Today we are gonna talk with one of the founders of Klokers. I have reviewed their first watch, the KLOK-01 which is an amazing looking watch and the design and thought that went into this watch is incredible. I still get a lot of compliments on the watch and had many offers from people all over Instagram and email that wanted to buy this one from me. Soon after this article, I will post another article where we will take a look at some accessories that Klokers sent me for the KLOK-01. Also this year their new model KLOK-08 is coming in fall and probably ( at least I hope 😀 ) I will have a chance to look at it too. But now let’s talk with Nicolas.
Here you can read full review of the Klokers KLOK-01
1. Introduce yourself
I am Nicolas Boutherin, co-founder, chairman and artistic director. I made my career in the field of communication, innovation and the media. As either an artistic director or general manager, I have worked in start-ups such as InVisio or in major groups such as Publicis or Canal+. An alternative idea of the concept of time emerged after lengthy research and after studying the works of the physicist Etienne Klein or the sociologist Hartmut Rosa: a new time was finally possible.
2. What started your watch passion?
For me, watchmaking is only a means of expression – to express the notion of time passing. But time has always been of great importance to me as it is directly linked to the world around us: physical, numerical and intellectual mobility, the rhythm of architecture, duration of a movement, the synchronicity of encounters, etc. That is how all has started a long time ago now.
3. What makes a good wristwatch to you?
In my opinion, a good wristwatch must be the expression of the time and the personality of the owner. The watch must also be useful in the daily life. The market made the watch an incidental object while it was a timepiece essential to daily life in the past. Klokers aims to put back some movement into the dial to reconsider the value of time and to realize time passing.
4. How did the Klokers watches start? The idea of rotating discs etc.
KLOK-01 is inspired by the circular slide rule, a once ubiquitous instrument employed for math operations. This was an analogue mechanical computer generally comprised of three scales, one of which slides between the other two. Klokers appeals to our memories and personal emotions. KLOK-01 is inspired by the circular slide rule, an object from the past, whose emblematic uses are still there buried away in the collective subconscious. In terms of design, this process is called ‘transitive design’.
5. What was the most difficult thing when creating the watch and the brand itself?
The most difficult thing about creating a watch is to make the vision comes true in reality. Manufacturing a watch such as KLOK-01 is a lot of precision and know-how to offer a great design, innovative uses and an affordable price considering the level of technology.
6. How much watches do you have in your personal collection? And maybe you could list them?
I’ve owned myself 7 watches until the creation of Klokers. I’m not a collector. Time has always interested me but much more in its social and anthropological dimension!
7. Who is your ideal customer?
My ideal customer is the one who constantly redefines the creative boundaries in his or her field. She or he is curious by nature and explores in various ways the world around her/him.
8. Tell about what you like to do outside of watches. Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I read a lot, I like books about sociology and neuroscience. I like films which tell the story of time passing such as Jonathan Nolan’s or Alejandro González Iñárritu’s ones. And finally, I do ultra-trail: thanks to extreme physical commitment, I can feel “out of time”.
9. How do you see Klokers watch brand in future?
I hope Klokers will be one of the expressions of time passing. Klokers is not only a watch brand but also a brand with a message and which offer temporal products to live one’s own time in all its aspects.
10. Are there any new watches coming anytime soon?
KLOK-08 recently launched on Kickstarter (ended up at more than €500,000), will be the 2018 novelties (coming in 5 colour dials), coming from Fall 2018. There will be new accessories too, all compatible and interchangeable with the already range. In the same way, you choose what to wear considering the agenda of the day, with Klokers, you can choose in your wardrobe the good Klokers products: watch-heads, straps, accessories, colours, ways of wearing it, etc… And play with time!
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