Artists and Watches

There have been multiple postings over the years indicating connections between artists and watch design or artists with their watches (such as the artists of the Bauhaus “https://omegaforums.net/threads/a-question-about-pp96-history.79971/page-2#post-1023674” or Picasso “https://omegaforums.net/threads/jaeger-lecoultre-“picasso”-triple-date-moon-phase.147425/”). However, so far I have not seen a thread dedicated to the subject of Artists and their Watches.

Given the strength of the material and what appears to have been a good reception of a few posts that appeared in my OF keyword searches, I’d like to propose a topic dedicated to artists and watches here in the Open Discussions area.

Ideally, this thread will feature the extremely famous super artists like Picasso at one end and the the obscure or local luminaries on the other. It could feature fine art, design, architecture and other art forms that are more difficult to easily categorize, and it would probably be an excellent idea to pointedly include professional and amateur watch design.

By having such a wide open approach it might make more plain the web of inter-connectivity among fine and applied arts practices where they meet in the world of watches and their history.

Before kicking off with some incomplete discussion of, say, Picasso and his collection of watches, including the two designed by independent maker Michael Z. Berger, I’m hoping for some feedback regarding this idea and how to go about making such a topic both useful and fun.

"https://www.montre-et-vintage.com/en/blogs/infos/pablo-picasso-and-his-mysterious-watches"

Image from: Montre & Vintage, “Pablo Picasso and His Mysterious Watches,” (undated article, probably not long after Hodinkee’s “Auctions Funky Picasso-Owned Watch Obliterates Its High Estimate At Bonhams” by James Stacy, May 21, 2021)

How about a politician? MAXIMO TAJES. This fellow was the dictator of Uruguay, late in the 1890s. The watch is English, by J. Sewill, with a ruby cylinder escapement. 18-karat gold case. Sold by Sotheby’s, New York, circa 1995, for $800.00 U S. It is a pin set repeater.

I considered suggesting a broader topic thereby including politicians, but artists, with a broad purview including all the visual and applied arts, already seemed potentially large enough to create a rich discussion. But I really like the idea of politicians and business people with their own threads as these show up in articles and I'm sure could be very enlightening about issues of how power is projected, or not. Here is a link to an article from IFL Watches from November 2022 featuring 16 world leaders and their watches. Joe B had a couple of Omegas... and there are some truly amazing timepieces on there. Fun to look at, but also definitely suggests a different basic direction than an Artists topic.

Love this. I think it would also be helpful to include a brief introduction to the article and maybe a photo chosen from it to persuade readers to dive in... It would be extra exciting on those occasions when the author is able to use a photograph of the exact watch in question, instead of an exemplar of the named brand and model.

The name of Salvador Dali, the international celebrity Surrealist (1904-1989), immediately brings to mind the image of melting timepieces in a dreamlike landscape. The Persistence of Memory (1931) was so popular that it was lampooned in cartoons, featured in animations. It was impossible to escape and it is certainly arguable that the popularity of Cartier’s Crash watch owes everything to Dali even as Sotheby’s reports the story as this:

“Despite having a strong resemblance to distorted watch in Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory, the design of the Cartier Crash has no connection to the surreal work. Legend has it that the idea for the Crash came when a client of Cartier brought in his damaged Cartier Baignoire from an automobile accident to the London maison in 1967.”

However, returning to the question of the Master himself and his connection to wristwatches, after reviewing a large number of photographs, from candid snaps to formal portraits, I have not seen one that even has a hint of a wristwatch peeking from underneath his fabulous French cuffs. The man was inarguably a clotheshorse. He was always beautifully turned out. He is even featured at work in his studio in an immaculate tunic or in a beautiful suit. Nary a wristwatch can be seen.

Has anyone ever read, seen, or heard anything about what, if any, watch Dali may have favored? It seems ironic that someone who is so strongly associated with “melting watches” never wore one of his own.

I also supply an image from the Dali Online Shop's inexpensive offering as well as links of multiple images of Dali, sometimes with Gala.


"https://www.vintag.es/2018/03/gala-salvator-dali.html" (30 photographs of Dali c 1930-1960)

"https://www.vintag.es/2020/07/25-candid-photographs-of-salvador-dali.html" (more photos of Dali)

"https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-evolution-of-the-cartier-crash-watch" (Evolution of the Cartier Crash Watch)

"https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-collectors-guide-to-cartier-crash" (Sotheby’s guide to Crash Watches)