A forgotten watch from the Surrealist painter, even better than the Cartier Crash somehow…
After appearing several times on my Instagram profile IamCasa, the Exaequo Softwatch took its own way and become a modern classic for people with refined taste. In a previous video of mine, you can read the full story!
I’m here today after more than a year and a half dealing with this watch and loving this watch, finally doing one video about its full story (and more…).
Let’s start with a brief story of Dalì and how he came up with the watch.
I think that all of you know this painting from Salvador Dalì, called “The persistency of memory”. It’s possibly the most famous painting from the Spanish painter, and what makes it special to me and makes Dalì possibly my favorite artist, apart from is creations, is the fact that it’s maybe the only painter associated with an actual watch. We see it in this and many other creation of his.
The story of Dalì and time began one night and there is a great tale about it. One night he had a headache and decided to stay home and didn’t go out with his friends and with his fiancee. The same night he saw a Camembert, a French cheese, that was melting and began thinking about the time and how it was fluid, hyper soft. This led him to create what is possibly his absolute masterpiece and that is what brought us here today.
Back in late 80s Philippe Muller, the founder of Exaequo, saw a painting that is “The disintegration of the persistency of memory”, which is similar to “The persistency of memory” but we actually can see kind of a Softwatch in it already.
From this painting he knew that he was to create a new shape of watch which was not round nor shaped, but had its own characteristic shape we see there.
Rumor has it that, in 1989, there were already prototypes, designs and everything about the watch at BaselWorld watch fair. But it’s in 1990 when the company was founded and when the first Softwatch was presented. It was pretty similar to my first one (pictured with denim strap) but it had a green strap which is the signature watch of Exaequo, as you can find it on the warranty as well. From that the company grew in its line of products and we can find a lot of different watches created under the brand. The most important for sure is the Softwatch, but even among that family we can find many iterations.
To sum up a little bit the story of the Softwatch and the other creations of Exaequo, we start in 1990 with the first series of Softwatches like that one.
We can see the screw right there to unlock the crown which is the first series: gold plated with white dial measuring 47mm in length and 23mm in width. All lugs, on this size and on the next “big” sizes, will be 16mm, with a beautiful 14mm buckle, shaped as it was actually a molten one, almost as the Cartier Crash one.
They came up with a second series which had no screw but the same case. On this one we can find different variations of dial that we’ll see after but overall a similar static. They added more colors, more kind of platings as the palladium ones and, in the end of the second series, they added the Dalì writing on the dial, as well as the writing Softwatch.
Then a third series came up which had a kind of different case with four screws on the back. It is not as ergonomic as the previous ones as it was almost straight but luckily it was a little bit smaller (around 45mm length). It also has a different kind of glass and an overall different construction of the case, as you can see.
Apart from this three series of the Softwatch, we can find a lot of other iterations. They started the museum collection that had paintings on the dial, they started an erotic collection with erotic paintings on the dial and, in 1996, they started another model, which had kind of a round shape also with a soft part melting on the downside of the watch.
That last one is not as known as the first Softwatch, due to the fact that in 1998 the company was closed as they used the Dalì signature on the dial without permission and this got them sued and made them close the company. The Softwatch was no longer produced and that’s what makes it collectible nowadays and what makes it vintage because they don’t make them anymore.
Let’s dive into how a Softwatch is and its characteristics.
The Softwatch comes with a particular shaped case, kind of a pear shape or whatever. We know it’s from the Dalì art so it’s surreal.
It usually has a 47 per 27 measurements more or less (it’s not symmetric, obviously). It has a plastic glass crystal, coming up from the case. A round crown on the side and a dial that recalls what’s the typical Cartier dial, with roman numerals exploded adapting to the layout of the case, super tiny hands but it’s pretty simple to tell the time (and, admit it, you don’t actually wear this watch to tell the time).
We can find it with no writings at all on the dial, with the little Softwatch writing at six with the “Exaequo” at four, on the index. There are some with the Softwatch inscription at 12, some even with the writing Softwatch and Dalì, and in many different iterations. Color-wise, we can find a large number of dials varying from the plain white to the red, blue, green and so on, often with graphic elements recalling the color of the case.
It is a gold plated watch, and the plating is really a thick layer of gold plating. I’ve been wearing mine for a whole summer sweating and going around Italy and nothing happened so it was really a well-made watch for something being born in the 90s.
We can find it palladium plated, rose gold plated, copper-tone plated and yellow gold plated, in three basic dimensions the one i told you before 47×27, 45×27 and 40×23 millimeters.
The watch itself is powered by a quartz movement, a very reliable one that needs almost no assistance at all, that makes it really something useful to me. It came with a paper box presenting the overall watch with the warranty and a full explanation of the watch comprehensive of everything that was related to it.
It has a peculiar printed strap recalling an alligator strap in genuine leather with a buckle inspired by Salvador Dalì.
The ones that were inspired by the Museum pieces (so the ones with artworks on them) were a little bit different also in the box and straps, having a recall to the paintings they had on.
Going to why the Softwatch is nowadays that popular I think that many of you associate this watch with the Cartier Crash, another watch that, for some reasons, looks really inspired by Salvador Dalì, but rumor has it that it was not related to the painter. What I can say is that the Softwatch, due to its super ergonomic case which is curved and adapts to the wrist, and to the fact that has no “horns”, really is not an homage to the Crash de Cartier,but something as good looking as it on the wrist, for a fraction of the price.
To me the watch is really unique in design, it is an actual work of art and for you to know the design of the watch is registered to the foundation of Salvador Dalì, making it really an artwork. What makes it even more special and collectible to me is that the fact that everyone seeing it remembers that Salvador Dalì, the only painter actually putting time and watches in the spotlight of the art worls.
I’m super happy that, since i started re-presenting the Softwatch, it has grown in value from 200 euros to more than 3.000 euros. What makes me really proud is that a lot of you are asking me how to find and buy one, associating me with it but also proving me that art is really getting into watchmaking.
A couple fun stories: a Softwatch was gifted by none other than Paul McCartney to a friend of his for a really fun story I leave you an article about. That makes it even something that it’s historically relevant, not just a watch, and it’s the easiest way to have and to enjoy a work of art!
