It’s some of the well-known work of the twentieth century: A desolate shoreline stretches out to a glassy, featureless sea, an odd malformed animal lies washed up on the sand, and within the foreground, a bare-limbed tree grows impossibly out of a stable picket block. In fact, I’ve omitted probably the most memorable half: Practically each main component is draped over with drooping, melted clocks and pocket watches. Salvador Dali’s seminal “The Persistence of Reminiscence” has been one of many world’s most beloved and culturally related works of fantastic artwork since its creation in 1931, and simply because the melting timepieces captured the eye of most people, they’ve additionally impressed generations of watchmakers. Though many summary, amorphous watch designs can fairly be stated to be at the very least tangentially impressed by Dali’s work (the auction-house darling Cartier Crash, for instance), Exaequo wears its Dali inspiration extra proudly than another model. Older watch fans could keep in mind the Exaequo Softwatch of the ‘90s, which, in its later iterations, even carried a Dali signature (allegedly unlicensed) on the dial. For 2024, the Exaequo model has returned, recreating the traditional “melting” type for a brand new era. The brand new Exaequo Melting Watch handsomely revives an offbeat ‘90s traditional, whereas providing some of the dramatic visible statements obtainable wherever at this worth level.
As you would possibly anticipate from such an amorphously formed design, the carrying expertise of the Exaequo Melting Watch is hard to outline. At 28mm vast (at most) by 47mm end-to-end (the case sides lengthen a good bit past the absolutely hooded lugs), the Melting Watch’s gold PVD-coated chrome steel case carries a good bit of wrist presence, with the closest analog in all probability being a protracted, slim rectangular case — assume Tank Cintrée, and also you’ll be within the ballpark. That stated, in contrast to the Cintrée, the Melting Watch sits tall and proud on the wrist, with a flat caseback that forestalls the watch from wrapping across the wrist. This could result in the case “floating” barely on some wrists, however this could reduce because the strap breaks in. The asymmetrical, psychedelic type captures the “melted” theme nicely, with softly rounded polished surfaces all through and a vastly wider 9 o’clock case aspect to visually offset the extra dramatically stretched, drooping 3 o’clock aspect. The Melting Watch will not be a very slim design both, and the peak of the rounded, bulbous case sides additional provides to the visible impact right here. At 3 o’clock, the crown is kind of a formality – tucked deep into probably the most recessed concave bend within the case aspect, its clean rounded floor will be tough to grip with out lengthy fingernails. Whereas some fans could balk on the Melting Watch’s field acrylic crystal, it’s tough to think about a sapphire and even mineral crystal on this form that wouldn’t dramatically increase the watch’s worth level. It is a far cry from merely producing a typical spherical crystal in a brand new dimension and would seemingly require particular tools to create in any materials apart from simply moldable acrylic. A flat, screw-fastened caseback completes the bundle right here, standing partly liable for the Melting Watch’s extraordinarily un-sporty 30 meters of water resistance.
Exaequo continues the molten theme with the Melting Watch’s dial. Our overview pattern arrived with the normal white dial choice, full with a easy matte-white floor and a raised outer hours monitor. Exaequo embraces the fanciful potentialities of this form with the Melting Watch’s printed Roman numeral hour markers, which stretch and squash fantastically to fill the jellybean-like form of the dial. In fact, this similar form additionally dictates the handset, which is, merely put, tiny. Exaequo matches the longest leaf-shaped minute hand that might realistically match on this house, however a minute hand that grazes the outer monitor at 3 o’clock is miles away from any related markers at 6 o’clock. As one may think, the Melting Watch will not be significantly legible because of this, however practicality takes a again seat to visible drama in a design like this. Nonetheless, Exaequo does complicate issues additional with the chemin-de-fer outer minutes monitor. Moderately than the usual one line to signify every minute, Exaequo locations traces on this scale at 30-second intervals. Because of this, every hour numeral is separated by ten marks on the outer scale, which ends up in much more legibility points than one would possibly anticipate till the wearer visually adjusts to the bizarre scale. Legibility challenges apart, it’s tough to argue with the sheer quantity of conversation-starting enjoyable the Melting Watch’s dial brings to the desk.
Contained in the Exaequo Melting Watch beats the acquainted Ronda 751 quartz motion. The 751 is considered one of Ronda’s extra diminutive two-hand choices, however it nonetheless provides stable efficiency together with a seven-year battery energy reserve and a good accuracy of -10/+20 seconds a month. Whereas it could not have the romantic status of a mechanical motion, the issue of discovering a mechanical powerplant to suit this case at a suitable worth seemingly makes the prospect of a mechanical Melting Watch a non-starter.
Exaequo matches the Melting Watch with an alligator-pattern leather-based strap in heat mahogany brown. On paper, it’s a classical pairing to match the remainder of the classical coloration palette, however Exaequo continues the melted theme right here, too. The signed ardillon buckle is amorphously rounded, showing to slowly drip away from the strap. The 6 o’clock aspect of the strap has its personal elongated, asymmetrical “melted” tip, and whereas this can be a playful thought in idea, in execution it leaves a distracting finger of a strap jutting previous the second keeper on the wrist. This additional protrusion is sure to show controversial amongst fans, but when the Melting Watch is judged as a pure assertion piece (somewhat than a useful device), it does add to the watch’s idiosyncratic general character.
The picture of Salvador Dali’s melting clocks and watches has been a cultural touchstone and a supply of inventive inspiration the world over for practically a century, however regardless of the central horological theming, few watch manufacturers have aimed to seize that very same surrealist iconography. The brand new Exaequo Melting Watch revives some of the beloved Dali-inspired designs of the final 30 years, with daring, dreamlike kinds and an attention-grabbing execution that ought to garner a brand new era of followers. The Exaequo Melting Watch is accessible now by means of the model’s e-commerce platform. MSRP for this watch as examined stands at 550 CHF as of press time. For extra data, please go to the model’s web site.
