Some Of The Best Collaboration Watches We’ve Recently Come Across

“Put two creative people in a room, and watch the magic happen.” While it might not exactly work like that, a joint project between two designers, artists or brands can lead to wonderful new things. It happens in art, it happens in fashion, and as you’ve guessed it, it happens in watchmaking. Over the years, the ‘collaboration game‘ has spawned some incredibly cool creations, often bringing two cultures together in one single watch. Even though it’s not a guaranteed recipe for success, these five recently introduced collaboration watches have a lot going for themselves!

Zenith Defy Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer for time+tide

This Defy Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer is the second collaboration between Zenith and Australian watch publication Time+Tide. The striking-looking watch has a micro-blasted titanium case and an openworked movement. The blued top bridge is combined with applied indices, hands and accents in white Super-LumiNova. Inside, the El Primero 3620 SK runs at a rate of 36,000vph and indicates the hours, minutes, and the 1/10th of a second in the sub-dial at 6′. It’s supplied with an integrated microblasted titanium bracelet and a blue rubber strap. Limited to 200 pieces, it’s exclusively available through Zenith’s and Time+Tide’s online boutiques for CHF 11,900.

For more information, please visit Zenith-Watches.com or TimeandTideWatches.com.

Quick Facts – 41mm x 11.6mm – microblasted titanium case – 12-sided titanium bezel – screw-down crown – sapphire crystal front & back – 100m water-resistant – openworked star-shaped bridge in blue – white Super-LumiNova stripes – applied indices & hands with Super-LumiNova – 1/10th seconds display at 6′ – El Primero 3620 SK, in-house – automatic winding – 36,000vph – 60h power reserve – integrated titanium bracelet – limited to 200 pieces – CHF 11,900

Audemars Piguet x travis scott royal oak perpetual calendar openworked ‘cactus jack’

Audemars Piguet is not shy to step into the world of pop culture in search of polarising creativity. Partnering with the incredibly popular rap artist Travis Scott has resulted in a unique iteration of AP’s incredible Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked. Sporting a never-seen-before brown ceramic case, this ref. 26585CM houses the familiar calibre 5135. Travis Scott’s influence and reference to his label Cactus Jack can be found in the details on the dial (such as the font and moon phase), the special strap and folding clasp, and the winding rotor. This surprisingly captivating watch is limited to 200 pieces and retails for CHF 178,000.

For more information, please visit Audemars-Piguet.com.

Quick Facts – 41mm x 9.9mm – brown ceramic case – octagonal brown ceramic bezel with white gold studs – sapphire crystal front & back – 20m water-resistant – sapphire crystal dial with 4 sub-dials – unique Travis Scott designed font and Cactus Jack references – calibre 5135, in-house – automatic perpetual calendar movement – hours, minutes, date, day of the week, month, week number, leap year, moon phase – brown calfskin leather strap with denim effect – pink gold folding buckle – ref. 26585CM.00.D301VE.01 – limited to 200 pieces – CHF 178,000 (excl. VAT)

Bulgari aluminium chronograph Gran turismo

The result of a collaboration to honour the 10th anniversary of the Gran Turismo Vision program, part of the Gran Turismo videogame saga, is not only a pair of cool Bulgari Aluminium watches but also a hypercar (check it out here)! Bulgari’s Product Creation Executive Director, Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani and Fabio Filippini, car designer and founder of ACCAEFFE Creative Consulting Ltd, designed two special editions of the Aluminium Chronograph. One in yellow, limited to 500 pieces, and one in anthracite, limited to 1,200 pieces. Both editions use the same BBL 138 automatic chronograph and are priced at EUR 5,200.

For more information, please visit Bulgari.com.

Quick Facts – 41mm diameter – aluminium case – titanium caseback with GT Vision engraving – titanium crown & pushers with DLC coating – rubber bezel – 100m water-resistant – sapphire crystal – yellow or anthracite dial – automatic calibre B381 (Sellita SW300 base, Dubois-Depraz module), 42h power reserve – rubber strap with aluminium links, aluminium pin buckle – limited to 500 pieces (yellow) or 1,200 pieces (anthracite) – EUR 5,200

wristcheck x atelier wen perception 传承 seconde/seconde/

Atelier Wen has teamed up with Austen Chu of the Wristcheck watch platform in a very special way. Following the success of their first Perception, this time around, seconde/seconde/ joins in on the fun. Finding beauty in destruction, the handmade jade green guilloché dials for this 36-piece limited edition were originally rejected and given a single cut to mark they were defective. Each of those 36 rejected dials has been given three solid gold stitches, an idea of seconde/seconde/ that’s reminiscent of the Chinese jū cí technique (锔瓷). Using a Dandong SL1588 movement with a jade green tungsten rotor it costs HKD 39,000 (USD 5,000).

For more information, please visit AtelierWen.com or Wristcheck.com.

Quick Facts – 40mm x 9.4mm – shaped 904L stainless steel case, brushed & polished – domed sapphire crystal – decorated caseback with sapphire crystal section – 100m water-resistant – handmade jade green guilloché dial – 18k gold hands – 24k gold stitches – customised Dandong SL1588 automatic – 28,800vph – 41h power reserve – green-plated tungsten rotor – 904L stainless steel bracelet – folding clasp with micro-adjustment – 36 pieces – HKD 39,000 – USD 5,000

IWC Portugieser Tourbillon retrograde Chronograph lewis hamilton

Seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton is considered one of the all-time greats in the sport but is also known for his outspoken fashion sense and eye for design. Partnering with IWC for the third time, Lewis envisioned a teal-coloured platinum Portugieser Tourbillon Retrograde Chronograph. The dial and strap have been given a colourful makeover, whilst mechanically, things have remained unchanged. The one-minute flying tourbillon is paired with a retrograde date and a single sub-dial for chronograph hours and minutes. Limited to 44 pieces, Lewis’ racing number, this one will set you back CHF 150,000.

For more information, please visit IWC.com.

Quick Facts – 43.5mm x 15.9mm – 950 platinum case, brushed & polished – sapphire crystal front & back – 30m water-resistant – teal-coloured dial – diamond hour markers – rhodium-plated hands and numerals – calibre 89900, in-house – integrated flyback chronograph movement – 28,800vph – 68h power reserve – one-minute flying tourbillon escapement – retrograde date – chronograph hours & minutes in single sub-dial – teal-coloured textile strap with platinum folding clasp – limited to 44 pieces – IW394008 – CHF 150,000