Working in watch licensing, I’m always interested to see how
different fashion brands are brought to store and interpreted by their licensor.
A recent addition to the fashion brand watch family is a collection from English
designer and former Pucci Creative Director, Matthew Williamson which recently
launched with Ernest Jones.
Mr. Williamson
Upon first glance, the collection is everything you expect from
the Designers At Debenhams ‘Butterfly’ creator, but not form the high fashion,
boho-chic creator chum of Sienna Miller.
Four pieces from MW By Matthew Williamson
The watches scream bling and whilst
this may be appropriate for his mid-market diffusion ranges, it seems at odds
with the more sophisticated and elegant collections that go down the catwalk in
the designers main line range.
Williamson AW13. Chic and elegant.
According to Mr. Williamson, the collection is inspired by a
chunky gold men’s Gucci watch that he wears every day. It’s true that the case
shapes for many pieces are very chunky and do have a more masculine design aesthetic
but the attempt to soften the macho lines with typically feminine colourings
errs on the side of tacky. Although the acid pinks and greens are part of the
Williamson DNA, in reality the overall look is jarring and a little to Towie
for my taste. The “little bit of everyday glamour” that Williamson was shooting
for seems lost amongst the flouro noise.
£349 and perfect for Halloween next week...
I’m sure there is a customer for this range, somewhere
between the Micheal Kors and Lipsy London watch wearer, a customer who wants a
more masculine yet playful wrist watch, may find what she’s looking for with Ernest Jones here.
However at an exit price point of £349 for a basic quartz movement (probably Miyota)
and what appears to be the use of stock cases that we’ve all seen before, you
can get a lot more quality bang for your
buck with other fashion brands out there.
It will be interesting to see how the range develops as like
many fashion watch brands, they do get better with, yup, time.
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