUB ZENH (horizontal bars) 20 mm in Yellow and the ZENV (vertical bars) Aluminum in Night. The collection will be available at retailers in July. The watches will retail at $170 and $275, respectively.
"As we continue to reinterpret the look and feel of SpongeBob for our vast audiences in its 10th Anniversary year, Nooka's cutting-edge style combined with SpongeBob's humor and optimism makes that transition an organic one," said Hal Snik, Senior Vice President of Domestic Licensing, NVCP.
Nooka explained in a press release how the two watches count time.
The Nooka ZENH model counts time with four horizontal bars. The first two bars count the hours -- the third bar counts the minutes -- the fourth marks the seconds. Each hour is marked by a single block read left to right (hours 1-6 in the top bar, hours 7-12 in the second bar). Each minute is marked by a single "tick" mark along the third bar (minutes 0-59). There are also white dots below the bar indicating every five minutes, as well as small numbers to indicate 15, 30, and 45, for quick reference. Each second is marked by a single tick mark along the fourth bar (seconds 0-59). There are also white dots below this bar indicating every five seconds for quick reference. Along the bottom right, one of two dots will be filled in to indicate AM/PM.
The Nooka ZENV models counts time with three vertical bars and a small box with digital numbers. The first two bars from the left count the hours -- the third bar counts the minutes -- the small box on the right-hand side marks the seconds. Each hour is marked by a single block read from bottom to top (hours 1-6 in the first bar, hours 7-12 in the second bar). Each minute is marked by a single "tick" mark along the third bar (minutes 0-59) there are also white dots to the right of the bar indicating every five seconds, as well as small numbers to indicate 15, 30, and 45, for quick reference. Each second is marked by a digital counter in the small box on the right-hand side (seconds 0-59). Above the seconds' box, one of two dots will be filled in to indicate AM/PM.
Victorinox is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Swiss Army Knife with the launch of a limited-edition travel alarm clock. The Victorinox Travel Alarm 1884 Limited Edition has side-panels which contain the toothpick and tweezers found in all Victorinox pocket knives.
From pocket knife to pocket watch: representing the perfect embodiment of the Original Swiss Army Knife's ingenuity applied to watchmaking. This Travel Alarm features the same folding system as the famed Swiss Army Knife, complete with spring system and the ubiquitous "click" sound. Its springs are made of the same stainless steel as the Swiss Army Knife and its case is set in identical red side-panels made of sturdy MABS plastic composite, a specialized material with properties of excellent transparency, high impact strength and good chemical resistance. The side-panels even include the famous toothpick and tweezers found in all Victorinox pocket knives!
The pocket watch will hit stores November 1st. It will retail for $550. You can find more details here on swissarmy.com.
Swarovski's D:light is a crystal-studded bracelet that turns into a watch at the touch of a button. D:light is available in fine steel or gold plating. The watch bracelet retails for $1,500. You can find out more details here.
Gucci's marina chain symbol adorns many Gucci accessories and jewelry. Gucci now has a line of Marrina Chain watches out. The watches were first introduced at the 2009 Spring Summer Gucci Women's Cruise fashion show. There is an 18kt yellow gold version ($15,300), an 18kt and stainless steel version ($4,095) and a stainless steel version ($1,195). You can see the watches here on Gucci's website.
Reuters reports that French watchmaker Cartier is cutting employee work hours to cut costs during the recession. Cartier owner Richemont SA says it is a way to cut costs without layoffs.
Employees in watch production at the top-end brand will work at 40 percent for a three-month period starting in May, a spokesman for Richemont said.
"In this way, we can retain the staff and production flexibility whilst avoiding a build up of finished goods inventory. We do not want to lose any of our employees," he said.
Cartier had already introduced shorter worker hours at its smallest factory in Switzerland earlier this year.
Cartier has 1,100 employees in its watchmaking operations in Switzerland, spread over three sites at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Villars-sur-Glane and Meyrin, the Richemont spokesman said. Swiss newspaper L'Agefi reported around 500 employees would be affected.
Eva Longoria, Hayden Panettiere, Kristen Bell, Ludacris and Lindsay Lohan turned out to celebrate Armani Exchange's new watch collection at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles. Celebs tried their luck at the A|X watch prize wheel. Eva Longoria Parker won a donation to Eva's Heroes, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of those with developmental challenges. Take a look:
This watch called the Kisai Denshoku watch from Tokyo Flash tells time in a new way. The unusual watch displays the time using twelve light bars. The bars light up three different times when a button is pressed. The first time through the lights display the hour. This is followed by groups of ten minutes and then seconds.
Orange acrylic bars emerge through the face like neon lights, achieving a perfect balance with the custom made strap, made from aluminum and inlayed with stainless steel. The hairline brushed finish on the solid aluminum case captures the quality of the design.
Twelve light bars present the time in a simple, easy to read format. Press the button and the LEDs behind the acrylic diffuse and illuminate the bars three times. First hours are presented, then groups of ten minutes, then single minutes. The speed of movement can be accelerated by pressing the button again. To find out more about how to read the time, take a look at the interactive manual above.
Denshoku means illumination in Japanese. When the animation mode is activated, Denshoku's light bars illuminate vertically once every minute for twelve minutes after the time is shown.
This design also features an energy saving mode allowing you to control the LED brightness to lengthen battery life and is available with a soft black or bright silver alumite finish.
A manual here (PDF file) explains how to read the watch. The watch can be purchased here from Tokyo Flash for $241.
Speidel, a 105-year-old watchband distributor and manufacturer, has gone into receivership - a version of bankruptcy in Maine. JCK 
Reuters 
