Latest Review
We’re about half a year removed from the release of Toledano & Chan’s b/1.3r, certainly the brand’s most ambitious release to date with a solid gold dial, subtly updated case construction, and their first “Swiss Made” designation. They’ve followed up that launch with their first collaboration with The Horologly Club, the Hong Kong based watch collecting community (which actually has members all over the world, including T&C cofounder Alfred Chan), just announced this morning. The new limited edition, which they’ve called the Breutalist, takes on a familiar form with some very specific design codes that fans of the brand will likely welcome.
The distinctive shape of Toledano & Chan’s watches have taken inspiration from the former Whitney Museum building, designed by Marcel Breuer, from the very beginning. The building is considered a masterpiece of Brutalism, an architectural discipline often cited as inspiration by watch designers, but rarely actually “getting it” in the way Toledano & Chan does (they ship their watches in concrete presentation boxes, which puts them miles ahead of other so-called Brutalist brands, in my opinion). The design of the iconic windows in that building, specifically, is what lends T&C’s watches their distinctive, asymmetrical shape, and informs the shape of the crystal, which has become a T&C calling card.
The idea behind the Breutalist is to be far more straightforward and literal in what it takes from Brutalism and Breuer’s design specifically. To that end, we get a watch and bracelet made entirely from bead blasted titanium, for the least ornamentation possible, meant to mirror the concrete of the Breuer building in the rawest possible way. And the dial is literally a mirror, with no indices or branding, providing a visually interesting contrast between the industrial surfaces of the case and bracelet and the comparatively pristine dial.
In terms of specs, the Breutalist is built on the same case and bracelet design as the b/1.3r from earlier this year, which means a 32mm by 30.6mm case that is 12.3mm thick inclusive of the sloping crystal. The watch runs on a Sellita SW100 automatic caliber, and is limited to just 15 pieces.
I was a pretty big fan of the way the b/1.3r wore on my wrist when we had one in the office for photography. It’s just marginally smaller than Toledano & Chan’s previous watches, but the changes are magnified due to the unusual shape of the case. In titanium, these watches wear a lot more comfortably than their somewhat severe angles would suggest, and while it’s certainly a bit of a cliché to say “you have to experience it on your wrist to truly understand,” in the case of an unusual watch like this, it’s just the truth.
The retail price of the new Breutalist is $7,500. Toledano & Chan
