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Dig the irony: Mr. Jones Flower Power watch

2K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  elee888 
#1 ·
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At first inspection you might assume the latest offering from London watchmaker Mr. Jones is nothing but a pleasant, whimsical, summer inspired watch revealing a pretty flower adorning the dial. But this is a Mr. Jones watch, a brand famous for the Remember You Will Die timepiece and the The Last Laugh Tattoo edition with the skull macabrely revealing the time on the teeth, so there has to be a more ironic, and cynical touch. And of course there is.

The colourful outline of the flower appears and disappears on the dial as time progresses, but upon closer inspection, the petals of the flowers are not petals at all but colourful Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Crispin Jones, the brand's founder, has thought it all through. Commenting on the watch he declared: "Flower Power is inspired by the philosophy and imagery of anti-war protest movements from the 1960s. It embodies the hope that as time passes the gun will be transformed from a tool of war to one of peace - the Biblical notion of turning swords into ploughshares. Looking at it another way it reflects the alternating cycle of war to peace, the balancing of harmony with chaos through history".

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In the hippie era of 1967 during an anti-Vietnam protest at the Pentagon parking lot, students started placing flowers in the barrels of National Guard rifles. It's became an iconic photograph from the era. Students were protesting because too many of their fellow countrymen were being shipped over to Vietnam only to be gunned down by…Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Flower Power is released in a limited edition of 100 pieces, with each watch individually numbered on the case back. The watch comes in a MJW presentation box, with specially commissioned design by artist and illustrator Camilla Meijer. Price £145.00.

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#3 ·
That was my immediate thought. Even the NVA did not primarily use AK47...it was a mix of AK47s, various Chinese guns and French remnants (the latter largely in use by the VC).

If it's hippy themed, it's undoubtedly not referencing the actual NVA, so yes, I've got no idea where it's going with the reference.
 
#4 ·
I think what Mr. Jones the watchmaker is implying in his design is the peace/aggression cycle. I am not implying that the guns shown in the photograph are Russian, or that Kalashnikov rifles are American. In fact Kalashnikov improved on his original design in 1947 and it was produced under the designation AK-47, which was used by the Vietcong. In fact initially, the Americans were taken aback by the amount of firepower the Vietcong were able to wield against them with the AK-47, but that's another story. My point in showing the famous picture of the student placing flowers in the rifles of American Military Police in 1967 was just to illustrate where the flowers/guns analogy originally emanated.
 
#5 ·
By the way, I might add one other things about Crispin Jones is that unlike many designers of quartz watches he is genuinely interested in watches and their history. If you look at his vintage watch selection, which is part of his site, you'll see some detailed and knowledgeable writing. Also look at a few of his designs based on both astronomy and early methods of telling time at the dawn of the pocket watch era. As well as being a good designer, his watches also have some real horological interest to them too.
 
#9 · (Edited)
The VC did not primarily use AK47s. They used whatever they could get, including, in large part, older American and French weapons and they were well known for their use of recovered M16s. You're thinking of the NVA, which was much better equipped. The NVA used a combination of modern Russian and Chinese weaponry. That weaponry did eventually filter down in large scale to the VC but that's not the gun they were known for.

Regardless, the gun in the photo is certainly not an AK47. At a glance, I'd say an M14, but I'm no expert.

Now if you wanted to stroll down Vietnam today, you'd see some (not most) police carrying the AK47, but that's not a political or military thing.

Oh well, just my 2 cents. Going to leave it there.
 
#11 · (Edited)
The VC did not primarily use AK47s.

Regardless, the gun in the photo is certainly not an AK47. At a glance, I'd say an M14, but I'm no expert.
You are correct, you are not an expert and that is not an M-14.
I'm sorry I do not intend to be rude.

Here it is in the flag ( with Bayonet) of Mozambique.
 
#10 ·
I am not sure irony is the right word for these watches. Maybe dig the pretentiousness, dig the gaucheness, dig the lack of creativity, or even dig the fact that these watches are blatantly hoping to cash in on 1960's nostalgia through lazy marketing and design.
 
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#13 ·
I think there may be too much being made by the choice of gun in the watch - maybe they just picked the AK47 - if that's what it is - because it is the most recognizable profile for a gun in the world, and the outline works well visually and artistically, most notably because of the shape of the clip and stock and barrel, etc.
 
#15 ·
I see Mr Jones as a brand that's trying to do something different. There is an undeniable cohesiveness to the broad spectrum of his designs, and each of his watches tell an interesting story. Quartz or no, expensive or not, I would have thought the sheer spirit of effort from this design brand would have met a better reception in these parts.


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#16 ·
Mr.JONES?
I'm much interested with this...
 
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