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Post pics of your watches ***Please NO QUOTING PHOTOS***
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,101 Mod ✭✭✭✭
Join Date:Posts: 59030
From the sublime to the ridiculous, or at least the odd.
I've always been a fan of modernism in the arts, design and tech even before I knew what it meant. A period that avoided nostalgia and made the Future™ the thing and something to look forward to, rather than worried about. A period that could be usefully, if conveniently bookended by the opening of the Eiffel Tower in 1887 to the opening of the Pompidou Centre in 1977. And also from France from 1975 this LIP quartz watch I'm wearing today.
LIP were the mainstream French watch, with a fair few innovations(namely the practical electric watch), but mostly the everyday people's watch. The Renault of French watches as it were, but at this stage in the game in the face of flagging sales they became more like the Citroen of French watches. I.E wacky and innovative. To that end they enlisted outside designers to inject new ideas in how the wristwatch should look. This was innovative, as watch design had with a vanishingly few exceptions been in house and aimed squarely at the solid suburban traditional. One of these designers was one Roger Tallon. Bit of background on the chap here. Responsible for things like the high speed French TGV train's design and some early Concorde interiors among other things. He looked at the humble wristwatch and as those old Apple computer ads said ungrammatically decided to "think different".
This particular example houses LIP's own in house developed quartz movement. One helluva feat at the time and a rare working survivor these days. This example is rarer still as it has a silvered outside chapter ring and the only one I've seen. I actually saw and hankered after it first on this great website that is a fantastic resource of early electric/quartz watches. Life can be funny sometimes, because that very watch on that page is the one on my wrist pictured above as the chap sold it to me a few years ago.
The irony now is that the "Post Modernist" Hipsters love them... I would say that its one of the few watches I wear that normal people actually notice.Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,101 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59030
Wouldn't surprise me TBH. LIP had a mechanical chronograph version that was popular and sold well outside of France, particularly in the US and Japan so might have influenced the Alien watch. Interestingly like the LIP the Seiko was another watch designed by a designer brought in from outside the industry, in that case renowned Italian car designer Giugiaro. His CV includes cars like the first VW Golf and the DeLorean and Lotus Espirit and a few Ferrari's and Maserati's. So pretty good with the crayons is he. Though I suspect another watch that had influence was the Omega PloProf of the early 1970's, particularly in the design of the button on the square side.
If the PloProf and the LIP had a child it would look like the Ripley watch. Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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So I knew browsing here would be a slippery slope. The massdrop Glycine I picked up last year was a pretty rational intro to proper (not plastic, quartz, swatch or garmin) watches. That watch has surprised me by becoming my daily wear.
So far I’ve managed to not buy any of the Steinharts, Max Bills or Hamiltons that I could easily convince myself I really need, the Nomos’s or Speedmasters I really, really want, or the many lovely watches of the ‘Today’s bargain watch...’ thread despite strong temptation.
Then I fell for an old Seiko 7000 series, for no more reason than it’s the same age as me. We’re both a little rough around the edges, have a few marks that come from being around since 1974, but we’re both still running. It’s been a bit over polished in places, but it’s putting its best face forward. It’s a lovely wee thing. It’s so small compared to most modern watches, but I’m kinda liking that, I catch glimpses of it being small and shiny and well, jewellery like. Oh, and it was cheap, cheaper than a modern Seiko 5.
Fierce pleased altogether
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Having sold both my Oris Aquis, I had my eye on another - the limited edition Clipperton which has a really nice gradient blue dial (which is almost black at the outer edges)..here's a quick wrist shot:
The bracelet is very well finished and is very comfortable on the wrist. Don't think it'll ever see the bottom of the ocean though :pac:0 -
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