L’OROLOGIO, FOR ALESSIWATCHES
When ALESSI came to us about L'orologio, they came with a very clear objective: to escape the overcrowded market of unique (and expensive!) designer watches. ALESSI's request was to go back to basics and create a passe-partout stainless steel watch that was inexpensive and yet with a high perceived value.
Or to quote the brief, “We need 'The Watch' from ALESSI".
To achieve the cost goals, we had to work almost exclusively with off-the-shelf components, generating many design limitations. However, so often strict limitation is the driver of real innovation. Ultimately, it was the graphical approach we took for the watch’s iconic design as a result of these challenges that proved to be the key to unlocking this project.
We created a design where the glass gently rests on top of the thin frame, revealing the big dial that lies well below the surface. This unexpected depth of the thin frame is a metaphor for the extra dimension time adds to the world surrounding us.
The result was clean, easy to read and timeless. A classic passe-partout. Still to this day one of Alessi’s best-selling watches.
ALESSIWATCHES is a collection of wrist watches which has been jointly developed by ALESSI and SEIKO NEXTAGE CO.,LTD. that contributes with its vast professional experience in the field of Japanese watchmaking. The first collection of watches by Alessi, presented at the end of the 1980s, included designs by Aldo Rossi, Achille Castiglioni, Richard Sapper, Matteo Thun and Mario Botta.
“Photographer: A. Ruffini / Seiko, © 2014”
