SILA’s Stylish, Affordable Women’s Watches
A mini, vintage-inspired timepiece with over 20 interchangeable strap options
Straps are an important design element of the newly launched SILA watch collection, debuting on Kickstarter today. In fact, SILA—which stands for “Sorry I’m Late Again”—has 23 strap options. Three metal jewelry chain colors (silver, gold and rose gold) complement 20 waxed enhanced cotton colors. Each strap swaps out with a simple click. As the brand explains, it’s one watch with 20 different looks. But SILA’s delivering more than straps. The Paris-based design team behind the piece didn’t neglect any other elements. The clean, minimal face falls with a very tiny 18mm stainless steel case—legible and classy. The piece draws inspiration from a petite, jewel-like vintage watch—dating back to the ’30s—that co-founder Alexandra Peltre Marque saw in a Tokyo shop. It blended well with the bracelets she wore, while offering readability. It inspired her and co-founder Karine Lemire to leave their jobs at L’Oréal, design their own pieces, build a supply chain (that includes the Japanese quartz movement powering each watch) and hit the market.
“When we looked at the accessible watches category, we were shocked by the lack of creativity and femininity,” Peltre Marque explains to CH. “To us, all watches looked almost the same. If you forget the logo on the dials, you have this weird feeling that all these watches are only one brand.” Further, as many women’s watches are merely translations or adaptations of a brand’s men’s collection, they wanted to produce something refreshing. They took to Kickstarter to help finance their first production run—but everything an emerging watch brand needs to set off already exists, including working prototypes. Oversized watches are everywhere. SILA defies this while standing up to the traditional colorways.
You can purchase a SILA watch through a $99 early-bird Kickstarter pledge, as the campaign is already funded. It comes with one strap; while a $119 pledge guarantees an additional strap; and a $249 pledge grants five additional straps and one bangle bracelet. Delivery is expected in December 2017.
Images courtesy of SILA
