When I first saw pictures of this JeanRichard Terrascope Aluminum ref. 60500-10-702-FK4B watch I thought there was an issue with the colors in the image file I was looking at. I am pretty sure that the Terrascope Aluminum watch is a product of Photoshop fun and messing around with filters and someone said, “hey that is pretty cool, we should build some of those.” So they did, and now you can have a high-end sports watch that can easily get lost in a bucket of Legos.
What JeanRichard did with the Terrascope Aluminum is take the core Terrascope sports watch design and offer it in a range of bright colors. Because it is difficult or unattractive to color steel in blue, red, and green, JeanRichard opted for anodized aluminum. Thus, the usual steel case of the Terrascope is made up of various colored pieces of aluminum in this model.
While the color tones of the JeanRichard Terrascope Aluminum watch may be Fisher-Price, the quality is the same as on other JeanRichard Terrascope models. Though, the toy-like nature of the hues do make me want to call it “My First Wrist Watch.” When just seeing the Terrascope Aluminum in pictures I was inclined to feel it was a bit garish. In a sense it is, with its unfashionable collective of clashing colors.
After putting the JeanRichard Terrascope Aluminum watch on the wrist, my heart softened a bit, especially since I’ve never worn a watch that so reminded me of my boyhood playtime. Is that what JeanRichard was going for? Probably not. I assume they feel that this primary colored watch makes some type of artistic statement that romance language speaking Europeans are amenable to. Perhaps there is some sports team whose colors perfectly match this RGB color palette. No doubt there was some “mature” notion behind the decision to produce this watch.
JeanRichard even dedicated one of the Terrascope Aluminum pieces as an award in the brand’s support of the Steve Nash Foundation Showdown event in New York City. Steve Nash’s foundation is designed to support children’s causes and the “Showdown” is a soccer match make up of professional soccer and NBA basketball players (Steve Nash is currently a player on the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team). So there is a “kid connection” right there with the watch.
The dial of this Terrascope Aluminum model features blued aluminum hour markers with a burnt orange color of luminant. Legibility is good given the high-contrast, and one’s ability to appreciate the design is going to stem from being able to relate with the assortment of colors. Like all other Terrascope watches, the Terrascope Aluminum comes in a 44mm wide case that is 12.6mm thick and water resistant to 100 meters.
Attached to the JeanRichard Terrascope Aluminum is a blue rubber strap, and inside the watch is a caliber JR60 automatic movement which is a base Swiss ETA or Sellita operating at 4Hz with a roughly 40-hour power reserve. Unlike steel, aluminum is a softer metal, but it is also lighter in weight. That means owners of the Terrascope Aluminum watch should be more mindful to not scratch it.
Then again, I am sure people will want to play toy soldiers with this colorful sports watch. What really makes the design work is the combination of the sober tool-watch look with the wild colors. If the colors were matched to an equally childish design, I don’t think it would have worked so well. JeanRichard is really exploding their Terrascope and Aquascope collections with dozen of color variations including other oddities such as the Terrascope Aluminum. A few people will choose to pick up avant gardes models such as this, but more will opt for the brand’s more conservative Terrascope and Aquascope offerings. Price for the JeanRichard Terrascope Aluminum ref. 60500-10-702-FK4B watch is $4,400. jeanrichard.com
