To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Swiss watchmaker Tissot has relaunched a new iteration of its cult 1980s timepiece, the RockWatch, with a limited edition run of just 999 numbered pieces.
After a decade of prototyping, Tissot launched the very first RockWatch in 1985 to rave reviews. Crafted from hunks of granite, these pieces honoured the majestic Jungfrau mountain, a significant Swiss peak that stands at 4,158 metres and is known as the ‘Top of Europe’.
To mark this initial success, a five-ton block of granite stone was flown in from Switzerland to Hong Kong, where Swiss sculptor Felice Bottinelli crafted it into a giant clock nearly two meters high on Kowloon’s scenic waterfront promenade. At the time, Tissot ran a public competition inviting people to guess the weight of the installation.
Alongside rock from the Jungfrau Mountain, the original RockWatch design also featured yellow and red hands, which were a nod to the distinctive trail markers painted on trees and rocks in the Alpine region. The original collection was eventually extended to include watches made up of other natural materials including Australian grey granite, Australian snowflake obsidian, aventurine, basalt, jasper from the Kalahari Desert, strawberry quartz and even mother-of-pearl.
True to its predecessor, the latest RockWatch is powered by a quartz movement and boasts a refined 38mm case carved exclusively from Swiss granite – the result of the refurbishment of a railway tunnel leading to the Jungfrau mountain. Its brightly hued hands have now been gently updated with sleek, nickel-plated batons to complement the grey hues of the granite. The watch also comes with a supple black leather strap, a new sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating and is presented in a gift box that resembles stone.
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