Brazilian Artist Romero Britto has popularity in many art circles because his work combines styles cherished by many. Though he has his own distinct look, it is all heavily influenced by Picasso cubism, Roy Lichtenstein pop art, Japanese pop art, and a “world” urban happy feel. I’d say that most of his art tends to bring a smile at the least, and positive elation at best.
In a bold and unexpected move, TechnoMarine has released the Cruise Britto collection featuring four watches, each with a different Romero Britto image on each. As far as I know, this is a first for TechnoMarine, but it makes sense. Focus on the female market in the last few years has been fruitful as TechnoMarine is a solid go-to watch when you want a watch that combines function, sport, and distinct feminine styling for those who aren’t sold on always wearing a formal watch. TechnoMarine was one of the first to present the world with the rubber watch with diamonds. At one point this seemed an odd combination, and for some reason today seems almost mainstream, thank you TechnoMarine for finding yet another type of watch to guild with jewels. One of the new Cruise Britto collection watches has a diamond bezel, while the rest have the standard rotating steel bezel. The shouting colors of these watch would not be possible if not for the innovation of Swatch in the 1980’s with their many models features similar color palettes.
The four watches in the collection are named after the painting displayed on their face. They color of the watch body and strap was chosen by TechnoMarine to compliment the art on the dial. The four choices are:
“Morning” on the Diamond Cruise watch in Lavender and retailing at $1,995
“Afrika Safari” on the standard Cruise watch in Pink and retailing at $325
“Beauty” on the standard Cruise watch in Blue and retailing at $325
“Mia’s Jungle” on the standard Cruise in Lavender and retailing at $325
For those who are fans of the artist, I recommend these watches as a way to display your love of Britto’s work on a watch that you can rely on. For those who enjoy a loud splash on your wrist, this is also a good option. What I like about this watch versus other “art” watches is its ability to maintain function and legibility, thus being a watch with art, rather than art that is attached to a watch. The hands are thick with bright luminant, and around the chapter of the face, you still have number indexes which are necessary to tell the time comfortably. The rotating bezel on the standard TechnoMarine watches (without the diamond bezel) is a nice feature as well.
The diamond bezel model has a chronograph movement (they are all quartz watches), which is done well. The seconds counter is standard using a small hand and dial, but the counters for the chronograph minutes and hours are discs that rotate with the measurements indicated by a small pointer on the dial near the top of the disc. Nicely unusual and a compliment to the mosaic look of the print on the face.
The colors of these watches pretty much ensure that will only find a place on female wrists, though you never know what you’ll find a man wearing in Miami, and perhaps Brazil. Actually these watches are sized for female hands, so know that gentlemen. The art however should be equally appealing to both sexes, and I applaud TechnoMarine for adding a bit of welcome pop culture to their line of attractive but frequently conservatively styled watches (though not all of their watches).
Look for the Britto collection when mass distribution starts in in July 2008 at Bloomingdales, Tourneau, Macy’s, and other TechnoMarine retailers. Visit TechnoMarine.com here.