Let me start this editorial by saying that KITH means nothing in my book. I am not into the so-called ‘luxury streetwear’ and I enjoy wearing things that are exclusive and not mainstream. For those of you as unfamiliar as I was with Kith, this is a U.S. fashion and lifestyle brand established in New York City in 2011 by Ronnie Fieg, a footwear and clothing designer who started his career as a stock boy at David Z. Even though Kith is not for me, I am still trying to grasp my head around the latest collaboration between TAG Heuer and this brand.
Whenever I see a watch brand collaborating with another brand outside the realm of watches, I like to scrutinize the collaboration and understand the thought process behind it. The new TAG Heuer Formula 1 Kith collaboration was just presented last week and immediately sold out, despite that the quartz watches were priced at USD 1,500 a piece.
With eight brick-and-mortar flagship stores in cities like New York, Miami, West Hollywood, Hawaii, Toronto, Paris, and Tokyo, this Kith collaboration includes eight different watches named after said locations. Additionally, there are two Kith Heuer watches —blue and green— that are exclusively included within the 25-limited edition Collector’s Box Sets that include all 10 watches and which are priced at USD 18,000 per box set—yes, it is not a typo. Not sure who in its right mind would have bought these sets.
I am going to be very honest here and all I can say is that this partnership is as disjointed and peculiar as if we were to see a partnership between Rolex and McDonald’s. I am not sure who at LVMH saw the connection between the two.
As someone who grew up in the era of the original TAG Heuer Formula 1 watches —and while I didn’t own one back then—, this is something I wouldn’t buy even with the nostalgia that brings vivid memories of TAG Heuer and F1 legend driver Ayrton Senna wearing his TAG Heuer S/el Sports/elegance back then —later revamped to the Link model in 1999 after Senna had already passed in 1994.
Then, comes the audacity of TAG Heuer to launch this new Formula 1 watch on the 30th anniversary of the death of Ayrton Senna on May 1, 1994, who died at the age of 34 during the San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola Circuit in Italy. While I understand that the Miami Grand Prix was right around the corner, this also seems like a big stretch.
Photo Above: Ayrton Senna from Instituto Ayrton Senna —Senna.org.br
Well, maybe so that the so-called ‘influencers’ —people who cannot even explain the difference between a manual wound and a self-winding watch or an annual calendar from a perpetual calendar— that were brought on the Press Trip to the Miami Grand Prix could get a free watch to wear during the lavish weekend festivities provided by the brand. If you had asked them to pay USD 1,500 from their money to buy this watch including a weekend at the Miami Grand Prix the answer would’ve probably been: “No, thank you.”
Having said all of the above and as much as I want to understand this partnership, I just don’t see the connection at all. The watches are presented in either a sandblasted stainless steel case with a matching bracelet or an Arnite case with a rubber strap. Arnite is just the fancier registered name for branded strong rigid plastics in the family of PET —polyethylene terephthalate— and PBT —polybutylene terephthalate. The colorful combinations have very little to no connection to Formula 1 whatsoever. If I try hard I can see the colors of Senna’s helmet on the Hawaii model but clearly, there’s no connection there.
The watches have sold out according to Kith’s website and they were released in a a limited edition of 250 pieces for each model in Arnite, a total of 350 pieces each for the Paris and L.A. models in stainless steel and 1,350 pieces for the Kith & Kin model in stainless steel with an eggshell colored dial with black Arnite bezel.
Yet another watch partnership that has raised eyebrows within the watch community or at least among those of us who understand watches and would put our hard-earned money into them. If you can’t put your skin in the game, then you shouldn’t be in the game pretending you have a voice in the industry. To me, the values and target audiences of both brands seem worlds apart, but maybe in LVMH’s mind, they are not.
At the very least, the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Kith has almost kept the original case size at 35 mm from the 1980s TAG Heuer Formula 1 Professional model which had cases between 28 mm and 34 mm.
Back when the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Professional model was released, Techniques d’Avant Garde had just acquired Heuer, and the name “Formula 1” name was in honor of the company’s highly successful involvement with the Marlboro McLaren Formula 1 racing team at the time. The choice of the name “Formula 1” was also symbolic of the newly created TAG Heuer brand, as perhaps the only thing that TAG and Heuer had in common in 1986 was their deep connection to Formula 1 racing. But as far as this new collaboration goes, there is no connection between Kith and TAG Heuer.
Why would any savvy watch collector buy these new watches when they can get a real vintage TAG Heuer Formula 1 Professional timepiece for a couple of hundred dollars on eBay?
Sadly, it is what it is and that’s all that it is. As usual, I am here calling a spade a spade because other editors or watch publications just won’t.
For more info on TAG Heuer click here.
