While some brands regularly take the collaborative approach, this hasn’t been the case for Dennison. Its first co-designed model came to us just about a year ago when the Maison first teamed up with Collectability, the brainchild of Patek Philippe expert and horological icon John Reardon. The pair’s initial offering achieved an impressive balance of design language. It combined some clear inspiration from Patek’s Ellipse as well as some of the brand’s lesser-known models with elements of the collection that revived Dennison in the modern era – the A.L.D. – developed by acclaimed watch designer Emmanuel Gueit, whose resume includes the Rolex 1908, Harry Winston Z1, and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore. The duo has just spun up its second collaboration, available for pre-order for one week only, beginning today through June 3.
If you didn’t immediately click over to place an order, and you’re still with me, let’s unpack these latest additions. The new Oblique collection certainly has echoes of the original co-design but with a little bit more edge. The pair’s inaugural offering was relatively classic and timeless whereas the latest interpretations are a bit more modern and sculptural. This time, Dennison and Collectability give us two variations: the bold Enigma dial and the more sober Vector dial. In both iterations, the brands lean further into the funky design language that began emerging in the 1960s with asymmetry being a focus.
Here, the familiar Dennison case shape we saw in the first collaboration and recurs in the Maison’s own core catalog serves as the canvas, this time measuring roughly 35.0mm x 33.6mm. In both the Enigma and Vector versions, you get the choice of a case rendered in classic stainless steel or gold PVD. However, this time, we get the contrast of an asymmetric dial in both subsets of the Oblique line. Now, let’s break down some of the key differences.
The Enigma is the duo’s most daring design yet with its interplay of geometry and color. The focus remains on the signature rectangular shape, morphed and reconfigured to form a pair of offset, concentric rectangles on the dial. With green on the exterior and blue on the interior, the combination gives the dial a subtle two-tone appearance. As one final bit of visual interest, the asymmetry of the arrangement paired with the orientation of the sunburst dials pulls the eye in different directions and encourages your gaze to move around the dial, particularly when playing with the light. Lastly, for these two, the dial colors and blue embossed leather straps remain consistent across both iterations, with the only difference being the case material.
While the Vector is certainly a bit more restrained, it still incorporates the same offset rectangular dial cutout. With this design, we still get that beautiful sense of movement on the dial thanks to 12 lines radiating from the central hours and minutes point, evoking a star or snowflake shape and pulling the gaze outward toward the periphery. Here, we get two more distinct versions that vary not only by case material but also by dial and strap color. Both variations offer a sleek monochromatic look with the stainless steel featuring a silver dial and the gold PVD featuring a gold dial. The stainless steel is topped off with the same blue embossed leather strap as the two Enigma models whereas the gold PVD offers a bit more elevated appearance with a rich brown embossed leather strap.
Each of the four variations is priced at $790 and available for pre-order beginning today through June 3 with more information available directly through Dennison.
