Timepiece Tuesday Part 2: Hubot Ad Turns Tragedy into Comedy, Omega Wins Lawsuit, a Clock that Acts Like a Sail

There’s so much going on the world of timepieces that it takes two issues of Timepiece Tuesday to tell it all.

A Black Eye Becomes a Punch Line
Bernie Ecclestone, president and CEO of Formula One, was mugged by four persons and robbed of jewelry worth £200,000 ($315,000) in London, the BBC reports. Among the articles stolen was his Hublot watch. The robbery happened November 25 and on that day he sent his picture of himself taken the day of the assault to Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot, along with a note: “See what people will do for a Hublot.” Biver told the BBC that Ecclestone wanted to use the picture and statement for an advertisement. Biver agreed and the untouched photo of Ecclestone sporting an enormous black eye and a bruised jaw appeared with an ad for the F1 King Power watch, the official watch of Formula 1 racing. The ad ran as a one-off on December 8 and 9 in the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune. However, the reality-based ad may actually become a campaign, JustLuxe reports, although the company has yet to make such an announcement.  

Omega vs. Cotsco

 The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Omega brand can effectively control the pricing of its luxury watches in the U.S., which means consumers will pay more, the Daily Finance reports. The decision was 4-4, with Justice Elena Kagan abstaining. Such a split decision upholds the lower court's ruling, which in this case was in favor of the Swatch-owned brand. However, divided 4-4 rulings don't have the same impact as true majority, the publication explains. So the collision of copyright law and "gray market" goods—items originally sold abroad, brought into the U.S. and resold here—is still largely unsettled. Costco was purchasing Omega watches on the gray market from middlemen abroad at prices below U.S. prices. More on the issues For example, Costco was able to sell Omega's Seamaster watch for $1,299, while other U.S. retailers were charging $1,995. Read more.


A Clock that Acts Like a Sail
A wall-mounted clock with a manifold that is connected to the two hands to create a 3D movement. At any given moment the manifold is located in a different position and different parts are seen. As the hour can be understood according to the traditional location of hands, a new reading of time is created. Called the Manifold clock, it was created by Studio Ve, an Israeli design company. A shout out to Fast Company's Co.Design, where I first learned about the product. Video of the clock in action below.


Manifold Clock from Studio Ve on Vimeo.