The Riveting Influence of Denim in Today’s Luxury Watches
The Raw Denim Resurgence
Raw denim has seen a rise in popularity over the last few years in what GQ has called the Raw Denim Resurgence. From the streetwear-adjacent brands like Noah, Rick Owens and Acne Studios putting out their own versions of unwashed jeans (some years ago it was all about Nudie and APC), to Uniqlo and Gap’s budget selvedge options, to Ralph Lauren’s Double RL reproductions. Good quality raw and selvedge denim is making a second come-back.
The watch world (at least Patek Philipe) has followed the growing trend in the casual-wear market with a trio of ultra high-end watches donning a casual denim vibe: a Nautilus chronograph (5980/60G) and World Time (5330G-001), each on a denim inspired strap, as well as an Aquanaut Travel Time (5164G) with indigo/chambray coloured dial and rubber band. The strap on the Nautilus and World Time isn’t denim. Rather, what Patek call a “composite material” (who knows what) lined with calfskin. The twill texture and turquoise/indigo hue give the strap a distinct washed denim look without really being denim. Perhaps indigo dyed cotton twill isn’t the most durable material for a watch intended to last decades.
Nonetheless the denim design gives these watches a casual look without being made of steel. These are white gold watches worth multiple tens of thousands of pounds using the look of a fabric which Tim Gunn from the Parson’s School of Design has called “as far from glamorous as you could possibly get”. The result is a casual Patek option which, crucially, moves away from stainless steel.
Ice Blue is “In” for SS24
Muted pastel and ice blues have been popular for this spring and summer. Ice blue is especially prevalent in streetwear this year, with Palace’s Hazy Blue shell joggers and hoodies and ice blue Jordans and Dunks everywhere. In the wider menswear circle, it’s all about chambray this year.
Rolex has, knowingly or not, jumped into the Ice Blue streetwear style with their blue dial Oyster Perpetual. The American YouTuber and apparently amateur boxer Jake Paul paralleled the look of 80s-style bleached denim with an ice blue OP in an outfit he dawned on his Instagram earlier this year.
Vintage Cowboy Trends
“Denim on denim on denim on denim” - Beyoncé, LEVII’S JEANS, 2024
Running parallel to the raw denim resurgence is an upturn of American western fashion in popular culture. In the high fashion world we saw Pharrell Williams unveil this year’s Louis Vuitton FW24 cowboy western collection. In the watch collecting world we’ve seen John Goldberger and Ronak Madhvani (better known as Roni M) wearing Double RL and vintage denim alongside rare vintage watches. Beyoncé’s latest album cover quite frankly speaks for itself.
The return of the Western in pop-culture has of course trickled into what we wear. The London based retailer Son of a Stag, famous among denim-heads, unveiled the Lee Archives collection late last year. These are Japanese reproductions of vintage Lee denim and workwear (especially 30’s cowboy styles). I’m told that Lee apparently released the Archives collection in the early 2000s and were made by Edwin, the now massively popular Japanese denim brand. At first they didn’t sell, so Son of a Stag tucked the stock in their warehouse for 15 years before selling the now very popular collection online (it’s almost all sold out).
Back to watches, the grungy denim vintage cowboy aesthetic appears in Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Audemars Piguet collaboration. The colour palette for the watch is deep dusty brown. The brown ceramic case has casual insofar as it is organic and the strap is a lot like the new denim-inspired Patek straps, but a brown twill version, reminiscent of the grungy workwear look.
