RECOMMENDED BY UNIFORM WARES
Even a cursory glance at a Uniform
Wares watch will tell you that it is
a product created by a design
connoisseur. The truth, however,
is that it is connoisseurs, plural.
Patrick and Oliver - the men behind
the watches - both cut their teeth
in product design and have years of
experience as appreciators and
professionals.
With this in mind, we thought
they'd be the perfect people to
launch our new series, RECOMMENDED
- a forum for experts to speak
directly to you about topics close
to their heart.
This time, Patrick and Oliver
recommend five products with real
design pedigree.
CHIPPERFIELD W102 DESK LIGHT
FOR WASTBERG
We have a couple of these lights on order for our office. Designed by architect David Chipperfield they are, most notably, made of brass - a material that was commonly used in lighting in the past but has been reintroduced here in a contemporary form.
For us, this light does everything it needs to as a desk lamp. It has clear LED powered directional light and is pared down to its essential elements: base, arm, and lamp head.
The 'sunray' faced brass at the base and head ensure that the light has a quiet presence all of its own.
CERVELO RS ROAD BIKE
We're both into cycling and try to get out on the road as much as we can. One of us bought this bike lately and can't talk enough about it. Billed as the perfect entry to pro-performance, this bike delivers all the lightweight performance you could need for those weekend rides and does it with comfort.
Cervelo themselves are a small manufacturer who's production began with time-trail bikes, with their P3 model winning over 30 victories. They design bikes from the rider up and they are concerned with performance over anything else.
Their highest-end bikes are designed and developed purely by engineers unconcerned with styling. They even apologise for the fact that their adverts are designed by engineers, stating that, “we figured you would rather read an ad designed by an engineer than ride a bike designed by the marketing department”.
MYTO CHAIR BY KONSTANTIN GRCIC
The cantilever chair is made in one piece entirely from BASF Ultradur high-speed plastic. A winner of numerous awards, we sit on these all day every day and they are testament to the fact that office chairs don't need to swivel, wheel and squeak.
This chair was significantly influenced by the material and its ability to flow around a mould. The designer developed the ideal seating position for everyday tasks and they are pretty much indestructible.
It's quite a task to design a cantilever chair out of plastic; it really is a landmark design.
MAURICE DE MAURIAC WRISTWATCHES
We had the pleasure of meeting with Daniel Dreifuss, the founder of Maurice de Mauriac watches whilst in Switzerland recently. Firstly, he's a top guy, secondly he makes beautiful watches. Maurice de Mauriac are one-of-a-kind in the high-end watch industry.
Daniel works from a small workshop in Zurich and makes bespoke watches for private clients. He uses the best possible movements, engineered surface finishes and is more recently experimenting with tinted sapphire glass.
He designs a watch the way he believes it should be done and is unconcerned with trends within the industry.
We admire his case design for its ability to be easily customised, much like a puzzle the watch can have bezels, dials and straps swapped out at any time to give a watch a new lease of life. It also doesn't hurt that they are incredibly handsome pieces.
KIOSK
Kiosk's 'Interesting Things From Interesting Places' is a curated collection of objects from all over the world that highlight the charm in somewhat ubiquitous everyday objects.
It's a treasure trove of interesting stuff and a great place to pick up gifts. They have a permanent collection of objects as well as a series of rotating object collections, most recently from Japan.
Dieter Rams famously said that
'good design is as little design
as possible'. It is then a fear
that the very best design, being
naturalistic and understated,
may slip by unnoticed
and uncelebrated.
This would be a great shame,
and it's why we need design
aficionados like Patrick
and Oliver to act as a
design Rosetta Stone -
cracking the complex code
and opening our eyes to
the hidden intricacies
of product design.
Uniform Wares watches are
a master class in themselves,
and we thank their creators
for sharing with us five
similarly overlooked and
undervalued pieces of
exceptional design.
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