Partnerships that pop: Why watch brands are turning to the booze
From Morning Wire The Magazine, Autumn edition, why are watch brands so drawn to drinks companies? Adam Hay-Nicholls quenches his thirst with the latest drinks collabs
There’s that old saying ‘you are what you eat’ but I reckon what you drink says a lot more about a person.
I can tell by the liquid in your hand – Shirley Temple? Long Island iced tea? Double espresso? – whether we’re likely to be friends. Maybe that explains why watches are so often inspired by our bar orders: both are about projecting personality and taste. And if you’re the lucky owner of an Audemars Piguet or an FP Journe, I assume every hour is happy hour.
Watch aficionados like to refer to Rolex GMT Master-IIs with red and black bezels as a Coke Rolex, or a Pepsi Rolex if it’s red and blue. These are unofficial terms – Rolex has never had an official partnership with either drinks giant – though Coca-Cola did order company-branded Rolexes for long-serving executives in the 1950s and 60s, which are now quite collectable. However, a collection of watch brands have now turned to alcohol and soft drinks companies to form collaborations.
Seven watch brands turning to booze
SEIKO X PEPSI
Seiko has just collaborated with Pepsi to produce the limited-edition Seiko 5 Sports x Pepsi. They say it has arisen from “the mutual respect the brands have for the history and culture each has built.” White faced with a red and blue bezel on its 38mm case and a stainless steel bracelet, it uses the 90s Pepsi logo and colour signature to remind us of the era when Bill Clinton was in the White House and the Spice Girls were on MTV. There’s a second watch, based on Seiko’s 42mm SKX series, in all black apart from a red and blue bezel, and the latest Pepsi logo, bringing things bang up to date. Just 7,000 will be made of each, priced at £330 and £470 respectively. seikowatches.com
JACK MASON X DR PEPPER
If your preferred American diner beverage is Dr Pepper – created in the 1880s by a pharmacist in Waco, Texas – then allow me to introduce you to the Jack Mason Strat-o-timer x Dr Pepper 2024, which also hails from the Lone Star State. It’s another official collaboration, with a steel 40mm case, frosty white metallic dial, white face and red bezel. During nighttime illumination, the indices 10, 2 and 4 have been highlighted in a different colour in a nod to Dr Pepper’s pre-war ad slogan: ‘Drink a Bite to Eat at 10, 2 and 4’, to keep your energy topped up. There’s a choice of three-link, seven-link or tan leather strap. It’s got a Miyota 9075 movement and at £770 it hits the sweet spot between impulse buy and potential investment. jackmasonbrand.com
HUBLOT X VEUVE CLIQUOT
But that’s enough soft drinks. Let’s talk proper fizz. A champagne lifestyle requires a cork-poppingly expensive watch that truly celebrates a maison of Reims. Voila, Hublot x Veuve Cliquot. Together, they’ve produced a number of watches in recent years, including the Spirit of Big Bang Veuve Cliquot Polo Classic, fashioned from matte black frosted carbon with a skeleton chronograph and both orange and black alligator straps. They retail at £28,900 and are limited to 30 pieces. Even more exclusive is the Tourbillon 5-Day Power Reserve spin-off which is, or was, limited to five pieces priced at £77,800. hublot.com
OMEGA X CASAMIGOS
If you’re more of a spirits guy or gal, there are a range of options for the hard-drinking horophile. We all know George Clooney rocks an Omega – he’s in all the ads. So one assumes that when George is hanging out in Los Cabos and Brad asks him what time it is, he refers to his Omega x Casamigos Seamaster. This blacked-out dive watch, officially christened Seamaster Planet Ocean ‘Deep Black’ Casamigos, takes 007’s signature wristwatch and imbues it with the billion-dollar tequila brand that Clooney co-founded. The ceramic matte-black 45.5mm case, dial and rubber-stitched strap are inspired by Casamigos’ mezcal bottle, and the watch face wording is in the same shade of teal as the Casamigos logo. Eighty pieces were built exclusively for the US market, priced at £8,600 each. omegawatches.com
… More watch brand collabs
KIEL JAMES PATRICK X MOUNT GAY RUM
So far we’ve seen pop culture collisions and luxury lifestyle synergies, but Mount Gay Rum’s watch brand collaboration has gone about things differently. The world’s oldest operating rum distillery (est. 1703) wanted to celebrate the 40th birthday of its Red Cap bottle. Instead of going to an established watchmaker, they turned to Kiel James Patrick, who makes cardigans and affordable nautical-inspired jewellery in Rhode Island. The result is a round brass case with 14k gold plating, and a large white face with an outline of the island of Barbados, as well as an anchor for an hour hand and an arrow for the minutes. It also features nautical flags and has a regatta-style red, yellow and black strap. It speaks of smuggling coves, pirates, shipwrecks, and the morning after. Priced at £146, fewer than 200 will be made. kieljamespatrick.com
OAK & OSCAR X FEW
Another wrist-adornment for lovers of brown liquor is The Olmsted FEW, created by independent Chicago watchmaker Oak & Oscar, which has been going for ten years and has made a name for itself producing handsome, casual watches that get the details right (this one uses the ol’ reliable Swiss-made Sellita SW300 movement). FEW is a small-batch bourbon and rye distillery, also based in Chicago, which is inspired by pre-prohibition traditions. Priced at £1,392, The Olmsted FEW uses the distillery’s colour palette, with a deep salmon dial and Horween (another Second City atelier) leather strap. Where it gets really special is the flipside. Limited to 50 editions, there’s a piece of actual oak bourbon barrel in the caseback. Customers receive a bottle from the very same bonded barrel with their watch. oakandoscar.com
GIRARD-PERREGAUX X CHATEAU LATOUR
From blue-collar Chi-town and their craft bourbon, we head to Pauillac, home to the finest Bordeaux. Never mix the grape and the grain, but for the purposes of this feature I think it all goes down quite nicely. Chateau Latour could be considered the Girard-Perregaux of viticulture, and therefore it’s entirely apt that the two domaines have come together to produce a £34,300 watch. The Girard-Perregaux 1966 Chateau Latour Edition is 9.4mm-slim, elegant in its 40mm pink gold case, and has a watch face crafted from polished pebbles that were sourced from the Latour vineyard. Just 18 have been released; an exceedingly rare vintage. The watch is only available to private guests of the Chateau Latour estate and the Villa Girard-Perregaux in Switzerland’s La Chaux-de-Fonds, which in watch manufacturing terms is every bit as thoroughbred a terroir as Pauillac’s grand cru slopes. girard-perregaux.com
HUBLOT X NESPRESSO
There’s one more to show you. After all those sodas, fine wines and spirits, you may wish to order a coffee as a digestive. Hublot has just the job: a Nespresso watch. Offered in the same pistachio green as one of Nespresso’s Master Origins Peru Organic capsules, the 42mm case, bezel, crown and pusher are actually made from recycled aluminium coffee capsules. The rubber strap uses coffee grounds and recycled rubber. The Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin is for those who have a very strict bin policy. Or, as Nespresso CEO Guillaume Le Cunff put it, this Hublot illustrates “the harmonious coexistence between circularity and luxury. Circular products can be just as elegant and refined as conventional luxury products, proving it’s possible to combine environmental values and aesthetic requirements without compromise.” There’s no compromise on price either: the run of 200 has been marketed at £21,715 a piece. hublot.com