RICHARD Directime, Baschmakoff design, 1970s

— Wearing a future that already happened —

The 1970s, when watches were dreaming of the near future. LIP of France, under the name of the designer Prince François de Baschmakoff, proposed an idea radical enough to outlive the brand: throw away the hands and make the numerals themselves the subject. This Richard Directime stands in that line.

Rotating discs behind a wide crystal, and a determination to reinvent the act of reading time. Together with a solid, almost machined presence, it is space-age design taken about as far as it went.

— A poem of rotating minimalism —

Behind the wide crystal are three discs for hours, minutes and seconds. Reading the number a red pointer indicates gives the same lift as operating an instrument.

A dial with no hands is bold subtraction — blunter and stronger than present-day minimalism.

— A golden movement —

Behind the rugged exterior is the dependable Swiss automatic calibre A. Schild 1902. A beautifully gold-plated main plate and a precisely beating balance: what appears when the case is opened is a higher-grade movement, and proof that this is not merely a design object but a legitimate Swiss watch.

— A presence of its own —

Curves running from the case straight into the bracelet. Fine marks and small spots from age are the evidence of fifty years of survival, and part of the character.

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