Art and watchmaking have always intersected, with horology having long offered the chance for you to wear a piece of art on your wrist.
The concept of ‘watch as art’ is one Swatch has adopted most literally with its Art Journey initiative – a collaboration with storied institutions around the world to reinvent renowned artworks for the wrist. Last month, the Swiss watchmaker embarked on the latest chapter of its Arts Journey, bringing one particularly iconic museum along for the ride.
For its latest collaboration, Swatch has teamed up with Britain’s Tate Gallery. A dynamic institution with a network of four galleries, including one set inside London’s reclaimed Bankside Power Station, the Tate has played an integral role in pushing the envelope in the UK’s modern art space. With its thematic curation and eclectic mix of aesthetics and time periods, the museum celebrates the world’s significant modern and contemporary art, as well as the best of British art dating back to 1500.
Accordingly, it was inevitable the gallery’s collaboration with Swatch would be colourful and energetic, especially since the space has been home to over 70,000 works of art, including icons like J.M.W. Turner’s The Scarlet Sunset, Henri Matisse’s The Snail and Fernand Léger’s Two Women Holding Flowers. These three artworks have been transformed for the wrist alongside four more designs, which are also inspired by the works of artists who have previously exhibited at the Tate. These include Marc Chagall’s Blue Circus, Joan Miró’s Women and Bird In the Moonlight and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s Orange and Red On Pink, as well as Louise Bourgeois’ reoccurring use of spirals more broadly.
Through this new instalment in its Art Journey, Swatch not only reaffirms its long-standing love affair with art, but offers customers their own piece of some of the world’s most famous modern artworks. Shop some of the marie claire team’s favourite options below, or discover the full Swatch x Tate Gallery range here.
01
Swatch Turner’s Scarlet Sunset
from $155 at The Iconic
02
Swatch Bourgeois’s Spirals
from $175 at The Iconic
03
Swatch Matisse’s Snail
from $155 at The Iconic
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