The Garwood
FASHION MEETS FUNCTION
Watchmen—and Women
For many, cellphones have taken over the functional task of timekeeping, but no matter how flashy your time app is, it doesn’t have the same panache as a beautiful watch.
I just got a pitch for The Garwood, a wrist watch made from wood—fast-growing American Maple, to be exact. Designed in LA (but made overseas), the watch is a stylish number with a cheeky back story that reads like a cross between a Brat Pack script and a Dos Equis “Most Interesting Man in the World” commercial:
Born on an early Sunday morning at a random casino in Las Vegas, The Garwood came into this world a sophisticated, well-dressed, gambler with a propensity for bourbon. A mix of book smarts and street smarts have made him a self-taught gentleman and connoisseur.
Despite his American lineage, The Garwood knew he must share his enthusiasm with the world. New Year’s Eve in Tokyo, shaking hands with her royal highness, the Queen of Denmark and traveling to Estonia for no other reason than “no one ever travels to Estonia” are just a few of the stamps in his passport. Despite his global escapades and wanderlust, he finds himself just as content eating a hotdog at Dodger Stadium.
His impression is always felt. With smooth American Maple Wood handsomeness, clever wit, and gregarious nature, he impresses at any gathering. He is good at parties, controls the boardroom, makes friends wherever he goes, and always impresses the ladies.
People may call him a “watch,” but he is so much more.
This being the season of stylish gifts, it’s not the only timepiece I’ve come across lately. I stumbled across this Ring Clock on Mashable, in a story which, incidentally, informed me my “vintage” mid-90s ring clock from the Museum of Contemporary Art is passé.
The new version is certainly beautiful. Apparently you have to turn the dial to read the time, which defeats the true benefit of a ring watch, which is, of course, to surreptitiously check the time.
For maximum surreptition, how about Tempo Tags? This tiny clip-ons resemble cufflinks but can clip to anything. There’s also a temperature version called the Tempo Thermo Tag.
Those of us who remember the great Swatch invasion of the 1980s, know that it wasn’t enough to wear just one. Please. You needed multiples. And if you ran out of wrist room, you kept going, wrapping watches around your purse strap—or your ankle.
The multiple watch trend continues—in both a high-fashion variety and a street version.
This Peter Stigter photo (from Honestly WTF) shows watches worn loose and layered like bangles.
While Swatch watches still look great worn en masse as pictured on the Styling Dutchman blog.
I couldn’t find a vintage shot of a Swatch on the ankle, but I did find this lovely haute take on the trend on the WatchuSeek forum.
On the same forum, I found this ridiculous shot of cell phones worn as anklets. It's the pearls that keep it from looking tacky, right?
