Yesterday, it happened a big horological event in Paris at the Opera Gallery. You may smile by reading these words but as you know I'm always as interested by the communication strategies of the brands as by their watches and what I saw was quite unusual. Actually, JEANRICHARD unveiled a limited edition of 3 watches (25 pieces each) created with the Street and Graffiti artist Gully. These watches get their own name, the Graphiscope while they are based on the Terrascope. The fact that their names changed gives the proof of the importance of this limited edition.
Of course, it will not have a big impact of the turnover of the brand. We are talking after all about 75 watches. Of course, it doesn't revolutionize the catalogue of the brand. They remain Terrascope watches. But to my knowledge, it is one of the very first times I see a partership between a watch brand of a large luxury group and a Street artist. It is a very refreshing move and a way for JEANRICHARD to have the ability to enlarge its customers base to people more fascinated by art than by watchmaking. Moreover, it gives a very contemporary touch to JEANRICHARD which is always welcome. The companies tend to communicate a lot about tradition and the drawback of such strategy is the risk to be perceived as old-fashioned by some ranges of potential customers.
The Graphiscope line also gives the proof that the Terrascope is a well-born watch since it can change its own context without any difficulty. It can be sober, sportive, sometimes elegant... and this time fun and colourful!
The event gave the opportunity to the guests to discover an impressive exhibition of paintings by the artist without forgetting a new painting especially made for JEANRICHARD and the event: "Philosophy of Art 2".
If you expect to see pictures of the artist, forget this idea. Gully wishes to stay mysterious to avoid the traps and the constraints of success and of public life to stay focused on his artistic approach. And when you started you career clandestinely, you don't want to change your behaviour... it is a part of your DNA!
When did the idea of the Graphiscope come?
Gully was painting with a Terrascope on his wrist and after a hard day of work, he realized that a lot of splashes of pain were all over it... including the strap. So this new decoration style came to his mind!
The guests could see this famous watch, the original Terrascope in a display located in the entrance room of the Opera Gallery... so we already knew what would be the style of the watches which would be unveiled later during the evening...
The Philosophy of Art exhibition has a common thread. The idea behind each painting is to imagine how could be famous art pieces by other artists like Warhol or Canaletto (yes, it is a very wide range!) seen by children's eyes. And I LOVED this exhibition. You can trust me, I will come back to the gallery to see it again!