SWATCH 007 Villains Collection / Keeping Time
With 22nd James Bond spy x action flick Quantum Of Solace premiering on silver screens in a few days' time (Nov 5th Singapore), I'm reminded of The SWATCH 007 VILLAIN COLLECTION - which no doubt would be "late" news by now (tis been in my folders for months! LOL) ... and of my own personal affinity-slash-penchant for Swatch-watches [CLICK THRU to read, if you dare :p]
The 007 Villain Collection sees Swiss fashion-timepiece makers SWATCH taking and representing the dark side of 22 infamous (and some not so memorable) villainous enemies of all the 22 Bond films, from Dr No to the current QoS - including evil-doers and henchmen like Oddjob, Jaws and even Blofeld's Cat! And frankly, there are quite a few that had gotten my attention (and "desire" - I'm a sucker for their "IRONY" series LOL) and would proudly proclaim my allegiance alongside these iconic villains, as so much as I would ever imagine myself to be the dapperly dashing-ish British spy LOL [CLICK THRU for list of the villains/movies].
Re-familiarize yourselves with your fav villains' individual-profiles @ Swatch.com - and if you're reeeeeeally bored, click on the "What's Your Evil Nature" on menu-left and find out which Bond-Villain you may be ... I ended up being Elektra King from "The World Is Not Enough" tho! (Which is rather worrying indeed ... I wanna be Oddjob! LOL)
VILLAINS / BOND-MOVIE TITLE:DR. NO - DR. NO (SUYK117)
SWATCH & ME (KEEPING TIME WITH TOYSREVIL):
Unlike a lot of folks I know (and/or know of), I do not have any particular desire to own any "powerhouse" watches. And even if I did, I can scarcely remember any particular brands (except maybe Oris, but that was decades ago :p). I've never been partial to the Omegas, Rolexes or any other time-pieces of revered material status. Not that there's anything wrong with wanting to show off your wealth and ability, of course, but perhaps collecting watches is more of a personal thing (and even "emotional" at some juncture), at least for me. And wanting it to reflect my personality (or "impression of"), rather than the size of my wallet and bank account.
Some folks "judge" a person, or leaves an impression based on what "accessories" they wear: shoes, clothes etc - I'd be looking at peeps' watches - which sometimes may lead to undue personal etiquette faux-par - as I might be starring at a peep's wrists instead of looking them in the eye, when I shake hands during introductions! :p ... anyways ...
I remember a decade and a half (or so) back, where I'd exclusive collected only SWATCH watches. And by that, it meant the plan was to purchase (at least) a new Swatch watch every month, with the salary from my first job, and subsequent one. It started as more of a "reward" self-incentive then, for my hardwork-toil and for surviving the rat-race.
And having a "gimmicky" watch then, was in line with the image I'd wanted to portray. (Young, funky, hip, yadda yadda yadda). I was kitschy even before kitsch was "in" (altho I'm not too sure that's something I'd boast on about now LOL) ... Yes, laugh away - but it alluded a naive sense of confidence in the projection of my "creativity" and perhaps helped in my own self-scripted portrayal of my abilities in the design medium (both my first and second jobs - Interior Design & Design for Television). I look back now not with cringe-worthy spasms, but with a wry smile ... okay, fine - maybe with a slight roll-of-teh-eyeballs :p
And I'd stuck to the "plan" for a quite a few good years, with my amassed collection reaching saturation point when I begun to spend way too much time deciding what Swatch to wear for the work-day! It was my guilty fashion-trip paralleled to women's need to constantly change handbags and shoes. Yes, tis sexist-profiling, but i heart me my Swatches (then) :p
[Actually as I dug these out for for this post, I realized I had kept none of the boxes :p]
Looking back now, I'd imagine this was as close to a "collection of collectibles" paralleled to keeping toys today. Sure I'd read and kept comicbooks and trading cards (hell, I collected loadsa stuff LOL), but they had seemed more of "hobby collectibles", than say "watches" - which would seem more of being "fashion accessories" moreso than utilitarian hobby-desirables, IMHO. But that wasn't my pure intention then.
In my defense, they were more for practical use / wear, rather than as kept as pristine collectible pieces for subsequent after-market value (well, most of them anyways :p) - which meant they were either eventually faded with age (as do all plastic watches), in wear-n-tear tatters (peeling plastic or frayed leather-straps ain't purdy), and/or had missing boxes (much to my chagrin years later in thy financially depleted life).
Before I begun down the more expensive path of the Chronos or heavy duty Irony range (which I lurved with a vengence), the thin colorful plastiky SGD$65-75 range was the monthly aim - which was sorta cool (but still considered "pricey" then) - as it doesn't hurt as much when you think of chucking it away, as opposed to a three-digit-priced watch, yeh? But of coz I've never chucked any of my Swatches (the pack-rat hoarder than I still am, as evident as the dusty I could manage to dig out for this post :p).
And what they do serve now, is perhaps a snapshot in time (or snapshots) of a bygone era of my/our past/s, as much as the early vinyl figures in your/our collection. Each may tell a particular story, or even trigger an incident or memory, of the period of purchase, perhaps?
And in numerous ways, it would be the act of procuring the items, that one remembers (besides the obligatory birthday prezzie or anniversary gift :p) - like finding a particular dead-stock watch in an obscure little hole-in-the-wall shop. Somehow the thrill of the hunt may not be as exciting buying something straight from a shop, as opposed to sniping it on ebay, or personally my fav form of procurement: flea-market finds.
[Well, the dude told me they were "military" watches, but I never did go and find out if they were :p]
Fast forward to the mid-90's - my tastes changed (or rather the designs became pretty much too kitschy for my "image") and I'd ventured forth to quasi-vintage watches (had a coupla Russian-made "military" windups). My last SWATCH watch was an all-Chrome Irony, which I'd still wear for formal occasions (but has since gotten too tight a fit on my by then chunky-ish wrist).
Nowadays, I do not buy any watches at all, except for the single SGD$30 black analog that I currently wear and would not have the fear of being scratched or damaged. Great for Reservist-wear. Good enough for day-to-day. No enough to wow my (non-existent) adoring crowd (*cough*), but utilitarian's the way to go in this day and age, methinks (Me Hopes) - in a weird roundabout full-circle-way ... Although a bit of flash may still make a welcoming splash :p
But seeing these 007 BOND VILLAINS themed watches, had gotten my "itch" back on again, for I still have an extreme soft spot for SWATCH watches, particularly the chunky Irony / Chronos (yes, I think I've stated that ad nauseum LOL) ... as for owning them? (ie: the 007-collection) - Perhaps the "closest" I can get now is by posting and admiring them on my blog ... heh.
The 007 Villain Collection sees Swiss fashion-timepiece makers SWATCH taking and representing the dark side of 22 infamous (and some not so memorable) villainous enemies of all the 22 Bond films, from Dr No to the current QoS - including evil-doers and henchmen like Oddjob, Jaws and even Blofeld's Cat! And frankly, there are quite a few that had gotten my attention (and "desire" - I'm a sucker for their "IRONY" series LOL) and would proudly proclaim my allegiance alongside these iconic villains, as so much as I would ever imagine myself to be the dapperly dashing-ish British spy LOL [CLICK THRU for list of the villains/movies].
Re-familiarize yourselves with your fav villains' individual-profiles @ Swatch.com - and if you're reeeeeeally bored, click on the "What's Your Evil Nature" on menu-left and find out which Bond-Villain you may be ... I ended up being Elektra King from "The World Is Not Enough" tho! (Which is rather worrying indeed ... I wanna be Oddjob! LOL)
VILLAINS / BOND-MOVIE TITLE:
DR. NO - DR. NO (SUYK117)
ROSA KLEBB — FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (YSS239)
ODDJOB — GOLDFINGER (YOG102G)
EMILIO LARGO — THUNDERBALL (SVCK4039G)
BLOFELD’S CAT — YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (GE218) *Even the cat has a Swatch dedicated to it? Cool LOL
BLOFELD — ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (YGB1001AG)
WINT & KIDD — DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (YLS434)
BARON SAMEDI — LIVE AND LET DIE (GB237)
SCARAMANGA — THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (SUYB119)
JAWS — THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (YOS429G)
HUGO DRAX — MOONRAKER (YRS410G)
ARIS KRISTATOS— FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (SUJB104)
GENERAL ORLOV — OCTOPUSSY (YGS127)
MAX ZORIN — A VIEW TO A KILL (YRS411)
GEORGI KOSKOV — THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (SUJK139)
FRANZ SANCHEZ — LICENCE TO KILL (YCS512)
XENIA ONATOPP — GOLDENEYE (SUBB122)
ELLIOT CARVER — TOMORROW NEVER DIES (SUJK138)
ELEKTRA KING — THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (GE215)
ZAO — DIE ANOTHER DAY (SFK327G)
LE CHIFFRE — CASINO ROYALE (YGS128)
DOMINIC GREENE — QUANTUM OF SOLACE (SUIB402)
[Above list via AbsoluteGadget]
SWATCH & ME (KEEPING TIME WITH TOYSREVIL):
Unlike a lot of folks I know (and/or know of), I do not have any particular desire to own any "powerhouse" watches. And even if I did, I can scarcely remember any particular brands (except maybe Oris, but that was decades ago :p). I've never been partial to the Omegas, Rolexes or any other time-pieces of revered material status. Not that there's anything wrong with wanting to show off your wealth and ability, of course, but perhaps collecting watches is more of a personal thing (and even "emotional" at some juncture), at least for me. And wanting it to reflect my personality (or "impression of"), rather than the size of my wallet and bank account.
Some folks "judge" a person, or leaves an impression based on what "accessories" they wear: shoes, clothes etc - I'd be looking at peeps' watches - which sometimes may lead to undue personal etiquette faux-par - as I might be starring at a peep's wrists instead of looking them in the eye, when I shake hands during introductions! :p ... anyways ...
I remember a decade and a half (or so) back, where I'd exclusive collected only SWATCH watches. And by that, it meant the plan was to purchase (at least) a new Swatch watch every month, with the salary from my first job, and subsequent one. It started as more of a "reward" self-incentive then, for my hardwork-toil and for surviving the rat-race.
And having a "gimmicky" watch then, was in line with the image I'd wanted to portray. (Young, funky, hip, yadda yadda yadda). I was kitschy even before kitsch was "in" (altho I'm not too sure that's something I'd boast on about now LOL) ... Yes, laugh away - but it alluded a naive sense of confidence in the projection of my "creativity" and perhaps helped in my own self-scripted portrayal of my abilities in the design medium (both my first and second jobs - Interior Design & Design for Television). I look back now not with cringe-worthy spasms, but with a wry smile ... okay, fine - maybe with a slight roll-of-teh-eyeballs :p
And I'd stuck to the "plan" for a quite a few good years, with my amassed collection reaching saturation point when I begun to spend way too much time deciding what Swatch to wear for the work-day! It was my guilty fashion-trip paralleled to women's need to constantly change handbags and shoes. Yes, tis sexist-profiling, but i heart me my Swatches (then) :p
[Actually as I dug these out for for this post, I realized I had kept none of the boxes :p]
Looking back now, I'd imagine this was as close to a "collection of collectibles" paralleled to keeping toys today. Sure I'd read and kept comicbooks and trading cards (hell, I collected loadsa stuff LOL), but they had seemed more of "hobby collectibles", than say "watches" - which would seem more of being "fashion accessories" moreso than utilitarian hobby-desirables, IMHO. But that wasn't my pure intention then.
In my defense, they were more for practical use / wear, rather than as kept as pristine collectible pieces for subsequent after-market value (well, most of them anyways :p) - which meant they were either eventually faded with age (as do all plastic watches), in wear-n-tear tatters (peeling plastic or frayed leather-straps ain't purdy), and/or had missing boxes (much to my chagrin years later in thy financially depleted life).
Before I begun down the more expensive path of the Chronos or heavy duty Irony range (which I lurved with a vengence), the thin colorful plastiky SGD$65-75 range was the monthly aim - which was sorta cool (but still considered "pricey" then) - as it doesn't hurt as much when you think of chucking it away, as opposed to a three-digit-priced watch, yeh? But of coz I've never chucked any of my Swatches (the pack-rat hoarder than I still am, as evident as the dusty I could manage to dig out for this post :p).
And what they do serve now, is perhaps a snapshot in time (or snapshots) of a bygone era of my/our past/s, as much as the early vinyl figures in your/our collection. Each may tell a particular story, or even trigger an incident or memory, of the period of purchase, perhaps?
And in numerous ways, it would be the act of procuring the items, that one remembers (besides the obligatory birthday prezzie or anniversary gift :p) - like finding a particular dead-stock watch in an obscure little hole-in-the-wall shop. Somehow the thrill of the hunt may not be as exciting buying something straight from a shop, as opposed to sniping it on ebay, or personally my fav form of procurement: flea-market finds.
[Well, the dude told me they were "military" watches, but I never did go and find out if they were :p]
Fast forward to the mid-90's - my tastes changed (or rather the designs became pretty much too kitschy for my "image") and I'd ventured forth to quasi-vintage watches (had a coupla Russian-made "military" windups). My last SWATCH watch was an all-Chrome Irony, which I'd still wear for formal occasions (but has since gotten too tight a fit on my by then chunky-ish wrist).
Nowadays, I do not buy any watches at all, except for the single SGD$30 black analog that I currently wear and would not have the fear of being scratched or damaged. Great for Reservist-wear. Good enough for day-to-day. No enough to wow my (non-existent) adoring crowd (*cough*), but utilitarian's the way to go in this day and age, methinks (Me Hopes) - in a weird roundabout full-circle-way ... Although a bit of flash may still make a welcoming splash :p
But seeing these 007 BOND VILLAINS themed watches, had gotten my "itch" back on again, for I still have an extreme soft spot for SWATCH watches, particularly the chunky Irony / Chronos (yes, I think I've stated that ad nauseum LOL) ... as for owning them? (ie: the 007-collection) - Perhaps the "closest" I can get now is by posting and admiring them on my blog ... heh.
