If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

The Most Outrageous Watches I've Ever Seen & I Still Can't Tell What Time It Is.

HD3 Complications, Icelink, and Hautlence are three companies that make very high-end complicated timepieces that, although very pricey and admirably designed, are super difficult to tell what time it is. If you can get past that simple fact (lol) , take a look at the design, the workmanship, technology and plain audaciousness of these horological masterpieces.

Although all the companies offer various models, I'm blown away by the HD3's Idalgo XTII and the Biaxial, Icelink's 6Timezone Snow watches and Hautlence's models in particular. Frankly, I find it almost impossible to tell what time it is on any of these watches, but that doesn't stop me from staring at their faces.

HD3 complications is a company comprised of three different designers; artists Jorg Hysek, Valérie Ursenbacher and Fabrice Gonet working together to create luxury horological art. The Idalgo XTII and the Biaxial are two of their six lines of watches. The Idalgo XTII has side by side faces available in various 18k gold or titanium bezels and colored accents and can be purchased with or without diamonds on the bezel.

The HD3 Idalgo XTII:

Like I said, HD3 makes other models as well, here's their Biaxial Watch, another one from which I cannot deduce what time it is:

The HD3 Biaxial Watch:

HD3 COMPLICATION
Domaine Ganymède
Case postale 95
1184 Luins, Switzerland
T: +41 (0)21 642 03 03
F: +41 (0)21 642 03 04
E: sales@hd3complication.com
URL: www.hd3complication.com

Icelink's new "snow" collection is new to their line. Slightly different from their 6Timezone model, the Snow version has one of the six faces filled with little loose diamonds. The model is available as a small case or a large case style. Available in white, rose or yellow gold with white, black or white mother-of pearl faces, the watches are hard to ignore. See for yourself.

The 6Timezone Snow Collection:

They also come without diamonds on the bezel as well (you know, if you want to be a little subtle):

About Icelink:
In 2007 Switzerland's watchmakers welcomed into their ranks a new brand inspired by its founder Andy Sogoyan, a mover-and-shaker without complex and veritable icon of Los Angeles craziness. He is the incarnation of the era of no complex, undeniably the inventor of the gemwatch. IceLink continues to overturn conventional watchmaking.

From its Geneva headquarters, the Icelink gemwatch brand is poised to conquer new markets in Asia and the Far East due to the original design and ingenious concept of the new 6Timezone Snow collection. Thanks to its flagship 6Timezone collection, the brand already occupies key territory such as Europe, Russia, the Middle East and the United States.

Icelink
610 S. Broadway, 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90014, USA
T: +1 213 622 7707
F: +1 213 622 2624
E: info@icelinkwatch.com
URL: www.icelinktv.com

Hautlence gets its name from an anagram for Neuchatel, the city in Switzerland. Launched in 2004 by Renaud de Retz, Guillaume Tatu, Jean Plazenet, Jean Christophe Chopin and Alain de Forges , they have three collections, the HL, the HLS and most recently having added the HLQ series in 2008. All three models are made with various high quality metals like 18k yellow, white or rose gold or titanium and, unlike the other two companies are not available with diamonds.

Once again, these models have amazing design and movement. All are limited to production of only 88. Each have hand wound mechanical movement and feature exposed elements. Easy to read? No way. But then again, that's why they are included in this post. And a special thanks to Scott Rench for introducing me to Hautlence.

Their first model, The HL, which comes in 8 combinations of colors and materials:

the HL S was introduced in 2006 (available in 9 variations):

The HL Q (available in 5 variations) was introduced in 2008:

Hautlence S.A.
6 places des Halles
2000 Neuchatel Switzerland
tel +41 32 722 65 50
fax +41 32 722 65 59
info@hautlence.com

Prices? if you have to ask, you can't afford them. None of these are available on the internet for obvious reasons. To inquire about availability or prices, please contact the manufacturers.

And would someone please tell me what time it is?

If watches are your weakness, be sure to check out the following posts:

•Cartier's 3D Santos Triple 100 and Le Cirque Animalia and More

•Kudoke: Luxury Skeletel Watches From Germany

•Marc Newsom's IKEPOD watches

•Watches Made From Actual Titanic Parts

•Watches Made With Real Moon Dust

•Some Wild Watches from Storm,London

•Watches Without Hands Or Numbers: Abacus

•SwissKubik's Hip Watchwinders

The Unusual Art of Christian Faur. Portraits Made With Crayons and More.

True Color Series Girl 1, 2008

Artist Christian Faur is the Director of Collaborative Technologies in the Arts at Denison University in Granville Ohio and his title couldn't be more apt. He works with shredded paper, hand cast encaustic crayons and mathematical formulas to create pieces that in addition to being aesthetically pleasing, say much more. But I will let his work and his own statement speak for themselves.

The art below was created with hand cast encaustic crayons:

True Color Series, Boy:

Boy, detail:

Where The Sidewalk Ends, 2008:

The Color Purple, 2008:

Charlie, 2007:

detail:

Mortgage On The Future, 2006:

The Dance I, 2006:

The Hours, 4 panels, 2006:

detail of The Hours:

In addition to his crayon work, Christian has experimented with many other mediums. His shredded paper paintings are pretty spectacular. Below is a 78 inch by 48 inch paper sculpture made from 12,000 strips of shredded paper:

detail:

The piece below (1000 Names On Paper) is made from shredded paper that is printed with one-thousand of the most common names of those currently between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight according to the Social Security Administration.

One Thousand Names On Paper:

detail:

And here are a few of his encaustic works in which he has embedded many references to scientific formulas, human chromosomal DNA, and mathematics, which function as metaphoric as well as aesthetic elements.

The Artist's Statement (abridged):

The things that inspire me to create, I find, are buried deep within the structures and systems that form the underpinning of our natural world. My studies in the natural sciences have made me aware of these hidden layers of complexity present in even the simplest objects. These invisible layers are seen most clearly through the lens of logic, which is used to decipher the underlying rules and laws that govern the physical world.

In my work, I try to mimic these elegant structures of nature by developing systems of my own with which to express my thoughts and ideas, so that the medium and the message appear as one.

I think of it like a game, with a set of axioms that are established at the outset through the limitations of the material or forms from which the work is constructed, which then dictates what can and cannot be "said" within the boundaries of the chosen medium. This material limitation can also be a strength, as there is the potential to contain thoughts and ideas in unique ways, so that the "medium" can become the "message." This intertwining of form and function can be seen most directly in my most recent work, which is comprised of crayons and shredded paper.

These systems function as a private language, that allows me to express many layers of meaning within each work that I create. I think of them as complex visual "poems," which can redefine the way we think about the meaning of communication.

You can view his entire portfolio here.

Another artist who does amazing work with crayons is Demi Chau.

Learn about her crayon carvings here.

Vanity Fair Photographers' Funny Folks Compared To The Originals

Various Vanity Fair photographers shot portraits of today's funniest folks in an homage to tv, movie and historical legends of the past. The photos are of the hottest comedic actors in tv and movies, either recreating some of classic film's best moments or adding a funny bent to cultural and historical icons. Either way, they are all beautifully shot and hilarious.

Above left clockwise: Seth Rogan as Frida Kahlo, Frida Kahlo Self-portrait, Jack Nicholsen in The Shining, Danny McBride as Jack

But to add yet another dimension to them, I've actually paired them (as shown above) with the original inspiration for each- with the exception of Annie Leibovitz's, because she already did that with her own hilarious recreation of her original March 2006 cover shot for Vanity Fair. Enjoy!

above: JONAH HILL, PAUL RUDD, SETH ROGEN, and JASON SEGEL, The Pretty Young Things, Photographed by Annie Leibovitz on Stage 28 at Paramount Pictures Studio Lot, Los Angeles.