In the past, I perused antique shops whenever I wanted a new wristwatch.

For current models, I prefer the classic types such as the Cartier Tanks, Rolex Oysters, or Swatch Once Again series.

I like the minimalist dials of Patek Philippe and Breguet, but they do not reflect who I am now, price included.

I have felt that, in relation to the functional role of something like a watch, there exists a golden ratio to its beauty. It always struck me how difficult it must be to design something new. So when I was first shown this watch at an Hermès exhibition and was informed that it was “a new design,” it was—for a regrettable lack of a better word—”shocking.”

It was like being shaken to the core by something completely unexpected.

The watch is in a vertically long, trapezoid shape with a stirrup motif. The numbers are laid gently on the dial, from which a thin belt is attached. There was a kind of sureness and persuasiveness to deem it a reliable watch. And so I raved about its newness (!) and beauty (!!) right away on my pages of the magazine.

The price made me think a bit, but I saw myself wearing it well into my old age. Assuming that I would live another 50 years, I calculated that I could make daily payments towards it.

This beautiful Galop d’Hermès was created by designer Ini Archibong, a 35-year-old born in Los Angeles to Nigerian parents. This is his first collaboration and his first time designing a watch.

As if to reaffirm the incredible initial shock that attracted me to the watch, I later found out that one of his favorite books was Junichiro Tanizaki’s In the Praise of Shadows. There is beauty that dwells in classical form, which connects to the present and to the future.

Glancing at the steering wheel as I wait for the light to change, I sit up straight as it seems to question, “what is newness?”

2020-9-30