TM/KK
The sweet spot for us here at Esquire is your everyday watches, ones that may run a broad list of prices from an accessible couple of hundred bucks to a $10K investment but will always do you proud in multiple situations. Sometimes, however, we have to stop and smell the roses at the upper end of the market, where watchmaking is often elevated to an art form and where the sheer audacity of creativity when money is no object can lead to exciting things.
Long before collabs were a thing in the wider world of fashion and sneakers, watchmakers often got into collaborations with artists. Mostly it was at the poppy, mass-produced end of the business, with Swatch famously kicking things off in 1984 with French artist Kiki Picasso. Arguably, the most famous—and collectible—Swatch tie-up was its second, with Keith Haring, who produced a number of designs during 1985 and 1986 that now command serious dollar in the vintage market. Haring’s art and attitude were the perfect combo for the iconoclastic watch brand. Traditional high-end watchmaking is not particularly known for its iconoclasm. But occasionally, when a brand hits it off with the right artist, the results can be spectacular.