It Insists Upon Itself
Don't be Peter Griffin.
In today’s newsletter: This season’s fashion stars are old men (and a watch collector); not-discussing-discussing leaks; and a tribute to Jean-Pierre Hagmann. Then, the main event: Parmigiani Fleurier’s CEO on the “crisis of creativity,” Peter Griffin, watches that “insist upon themselves,” and the ones that don’t.
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Three Things To Know
(1) This season’s fashion stars? Older men
“When [Gildo Zegna] was shown Auro Montanari’s Instagram, he knew he had found his man. Introduced by mutual friends, Montanari thought it might be fun to spend a day shooting a fashion campaign in a mid-century villa outside Milan. ‘Senior people have lived, and we want them to show the way they have lived. If you’re young, you might get there, but you still have to go through the experience of life,’ Zegna said.”
Surely you were as shocked as me to discover watch collector Auro Montanari (John Goldberger) as the face of fashion brand Zegna’s newly launched wool?
Per the Financial Times, it’s part of a trend.
“Elegance has no age and, for the first time in a long time, in menswear a 20/30-year-old wants to dress in the same clothing as his father,” Zegna said.
These brands are selling heritage and history, so it makes sense they’d want models who are the literal embodiment of these ideas.
At the very least, it makes for more compelling imagery than the average celebrity campaign, and certainly more than this AI-generated slop campaign.
(2) Leaky Faucet
By now, many brands have sent out press releases for Watches & Wonders, which begins April 1. They’re doing retail and press previews, and there’s bound to be a leak or three. Editors sign NDAs, and as a decent, God-fearing and NDA-abiding citizen, this newsletter isn’t one to discuss leaks and rumors.
As I mentioned with the leak around the Vacheron Constantin 222, they’re nearly impossible to avoid nowadays, whether you’re MB&F, Louis Vuitton, or even Rolex.
Rolex has indeed filed trademarks for a number of “Dwellers” over the years: of course Sea and Sky, but also Space, Land, and Coast. It files for all kinds of trademarks and patents—usually these don’t mean much or they’re merely protective.
There have also been rumblings that Rolex has something big in store for its 120th anniversary (and perhaps the Datejust’s 80th anniversary). New collection, new complication, who knows. They’re just that, rumors.
Unlike other brands, Rolex and Patek do not provide any press materials prior to Watches & Wonders. No one knows what’s coming. Not me, not you, not rolexleaks69 on Instagram. There are plenty of real watches out there, so we’ll talk about those instead of potential leaks or Photoshopped “predictions,” fun as those can be.
(3) A Visit to Jean-Pierre Hagmann’s Workshop
Casemaker Jean-Pierre Hagmann died earlier this week. His CV is a who’s who of watches—Patek (especially its minute repeaters), Franck Muller, Andersen Geneve, and others, before his final encore with Rexhep Rexhepi’s Akrivia. Cases with his “JHP” stamp are coveted by collectors across the world. This is an excellent piece by Logan Baker, and its closing feels as apt a send off as any:
“We generally don't spend much time dwelling on where exactly our watch cases come from, especially compared to the dial aesthetics or the movements inside our watches. Maybe it's time that changed; after all, it's the part of the watch that is always in contact with our skin. In an industry that's supposed to prize handcraft and thoughtful design, it's a little frightening to realize just how much automated manufacturing has come to dominate case production. And it's even more dismaying to realize that the craft of making a case by hand might have been quietly left behind for good if Hagmann hadn't decided to come back and join Akrivia for a final encore performance.”
I joined John Reardon on the Collectability podcast, mostly to chat about the collector’s guide to the 3970 we published last month. It was a real treat to talk with John for an hour, especially because part of his career at Patek Philippe (Henri Stern Watch Agency) overlapped with the 3970’s production. Tons of fun nuggets in this episode. Check it out on podcast platforms or YouTube.
Onto today’s main event…
It Insists Upon Itself
I keep thinking about this Family Guy meme. It makes the rounds every few years:
“I did not care for the Godfather,” says Peter Griffin, the show’s bumbling patriarch.
Why not?
“It insists upon itself.”
This week, a film writer in the New Yorker levied this same criticism against Hollywood, writing that movies today are too literal, “too on the nose or heavy-handed, hammering away at us or beating a dead horse.” While the focus is film, the writer suggests the same problem has permeated culture: “we all wear Doc Martens but no one is actually goth.”
At first, it’s a line that seems to capture much of the criticism lobbied at large watch brands today. Everything is so on the nose.
Fauxtina. Faux rivets. Red triangles. Breguet numerals. Sector dials. A wink to a previous prototype. So many dive watches, so few divers. Every nod to the past feels so literal, with brands further telegraphing it in their messaging.
See how much we understand our history? Each tachymeter scale seems to beg.
Every legacy brand is constantly referencing its past, as is their right. Since mechanical watches became true luxury objects, they mostly sell some idea of European heritage and craftsmanship rooted in their past. And today’s designers have instant access to every bit of that history, making it even easier to reference.
That’s good. There’s beauty in the past. But it’s also dangerous.
This week, I interviewed Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Guido Terreni in Chicago (full interview coming soon). Something he said stood out:
“We’re living through a crisis in creativity in our generation. As a society, we’re not moved in the same way we were moved before. In the past, every decade had its evolution and it was quite clear. I don’t see that today—especially in watchmaking.”
About 30 years ago, Terreni says, we got stuck. Terreni and I were speaking generally about culture, though it came back to watches.
“Nine out of 10 watches today haven’t even been designed by this generation,” he said.
For watch brands, that’s a problem.
Consumers aren’t spending money on just any watch nowadays. Sure, rising prices are an issue. But luxury watches have always been expensive. It’s in the name. Consumers want to feel creativity, spark, emotion. Tired tropes won’t cut it.
Especially when it’s never been easier to shop vintage or pre-owned and buy the actual old thing if you prefer that. Hell, old Rolex watches are now displayed in the case right next to new ones. And you can actually buy them!
It’s not easy for the legacy brands of today to make watches for today. Terreni said indies have had more success because they’re not weighed down by the expectations of the past.
In on the joke
Of course, the joke of that Family Guy meme isn’t that Peter’s right. He’s not—he’s an idiot.
Seth McFarlane, the show’s creator, recently explained the origin of the quip:
“Since this has been trending, here’s a fun fact: ‘It insists upon itself’ was a criticism my college film history professor used to explain why he didn’t think The Sound of Music was a great film. First-rate teacher, but I never quite followed that one.”
Can you imagine your film professor having it out for the Von Trapps? I’d immortalize it in a sitcom too.
McFarlane’s point is that the critique isn’t as meaningful as it sounds. While designers have access to all of history at their fingertips, so do collectors. And they’re quick to point out if something’s half a millimeter or a few hex codes off from its historical reference point.
In reality, Peter Griffin is the pretentious one who is insisting upon himself. He admits he hasn’t even seen all of The Godfather!
He’s dismissing The Godfather without even engaging with it, the same way some brands rely on their history without truly understanding what made those designs great.
The lesson: Don’t be Peter Griffin.
Move along
So many legacy brands or watches are copies of what was being made 50 years ago. It’s time to move on.
The most successful brands aren’t doing literal reinterpretations of the past. They’re taking historical reference points as inspiration, then remixing and reimagining them into something new.
When I visited Xhevdet Rexhepi last year, he mentioned the Gilbert Albert “golfer’s watch” as an inspiration for the dial of his Minute Inerte. But it’s subtle. Xhevdet also pulled out a generic pocket watch he scooped up at a flea market, saying its case inspired the curved bezel and angular midcase design. And that’s before we even get to the novel complication that reinterprets Swiss railway clocks.
Another brand I’m excited to meet in Geneva next month is Alto, the collaborative effort of Thibaud Guittard and Raphael Abeillon (former AP and Cartier, respectively). Their first release, the ART01, is an expensive proposition ($25k), but that’s how it goes when you’re a new brand launching in small quantities. The watch itself feels like a fresh, original take on the current trend towards shapes and “brutalism,” with interesting mechanics from Le Cercle de Horologers (which also makes movements for Berneron, Biver, and others).
Let’s also give Terreni and Parmigiani some credit. The Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante is one of my favorite new complications of the past few years, a subtle rethinking of the rattrapante chronograph (split seconds) in line with Parmigiani’s ethos of understated luxury watchmaking.
Perhaps Peter Griffin might still say Rexhepi’s Minute Inerte, the Alto ART 01, or the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante insist upon themselves.
But remember: The joke’s on him.
Let me know what you think: What’s a watch that gets this tricky balance right? What’s one that insists upon itself?
Get in touch:
tony[at]unpolishedwatches.com
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Such a good read, once again. Perfect length and a lot to unpack. And for the record I did not check if Rolexleaks69 actually existed on Instagram. That would be ridiculous. And if you think I checked you have no way of proving it.
"It insists upon itself" is a way for a pretentious person who takes themself too seriously to describe a piece of art that is itself pretentious and takes itself too seriously