Compressed Spring 2026 Issue - Flipbook - Page 21
Wrist Watch
S U P E R S TA R
BRU TA LISM
OR BUST
Toledano & Chan go against
the grain with an intentionally
askew timepiece
BY VICTORIA GOMELSKY
W
HEN THE INDEPENDENT watch
brand Toledano & Chan—the
brainchild of British-born, New
York City–based conceptual artist
Phillip Toledano and Hong Kong–
based designer Alfred Chan—introduced its first wristwatch, the irregularly shaped b/1, in 2024, the $4,000
steel watch, meant to evoke the asymmetric frame of a
window in the Breuer Building in New York City, sold
out in 45 minutes.
At the time, Toledano, a collector and self-described
“contrarian,” was unapologetic about his approach to
watchmaking. “I know nothing about movements,”
he said. “I don’t really care about that stuff. It’s the
aesthetics that are everything.”
The same fiercely independent spirit lurks in the
brand’s fourth model, the automatic b/1.3r. Housed
in a 32-by-33.5-mm titanium case, the asymmetric
wristwatch reflects the brutalist influence that is core
to Toledano & Chan’s distinctive designs, but departs
from its predecessors in two ways: Whereas the first
three pieces bore dials made of lapis lazuli, Tahitian
mother-of-pearl, and meteorite, this edition features
what the brand is calling a “ripple dial,” a sliver of solid
18k gold inspired by a ripple of water. It’s also the first
Toledano & Chan timepiece to earn the Swiss-made
label, suggesting that even design obsessives value
what ticks within.
($10,200; Instagram: @toledanoandchan)
GEMANDJEWEL.COM
SPRING 2026
17
