May 12, 2006

jewelry men's accessories

Editorial-Features

60 Minutes

by Jonathan Forgang

It is almost easier to conceive reinventing the wheel than reinventing the watch. The modern chronograph, perhaps the quintessential menswear accessory, has remained remarkably static for so many decades, with the exception of the Japanese digital movement.

Designer Matthew Waldman, a Parsons instructor and artist, has gleefully bucked this trend by creating his own line of watches called Nooka, which are both striking in their functionality and in their modern appearance (Nooka itself translates to "sleek" in Hawaiian, as well as a few other quirky things, according to Waldman on his website). These watches show time through a graphic approach that, while perhaps awkward at first glance, proves itself to be more intuitive than the traditional method. With each of the watches, the accumulation of minutes is represented on a horizontal bar, a better representation of the elapsing of time than the traditional circular watch. As Waldman says, "Creating this line puts me in the middle of design theory discourse, as some say they are difficult to read. I remind people that it is familiarity that makes reading an analog watch easy, not inherent design superiority."

I say function follows familiarity—an interesting form will inspire greater contact with an object.

The Nooka Zoo ($250), for instance, uses a digital LCD display to show the hour in one window with the minutes in a 59-increment horizontal bar, mirroring how we perceive time in a continuous manner. The Zot ($250) shows the hour in 12 dots and the minutes in the same horizontal bar. The Zen ($250) is Nooka's purist linear time piece where the hours, minutes, and seconds are all displayed in linear progression. The watches appear to be the perfect marriage of form and function, but to Waldman there's another way to look at it. "I say function follows familiarity," he says. "An interesting form will inspire greater contact with an object."

All Nooka watches are made from stainless steel, and this season they are available with one of three straps: black leather, white leather, or stainless-steel mesh. On May 19, Matthew Waldman will switch hats for his opening at the Stay Gold art gallery in Brooklyn, showing his "Fairy Labor Union" exhibit, which will consist of prints, paintings, and several sculptural installations.

Nooka watches are available at Barneys New York, MOMA Design Store, Flight 001 in New York, and Selfridges in London; www.nookawatch.com.