Concepts And Consequences

What is the legacy of concept watches? What happens when the show is over and it is time to actually manufacture them? How do these ticking research labs translate into actual, wearable timepieces...if they ever do?

- DAVID CHOKRON, ASHOK SOMAN

Like concept cars, concept watches are many things folded into one seductive and highly publicized object. They are life-sized laboratories for the public to see; showcases for future implementations of technology and style, and intended to be as desirable as they are unavailable. Unlike concept cars, though, their watch equivalents have been awfully scarce, especially in an industry where a set of key players pride themselves on innovating. In the past 20 years, arguably the most exciting, stimulating, and innovative era in watchmaking history, there have been but a handful. Which makes them all the more significant. Some have been introduced as such, near prototypes introducing many new features, sprucing up the brand's profile. Others have denied being such creatures and released as products, only for the community to find out they were not ready to be mass produced. And some others still, shown under the shroud of secrecy, were never released. After the glamorous presentations are over, a concept watch can have various destinies. It sometimes becomes a product, which includes some degree of the original's technical creativity. Or it can be so advanced its author brand ends up being unable to materialize it in enduring form, especially as far as reliability is concerned. This is the story of a handful of these projects, with outcomes as diverse as the technologies and achievements they introduced.

LOW RISKS, HIGH REWARDS