The Memphis Group was founded in 1980 and had disbanded by 1987, but if you grew up in the 80s or 90s, the architecture and design firm?s work likely lives large in your memory, whether you realize it or not. In addition to building design, the Memphis Group created furniture, metal objects, ceramics, and more in a signature, colorful, and abstract style. It was hugely influential, and the group?s use of color and geometric shapes would eventually be widely copied throughout the 90s. The group?s founder, Ettore Scottsass, worked with Tissot in 1988 to create a watch in his design style, and the end result became something of an icon of the period. (Be sure to check out this article from 2019 on the auction of some rare Seikos designed by Scottsass for a look at another chapter in his history as a watch designer). Now, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Memphis Group, Tissot is bringing the style back with a modern take on the original design in a small collection of limited edition watches. Let?s take a look. 
For the new Memphis watches, Tissot is leaning into the motif of stacked geometric shapes that has always been a hallmark of this type of design. Each dial features a mixture of circular and rectangular hour markers that wouldn?t be out of place on a dive watch, but the hand stack is very much its own thing. The hour hand is a large rotating circle with a rectangle pointing at the correct hour, and it?s topped with a smaller circular d...