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Many of us who enjoy watches love them for more than just their ability to tell time. Yes, natch, that is a primary function, but beyond the purpose many wristwatches can be considered works of art on many different levels. Whether it is from a complicated dial design or a case made from rare materials to simply looking at the mechanical movement through a display back, watches as art is not a new concept. However, there are those watch-nerds who take the concept to another level.
Colorado based watch-nerd Brad Click sees watches as art like many of us do, but takes it one step further and literally turns them into one-of-a-kind pieces of art. You see, Brad himself is an artist and for a while now has been painting commissioned pieces for people who want to immortalize their appreciation of a timepiece via a painting of said watch. Having seen some of his work appear on a popular watch forum I wanted to know a bit more about his creations.
Brad’s desire to create via his drawing stems from his childhood, where he would draw his Star Wars figures or whatever was on the television that captured his attention. Basically, if it was cool for a kid in the 70’s & 80’s, he was drawing it. It was so engraved in his DNA that there was never any consideration for doing anything else other than art. He attended art colleges in Ohio and Colorado during the pre-computer graphics era and has worked in the design field and has sold his own pieces through shows, galleries and word of mouth. It wasn’t until recently, however, had he considered drawing a watch, even though he himself was a collector. It took coffee to combine his two interests.
While at a favorite cafe having coffee the gentleman sitting next to him began chatting about Brad’s drawing. Brad had seen the gent in the establishment before and had always noticed his Panerai, but had never approached him about it. With the ice broken Brad turned the conversation to watches and eventually he asked to do a sketch of the watch. That got the ball rolling. A week later he did the same watch in watercolor and from there he began to build his watch wish list in paintings. At first it was all for his own internal consumption as a personal diary in art. When he bought a Tsunami from Noah Fuller he sent a painting of the watch as a gift for the work done on the watch; this was the first of his paintings to be seen in the wild.
After his Tsunami artwork was seen Brad began to get requests for specific pieces and has kept up a steady stream. He has done watch artwork for a number of members of the PMWf, a fund-raiser as well as a full color set of Berhardt models for the brand’s owner. As one can see from his examples that he brings some funky-vibrance to these pieces that really makes them stand out.
If you have a favorite piece you would like to immortalize in a painting hit up Brad via bradclick.com. You too could own a one of a kind original to enjoy on your wall while you enjoy the watch on your wrist.
