Genuine question on the r/Watches subreddit: “Why is a large part of the watch community so hateful and unhinged?”
Hold on there, Redditor, you might think: some of Esquire’s best friends are in the “watch community”. Then Audemars Piguet goes and releases a line of merchandise with Travis Scott’s streetwear label Cactus Jack and the reaction is so, er, strong, you figure... maybe they’ve got a point?
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked
The problem, as some people saw it: that the 149-year-old Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches and clocks would team up with the 32-year-old American rapper and serial Air Jordan collaborator. This, from the creators of the world’s first minute-repeating movement! Sure, it was a stretch to imagine Jules Louis Audemars in a $60 Cactus Jack dad hat, or Edward Auguste Piguet protecting himself from the Jura Mountain chill in a similarly styled $1,850 leather bomber when the collection was unveiled — and promptly sold out — on 5 December. But times change! Plus, there was also a collaborative watch. (Happily, Audemars Piguet still made those, too.)
And what a blinder it was. Made from chocolate-brown ceramic on a textured denim-effect strap, the perpetual calendar featured one of AP’s exquisite skeleton dials, the better to show off a few of Scott’s own design flourishes, including Cactus Jack’s sewn-up smiley-face logo and glow-in-the-dark green calendar indications. Traditionalists may throw up their hands at AP’s recent collaborators — fashion’s Matthew Williams; Marvel’s Spider-Man —but as the brand embarks on its 150th year, it has never felt hipper.
Meanwhile, the most popular reply to that original poster on Reddit? “Welcome to the internet. Every community has some portion that is hateful and unhinged.”
