Maybe you’ve heard of Braun for its reputation as the playground of “the Designer’s Designer,” Dieter Rams. Maybe you have one of their modern electric razors lying at home in your bathroom drawer. Or maybe you have only the vaguest sense of the brand. Whatever the case, Braun’s industrial design legacy has touched your life just the same. If you need some enlightening, the iPhone in your pocket might be a good place to start. While the sleek lines, minimalistic industrial color palettes, and function-forward modern elements have become ubiquitous features of the objects we interact with daily, it was Braun’s holistic vision that would launch these aesthetic principles into the forefront of the public consciousness, beginning a movement that is nothing short of revolutionary.
While Braun introduced several alarm clocks beginning in the ’70s, wrist-sized timekeeping, especially analog wristwatches, would make their debut much later – which is where the story of our latest Limited Edition collaboration truly begins. After a duo of round and square digital watch designs released by Braun in the ’80s, it would be one of Dieter Rams’ pupils – an industrial designer named Dietrich Lubs – who would come to define the guiding aesthetic principles of a truly “Braun-worthy” analog wrist watch. As the story goes, a young Lubs was horrified at the cheap, Japanese-made wristwatches that were being handed out to returning clients as a token of thanks. After making his rage at these flimsy watches clear to his mentor, Rams encouraged him to right this injustice by making a wristwatch worthy of bearing the Braun name.
Determined to create a watch that was boiled down to its most essential elements, Lubs would go on to create the first Braun wristwatch in 1989 – the AW10. Designed to be as functional as possible, the AW10 was a simple and streamlined time-only design, complete with Braun’s signature bright yellow seconds hand and typeface. The numeral-free AW50 would follow shortly after in 1991, introducing a date window flanked by a red chevron detail, known as the chevron, for enhanced legibility and functionality.
Drawing inspiration from these original wristwatch designs from the brand’s heritage vault, we are thrilled to introduce you to our first collaboration with Braun: the BN0279 Center Seconds and BN0279 Sub-Seconds Limited Editions For Hodinkee. In a run of only 100 units each, these time-and-date models infuse Braun’s quintessential mid-century modern design language with a contemporary touch, opting for a 40mm case and a Swiss-made mechanical movement, a first for Braun watches.
While the 40mm sizing of the bead-blasted, stainless steel case feels particularly contemporary, the connection between both the AW10 and AW50 is apparent at a glance. This is felt most obviously in the presence of the clarifying red chevron by the date window at three o’clock and the yellow seconds hand, which has been a Braun signature since its 1975 alarm clock days. Trimmed down only to the essentials, you won’t find any numerals to disrupt the visual harmony of the dial – the time is indicated with just a slim, lume-filled set of hands and the white minutes track that encircles the dial’s perimeter. Additionally, we worked with Braun on a unique-to-us, bead-blasted case, which is more rugged than the finish you would normally find in watchmaking, ultimately leading to incredible visual interest under a loupe.
At twelve o’clock, Braun fans will be pleased to find the brand’s iconic logo has been printed plainly in black with its signature oversized “A” character on full display. To set these two apart, you’ll see that we outfit one model with a black center seconds hand and yellow tip, and the other with a yellow-handed sub-seconds register at 6 o’clock.
Founded in Frankfurt in 1921 by German mechanic and engineer Max Braun, the cornerstone of the Braun company’s legacy is its unwavering commitment to innovative solutions, impeccable quality, and convention-defying ideas. After a string of early successes, Braun reached prominence in 1932 by distinguishing itself as one of the first manufacturers to produce a device that successfully combined a radio and record player in one unit. After Max Braun’s unexpected death in 1951, his two sons – Artur and Erwin – took over the management of both the company and its legacy, pushing the Braun brand to new heights https://www.highluxurystore.ru/.
Acutely aware of the changing tastes and ideals of the time, the Braun brothers moved toward incorporating the aesthetics of modern design and the Bauhaus movement into their consumer product repertoire. This unconventional and tradition-defying approach founded on function-first design would go on to become the calling card of the Braun brand identity. In 1955, the public would finally encounter this revolutionary design-first process. This culminated at the brand’s 1955 Radio Exhibition, in which Braun showcased its new line of radio players made to feel right at home, displaying their new aesthetics of modern architecture in an exhibition booth that was as austere and minimal as the product itself.
In a time before industrial designer was even an official job title, thanks to its groundbreaking emphasis on interdepartmental collaboration, Braun cultivated a unique environment for interdisciplinary thinkers, creators, and makers to come together to create consumer products that placed the aesthetic experience at the forefront of the design process – thus transforming the everyday into the extraordinary. Today, Braun’s stylistic influence on the world of industrial design is just as strong as it ever was – directly impacting the aesthetic approach of contemporary world-class companies, including Apple.
The Braun BN0279 Center Seconds and Braun BN0279 Sub-Seconds Limited Editions For Hodinkee are available now in the Hodinkee Shop for $950, while supplies last. Each watch comes with complimentary domestic and discounted worldwide shipping. Combining a Swiss mechanical movement and a distinctive bead-blasted case with classic Braun wristwatch elements, we pay honor to one of the design world’s most revered brands with a few Hodinkee flourishes.