Power to the purple! Violate your wrist with the Pantone Institute’s colour of 2022
Luke BenedictusIf your wrist has gone purple, it’s usually a sign that you’ve put your watch on far too tightly. Not anymore. Purple is having a moment in the watch world and it’s not altogether unexpected. Last year, the experts from the Pantone Institute announced that purple would be the colour of 2022. Except the specific hue would actually be called “Very Peri” and that it would also be “a symbol of the global zeitgeist”.
Pantone told us: “Displaying a carefree confidence and a daring curiosity that animates our creative spirit, inquisitive and intriguing PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri helps us to embrace this altered landscape of possibilities, opening us up to a new vision as we rewrite our lives.”
All of which sounds very involved. But the watch world wants some of it judging by its recent purple patch of releases.
Hublot Big Bang Unico Summer Purple
Hublot is going hard into this colour, having already released a wild purple sapphire model at this year’s Watches & Wonders. The anodised aluminium case of this new limited-edition piece is rendered in a blazing lilac alongside the crown, pushers, dial indices and strap. Read more…
Nomos Club Campus blue purple
Nomos are always great at block colours and this “blue purple” dial has a real depth with the matte texture contrasting against the case’s polished sides The landscape for all of this is the California dial that’s pepped up with zings of orange on the sub seconds and minute markings. Read more…
Moritz Grossmann Central Second Purple
In his review (see link below) Fergus described this sunburst dial as “heart-melting”. He didn’t go far enough. The colour has a sparkling intensity and the whiteness of the lume-filled numerals leaps out against the richness of the dial. The German brand has always made superlative watches, but deep purple here is really striking. Read more…
Czapek and Cie Fabourg de Cracovie Purple Panda
You’ve heard of the Pink Panther, well here’s the Purple Panda. Limited to a measly 18 pieces, Czapek’s signature résonance guilloche pattern is rendered in a decadent purple. Fine circular graining meanwhile is applied to the two oversized chronograph registers that provide a counterpoint with their silver sheen. Read more…
Zenith Defy 21 Ultraviolet
Admittedly this one came out a couple of years ago. But we’re including the Defy 21 Ultraviolet, because it combines the highest frequency colour with a high frequency chronograph that’s able to measure time to 1/100th of a second. Zenith, however, use their purple deftly, only colouring the bridges of the automatic chronograph movement to make the grey components stand out. Read more…