There?s a storied history of non-watch companies making the foray into the watch world. Montblanc, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co. Some of them are even quite good?the Hermès H08, for example, is simply stunning and unlike anything else on the market. But none of these forays into watchmaking is quite as quirky, quite as unexpected, or quite as downright amusing as the LEGO Watch System.
I discovered the LEGO Watch System, and specifically those released in 2013 which after some research seem to be the best since LEGO launched the product in 1996, on January 28, National LEGO Day, as luck would have it, through a random recommended post on Instagram. The 2013 LEGO Watch System was produced for adults, unlike its predecessors?no Nexo Knights minifigures included with these. The designs ranged from zero LEGO design references?like a black and yellow dial with arabic numerals that just featured the LEGO logo?to those with subtle LEGO design cues?such as the models with two-stud LEGO pieces for indices?to models that wanted zero confusion about who made these watches?like the model that features a pirate skull and crossbones made out of LEGO bricks or the one that?s just a big LEGO minifig face in the middle of the dial.
Uniting all of these disparate aesthetics is a modular design that lets you switch and swap parts. The bezels, straps or bracelets and their links are all interchangeable, giving owners increased customization over their timepieces. Powered by a Japanese q...