Not Your Average Watch Story: How a Mysterious Artist, a Watchmaking Legend, and an Italian Watch Brand Came Together for a Unique Limited Edition
The world of watchmaking would be nothing without its stories. While quality is king, the stories give timepieces their soul. Sometimes it is how they are made, innovate, or pushed to the limit, but in other cases, it is how they came to live.
The story starts in Switzerland with the birth of Karl Schmid in 1914. His path through life would become a remarkable one, illustrated by incredible talent, a strong character, and a deep modesty. That last one also explains why there is not that much information to find about an artist whose qualities easily match those of the art world's greatest. While Schmid excelled during his carpentry apprenticeship, his interests were broader. He combined high school classes in the evening with anatomy lessons during the day. The sketches that he made there caught the attention of Dr. Clairmont, a world-renowned surgeon and professor at the University of Zurich. His talent for capturing the subject in great detail earned Schmid a job as a scientific illustrator. In those days, these images were vital to explaining and teaching medical procedures, and the quality of Schmid's work was so exceptional that his illustrations soon found their way into published textbooks.
Walter Gropius, the pioneer of modern architecture and founder of the famed Bauhaus School, took note of Schmid's work and offered him a teaching position at Harvard. To his disappointment, Schmid declined, not wanting to leave Switzerland, where he took care of his daughter. Convinced by his talent, Gropius recommended Schmid for a teaching position at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich, which he accepted. There, he played an important role in shaping Switzerland's next generation of artists.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Schmid was that during his teaching years, he did not discuss or show any of his own work to his students. He wanted to be part of their journey as their instructor in techniques and approach, but influence them with his own creations. In fact, Schmid was quite reluctant to share his work with the world anyway, hardly ever exhibiting and only selling his work to collectors who just happened to be able to find him and had the determination to convince him to sell one of his pieces. What makes this even more remarkable is that Schmid was not only a very productive artist, but he also excelled in a wide variety of fields, from watercolors to woodcuts, and from sculptures to murals. Of those latter, many of them can still be found in (semi) public places all over Zurich.
Enter, Oliver Ike. In the world of watches, Ike enjoys an esteemed reputation. As the founder of Ikepod, he joined forces with legendary designer Marc Newson and created a collection of innovative and futuristic watches. Ike's introduction to the work of Schmid was based on a coincidence, or was it fate? At an appointment in Switzerland, he made the acquaintance of one of Schmid's heirs. She showed Ike a vast body of different work that was part of Schmid's legacy, the majority of which has yet to be discovered by the world. Captivated by the unique qualities and diversity of Schmid's work, Ike felt an immediate passion that would result in founding the Karl Schmid Foundation.
While Ike hasn't been involved in the company he founded for many years, the watch world has not forgotten him. Among them, Pieter van Geet, one of the co-founders of Ligure. A connection and conversation on LinkedIn turned into a collaboration, as Van Geet quickly shared Ike's fascination for Schmid's work. That opened the door to the real challenge: how to translate Schmid's work into one of Ligure's watches. That task fell to Jannieke van Geet, co-founder of Ligure and the designer of the brand. While Schmid worked with a wide variety of different materials during his life, his focus has always been to create art. He was not unlike Marc Newson, a designer who created highly artistic objects for practical use. While this might have complicated things for some, it gave Jannieke van Geet a clean slate to interpret Schmid's work that way. She saw an opportunity to connect his world with the diving watches of Ligure based on color and pattern. This turned into Ligure Karl Schmid, which is limited to just 88 pieces.
Van Geet used the Ligure Tartaruga (of which I reviewed the silver dial version here) with a blue bezel as a base. This color is already present in some of Schmid's works, like his 'Spirituelles Werk,' most notably the version he painted in enamel on a round metal plate in 1988. There, he also combined the blue with different tones of red, another color Ligure uses in their designs, most notably for the brand's logo. The clever interpretation of the triangles, a recurring shape in Schmid's work, resulted in a very expressive version of the Tartaruga. What is most unique is the organic way that Schmid's work is integrated into what is still a very robust and capable dive watch. They strengthen each other, thanks to Ligure's high-end approach to the dial. Not only did they work their way through several prototypes to get the colors just right, but the execution of the dial also gives it a sense of being a mosaic. Together with the pattern, this creates a unique sense of depth.
Dive watches are often not chosen for artistic expression, but Ligure shows with the Karl Schmid Limited Edition that when done with care and dedication, the result can be remarkable. The wide variety of blue hues also underscores this watch's passion for water. The 41mm and 20ATM/200 meter water resistant case resembles the organic shape of a turtle shell, making it sit very sturdy yet comfortably on the wrist. The screw-in crown also plays its part in this, being tucked away at the four o'clock position. The Ligure Karl Schmid Limited Edition comes on the brand's superb stainless steel bracelet, with its robust clasp and integrated divers extension. In case you need another dash of blue, a quick release system allows you to change to one of the Ligure straps in a matter of seconds.
This Ligure is powered by the Sellita SW 200 automatic movement, which features a date function that Van Geet nicely integrated into the three o'clock hour marker. Ligure takes the classic approach to divers' watches when it comes to the caseback. Instead of showing the movement, there is a robust closed caseback made from stainless steel. Engraved is the Karl Schmid 'logo' along with the unique number of the limited edition watch. Included with the purchase of the watch, which is priced at €1,888, is a one-year subscription to the renowned Du art magazine, so that you get to enjoy the unique world of Karl Schmid from both the comfort of your living room, as well as during some underwater exploration.
For more info, visit Ligure, here.
