Over the past couple of years the Swiss watch brand Jorg Hysek, the pilot project of well-known designer has become a serious player in the market of prestigious watch mechanics. Hysek perfectly distinguished himself as guest creative director for many famous brands. For example, in 1984, he was awarded the Grand Prix de Geneve for the bracelet, designed for Vacheron Constantin watch. Since then the name Hysek is becoming increasingly popular, and today he is considered as one of the most original and talented designers in the watch world. Hysek work is not confined only to the design - he creates the whole concept of watches, from sketch to the campaign.
Among his victories are: Commercial Marine for Breguet, Kirium for TAG Heuer, Shanta for Ebel, Arctura for Seiko, collection of watches and pens AD2000 for Dunhill. By the way, creating pens and other items for writing Hysek loves nothing less than the clock. In his work Hysek is governed by only two rules: "If you cannot do something better than anyone else, then just don’t do it" and "thing without practical convenience meaningless, no matter how beautiful it may be."
For a long time Jorg Hysek was quite satisfied with the work as a guest designer for other companies, but he had his own ideas. In 1996 he founded the brand called his own name and at first tried his hand in the pens and accessories. But in 1999, at the exhibition in Basel Jorg Hysek company introduced its first watch collection. But then something quite predictable happened: the artist got a little bit tired of it. He turned out to be more interesting to launch new projects, than to work on the old ones. Eventually, Jorg Hysek left the watch company Jorg Hysek, and sent to the press and its partners quite amusing letter, written entirely in his eccentric style.
But after the departure of its creative director the company didn’t close and joined the ranks of a major concern, and became a thriving independent manufactory, which produces excellent watches for luxury category.
How did they manage to stay alive? Hysek came up with three watches for their original ideas, which is quite a lot for a young brand. Naturally, it immediately drew the attention of the public. The first and most famous feature of Jorg Hysek was the shape of the body called Bridge, inspired by the New York architecture: the upper part of the clock is bent more than the bottom, and the walls on the side are very reminiscent of the bridge supports. This figure has become so recognizable and popular that today has become the official logo of the Hysek brand.
The second was the original idea of the designer numbering in the markup hours. "Why is it always have to be 3, 6, 9 and 12 numbers on the dial?" - Hysek wondered - and quite unfair to forget about the others, for example, 1, 5, 7 and 11. But they are much easier to visually look, they represent the four corners of the clock face and leave space for additional functions.
Finally, the latest and perhaps the most original Hysek’s idea was V-King. To open clockwork V-King, you don’t need to open the traditional rear cover and unscrew the side screws, similar to the casings from bullets and pull mechanism as a box on the right side of the watch.
Today all three innovations are being the special signs of Hysek brand, bringing the popularity and recognition to it around the world. A new management was able to convert that popularity into profits. To have a clearly identifiable style – is a dream of every brand.
