The Mr. Jones “Accurate” Watch
Speaking of memento moris and clever watches, Mr Jones' "Accurate" watch makes the inherent implication of a timepiece obvious. In fact, all of the limited edition models in his line are comments on the daily conundrums of life.
Last time I featured Mr. Jones Watches, he had an exhibition-only series of prototype electronic watches developed to explore new cultural expressions, technologies of timekeeping and how they relate to contemporary life. "Each one was the embodiment of a social critique or observation."
With a perfect sense of black humor, cultural irony and dry wit, Crispin Jones, the man behind the Mister, described his concepts as "work which lives in the intersection between Fine Art and Design—broadly this area is known as Critical Design—using the language and tools of design to articulate a critical perspective."
You may have already seen "The Decider," with markings on the face alternately reading "yes" and "no," but I was taken with the macabre nature of the Accurate. Evolved from his original Summissus watch, the Accurate similarly fosters humility in the wearer by featuring a mirrored dial to reflect the viewer along with a semi-subtle reminder of your inevitable mortal time-frame. The hour and minute discs spell out "Remember" and "You Will Die."
His latest series has now taken this concept to consumption. Now featuring analog watches with rotating discs, each style of Mr. Jones Watches will be produced in a limited numbered series of 100. (£80 each or approximately $160) Don't lose any more time, they're close to selling out!
And just released this week, a series of videos by filmmaker Steve Ounanian brings the concepts to life. See them on my blog, as well as a couple other models from the series.
