Phillip Toledano, a visual artist and watch collector in New York City, and Alfred Chan, a watch designer and collector in Hong Kong, have never met in person. But last week, after three years of communicating online, they introduced the Toledano & Chan B/1, a 33.5-millimeter stainless steel wristwatch with an integrated link bracelet.
The name was a nod to Brutalist architecture, in particular the work of Marcel Breuer and his namesake Madison Avenue building. Its windows inspired the watch’s angular, asymmetric case.
Mr. Toledano said the B/1, which displays only hours and minutes on its lapis lazuli dial, was a revolt against overcomplicated designs — what he called the “Liberace movement in watches.”
“They do all kinds of different things from telling you that your egg is ready to making waffles,” he joked during a video interview that included Mr. Chan. “It’s so much stuff in a watch visually.”
When they first began exchanging ideas and images of things they liked, both men acknowledged that they pined for the minimalism of 1970s design, when, Mr. Toledano said, watches were thought of as an entire sculptural piece.
After they decided to collaborate, the men quickly agreed on features such as the basic shape of the case, its asymmetrical styling and the desirability of an integrated bracelet, Mr. Chan said. Mr. Toledano created the design in clay, and then Mr. Chan executed the prototype. Their friends’ response to the design prompted them to produce it commercially.
“We never planned to build a brand,” Mr. Chan said. “It could have been the first couple of samples and then it was done — we got what we wanted. It was an experiment.”
While shape is what distinguishes the B/1, it also was a key challenge in production, they said. “The thing about making a watch that’s entirely about shape, sculpture and form is that there’s no margin for visual errors,” Mr. Toledano said. “If the brushing is not exactly right — or the links don’t fit together exactly right — you’re going to see it.
“It’s like misplaced punctuation in a beautiful sentence.”
The watch, powered by an automatic caliber from the Swiss movement maker Sellita, was made in China and is sold online by the brand and by the watch platform Hodinkee. It is $4,000, which Mr. Toledano noted was much less than many watches by other independent makers: “The idea is to make the B/1 affordable so people can try it.”
While the initial output was limited to 175 pieces, the men say they intend to experiment with the design, and a one-of-a-kind model in carbon fiber and copper is to be auctioned in June at Sotheby’s New York.
Might the two men finally meet in person at that sale?
“We’re afraid to meet,” Mr. Toledano said. “We met through Instagram. We’ve never met in person. It’s a peculiar idea — like a perfect, modern story.”
