Styling / Art Direction
For watches, value often comes with complication. Complex movements with thousands of moving parts and numerous sub dials are common at the top end of the market but for a handful of horologists, simplicity is the holy grail. H. Moser & Cie have completely empty dials some of the time in a breathtaking break with the usual watch design. It takes courage to be this plain.
For the shoot Joel carved a beautiful backdrop from card, slashing shapes like shop windows for the watches to peep out from. The shadows act as negative space and the minimalism of our look struck me as wildly beautiful when a lot of watch still life imagery is overcrowded with lighting effects. Sometimes the accessory just needs a canvas from which to rise out.
Watches LEFT Endeavour centre seconds concept purple haze watch in white gold with kudu leather strap, H. Moser & Cie/Harrods, £19,100.
RIGHT Altiplano 60th anniversary limited edition watch in 18k white gold with alligator strap, Piaget, £23,000.
LEFT Tonda 1950 watch in stainless steel with black alligator strap, Parmigiani, £7,950.
RIGHT 1966 watch in white gold with black alligator strap, Girard-Perregaux/William & Son, £12,850.
Creative Team Stylist: Melanie Grant, Photographer: Joel Stans.
Photographed for 1843 Magazine at The Economist in October 2017.
