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Vintage watch gets a modern makeover
By Michelle Zhang |
March 29, 2009, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LIKE many Westerners in China, young entrepreneur Sam Jacobs is fascinated with some of the country's "heritage" brands. The Londoner wears Feiyue sneakers, uses Seagull cameras, rides Forever bicycles and feels good about it.
One day, his Chinese partner Lin Lin, who co-founded with him the Shanghai-based Jellymon design studio, showed him on the Internet some vintage watches made by the Shanghai Watch Factory.
Founded in 1955, the state-owned watch manufacturer has produced more than 120 million watches. Some of its classic models were worn by the nation's luminaries, such as late Chairman Mao Zedong and late Premier Zhou Enlai.
"The watches are so beautiful that it made me wonder why they weren't more famous outside of China," Jacobs recalls.
Then he learned more about the watches. Back in the 1960s, because of limited supply, a Shanghai watch meant wealth. There was a famous saying that no girl would marry a guy if he didn't own a Shanghai watch.
For Guangzhou-born Lin Lin, however, it wasn't really about whether brands like Shanghai watches made better products than their Western counterparts, but about the nostalgia they triggered and sense of pride they instilled.
"I wanted to re-build Chinese brands with longevity," said the young woman who belongs to China's post-1980s generation. "If anyone is going to change China, it is us."
She had been talking to her friends, asking them which brands made them feel most nostalgic about growing up in China. A name that came up often was the Shanghai watches.
But it was not so easy for the duo to track down the factory and talk it into working with their trendy, somewhat avante-garde design agency.
"Old attitudes and ideas are difficult to change," she said. "It is hard to convince people that you want to work with them just because you love and respect their brand."
Still in its original location, the factory has remained constant as the world moved on. It is a place of pipes, valves, dials, rubber tubing and heavy machinery.
"There's metal coils stretching across the factory floor and golden metal shavings everywhere," Jacobs said. "The factory is really steam punk. It is a relic."
Together with global advertising company Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, they finally made things happen. Shanghai native Dong Wei, art director of Wieden+Kennedy, joined the duo to create a funky collection of five watches based on a 1970s Shanghai watch model sourced from the archives.
Zhang Xindong, product director of the Shanghai Watch Company, described the process of making the watches as the most complicated he'd been involved in.
"I think they (the watches) are a nice blend of old and new, of history and contemporary Chinese style," Jacobs commented.
"They are all hand made, using all the old machines and what you get when you buy one of our Shanghai watches is, for better or for worse, an original 1970s model."
The traditional Arabic numerals and Roman numerals are replaced by Chinese characters or hand signs.
An enlarged company logo is featured on one model, while a pistol is featured on another. They come in bold silver and gold, with a vintage feel twisted with a modern attitude.
Only 100 watches are made of each design. Priced at 1,088 yuan (US$160), they are available in only a few trendsetting stores around the world including Colette in Paris, Kidrobot in New York and O'blu in Shanghai.
One day, his Chinese partner Lin Lin, who co-founded with him the Shanghai-based Jellymon design studio, showed him on the Internet some vintage watches made by the Shanghai Watch Factory.
Founded in 1955, the state-owned watch manufacturer has produced more than 120 million watches. Some of its classic models were worn by the nation's luminaries, such as late Chairman Mao Zedong and late Premier Zhou Enlai.
"The watches are so beautiful that it made me wonder why they weren't more famous outside of China," Jacobs recalls.
Then he learned more about the watches. Back in the 1960s, because of limited supply, a Shanghai watch meant wealth. There was a famous saying that no girl would marry a guy if he didn't own a Shanghai watch.
For Guangzhou-born Lin Lin, however, it wasn't really about whether brands like Shanghai watches made better products than their Western counterparts, but about the nostalgia they triggered and sense of pride they instilled.
"I wanted to re-build Chinese brands with longevity," said the young woman who belongs to China's post-1980s generation. "If anyone is going to change China, it is us."
She had been talking to her friends, asking them which brands made them feel most nostalgic about growing up in China. A name that came up often was the Shanghai watches.
But it was not so easy for the duo to track down the factory and talk it into working with their trendy, somewhat avante-garde design agency.
"Old attitudes and ideas are difficult to change," she said. "It is hard to convince people that you want to work with them just because you love and respect their brand."
Still in its original location, the factory has remained constant as the world moved on. It is a place of pipes, valves, dials, rubber tubing and heavy machinery.
"There's metal coils stretching across the factory floor and golden metal shavings everywhere," Jacobs said. "The factory is really steam punk. It is a relic."
Together with global advertising company Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, they finally made things happen. Shanghai native Dong Wei, art director of Wieden+Kennedy, joined the duo to create a funky collection of five watches based on a 1970s Shanghai watch model sourced from the archives.
Zhang Xindong, product director of the Shanghai Watch Company, described the process of making the watches as the most complicated he'd been involved in.
"I think they (the watches) are a nice blend of old and new, of history and contemporary Chinese style," Jacobs commented.
"They are all hand made, using all the old machines and what you get when you buy one of our Shanghai watches is, for better or for worse, an original 1970s model."
The traditional Arabic numerals and Roman numerals are replaced by Chinese characters or hand signs.
An enlarged company logo is featured on one model, while a pistol is featured on another. They come in bold silver and gold, with a vintage feel twisted with a modern attitude.
Only 100 watches are made of each design. Priced at 1,088 yuan (US$160), they are available in only a few trendsetting stores around the world including Colette in Paris, Kidrobot in New York and O'blu in Shanghai.
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