News 2010 - Über a.b.art

a.b.art:
News 2010
Series ZS – elegant beauty
Series O and OC – mysteriously black
Flat, small, fine, elegant, with sapphire glass, but still with the popular
After last year’s success of the stainless steel version of series O and
interchangeable strap – that’s the re-design of series Z. The new ladies
OC we are now introducing to the market two models of the series
size series by a.b.art has the denotation ZS, and it replaces the series
in all black. Model O 150 with its 31-hole date indicator, black PVD
Z. With its straightforward shape and puristical design our creative team
case, black dial with red and white imprint and the a.b.art chronograph
has come up with an almost graceful bijou wherein the a.b.art creed is
OC in the same finish will bring a smile to the face of any fan of good
clearly reflected. Whether small and square or rectangular vertical or ho-
design. Another distinction of both models is the well-balanced sym-
rizontal, a.b.art has with its ladies series E, ES, I and now ZS a designer
biosis of elegance, dynamics and sportiness. The O 150 has a 13¼
watch for every taste. The new series has a steel case with a 33 × 16 mm
line ETA quartz movement F07.111 and the OC 150 a Ronda quartz
strap-holding lug, sapphire crystal and Ronda quartz movement RQ 751.
movement 5030 D. Both watches’ diameter is 40.5 mm and the width
The ZS models are available in three different dial colors (white silver,
of the strap is 21 mm.
black, red) with a choice of 12 different color interchangeable straps.
ZS 101
O 150
OC 150
Series KLD – classical understatement
ContaCt
Series KLD with its 8 new models is a continuation of the most classical
For more information, please contact:
of all a.b.art creations: the series KL. Unlike in series KL we’ve focused in
all eight dial designs of series KLD on easy readability of the time through
◾ François Zahnd, [email protected], General Manager
either indexes or numbers and on placement of the date at 6 h or on a
31-hole date indication. No change from series KL has been made in
the diameter of 38 mm, the stainless steel case with sapphire glass and
the width of the strap of 20 mm. We’ve used an ETA quartz movement
F07.111 in series KLD 101 and KLD 102 (with 31-hole date indicator)
and a Ronda quartz movement RQ 715 in series KLD 103 to KLD 108.
The new series KLD is available with either the well-liked a.b.art calfskin
strap or with the braided a.b.art Milanaise stainless steel bracelet.
KLD 106
fashiontime ltd
Alexander Moser-Strasse 76
CH-2503 Biel
Tel. +41 ( 0 ) 32 397 01 01
Fax +41 ( 0 ) 32 397 01 97
[email protected]
www.abartwatches.com
a.b.art:
authentic and basic art
Creed
Management
a.b.art Swiss Made is a watch brand for women and men who prefer
The company a.b.art fashiontime ltd is a small and well-rehearsed team
unostentatious design. a.b.art is different, a.b.art is authentic. We’re not
of specialists trying to advance the a.b.art label in small steps by passio-
about glitter and glamour but much rather about sophisticated beauty,
nately committing to it with their heart and soul. The Swiss company with
low-key shapes and materials as well as high Swiss quality. a.b.art is
its flat hierarchy structure is dynamically lead by the following members
an expression of the passion and care with which watches are being
of the extended management team:
produced in this Swiss company day in and day out. a.b.art deliberately
works without well-known product designers, but instead trusts its own
◾ François Zahnd, General Manager
internal creative team to design all collections with know-how and me-
◾ Daniel Etter, Manager Marketing and Communication
ticulousness. a.b.art – authentic and basic art.
◾ Stefan Geringer, Head of Sales
History
groWTH
In 1991, the designer Alexander Burhans created the a.b.art watch label
There has been a lot of activity to raise the brand awareness and to con-
in Germany after having opened a jewelry and watches specialty store
tinuously enlarge the distribution net since the integration of a.b.art into
in Freiburg i. B. a couple of years earlier, in 1989. In retrospect, this first
fashiontime ltd company at the end of 2003. Not only did we massively
step into the world of puristical design can be seen as the actual birth
expand in our main markets Germany and Switzerland in the last few
hour of the watch label. a.b.art grew rapidly. At the end of the 90’s, more
years, but we also established new and interesting distribution organi-
than 10,000 a.b.art watches were being sold every year in the two main
zations in countries like the Netherlands, England, South Korea, Japan,
markets Germany and Switzerland as well as in Belgium, Norway and
Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Turkey, Mexico and China. In several
the USA. Due to this whirlwind development, a.b.art was integrated into
countries the distribution is directly managed by headquarters, which
fashiontime ltd in 2003, which set the course for international growth.
enables a.b.art to let substantiated feedback flow into the label’s deve-
From the beginning, this Swiss private label watch producer, founded
lopment and quality assurance. And with the increased expansion and
in 1986 and located in Biel, the watch capital of the world, had been
tight structuring of the a.b.art collection, more than 22,000 a.b.art time-
involved in the production of a.b.art. This take-over by the Swiss made
pieces per year are now produced at the Swiss watch producer’s from
the originally German watch brand a.b.art automatically a Swiss Made
Biel … and this is only the beginning of the success.
label. Besides the production of all a.b.art timepieces, fashiontime is now
responsible for their marketing, communication and distribution, too.
The design team
Befitting the a.b.art brand philosophy, which considers restraint, authenticity and unassumingness as important factors in the developing
process of our watches, the design of our a.b.art collection is not one
single person’s work but the achievement of different people with different professional expertise. Under the leadership of François Zahnd
(CEO and Watch Manufacturer) Reto Wahli (Designer) and Daniel Etter
(Communications Expert) complete the team. In recurring creative workshops all inputs are discussed, which guarantees careful step-for-step
development of each design.
Model development up to today
Only the classical series K is left from the original 2003 base collection
with its leader models A and T. As of late a lot of time and effort has been
invested in the segmenting and structuring of the collection.
2005
Launch of two angular ladies’ size watches, the series Z and E. The series Z is distinguished by its rectangular shape and the interchangeable
colored straps. The series E, one of the most sold models of the a.b.art
collection, captivates for its flat and square shape.
Series Z
Series E
Series D
Series M
Series ES
Series EL
Series KL
Series MM
2006
Presentation of the series D and M. Series D is an understated, round
ladies’ size watch with integrated leather strap. Series M is actually a
men’s watch in a low-key, timeless design which is well liked by women
as well.
2007
Extension of the leader model E by adding a smaller version, series ES
(E small), and a larger version, series EL (E large). We added series KL
(K large) to the classical series K and launched the first mechanical hand
wind a.b.art watch, the stainless steel series MM, based on the legendary pocket watch movement Unitas 6498-1.
2008
Continuation of the MM line with a black and a gilded (PVD Vacuum Plating) case as well as a superluminova dial version. Introduction of series
I, a small, rectangular baguette watch exclusively for women, and launch
of the smallest K version, series KS.
Series MM
Series I
Series KS
2009
Launch of series O and OC, which have the same cylindrical case. The
successful 31-hole date indication first seen in our series A is being
reintroduced in series O, while series OC is a 12-hour chronograph.
Launch of the first mechanical a.b.art automat, series OA, with an ETA
movement 2824-2.
Series O
Series O
Series OC
Series OA
Series O
Series OC
2010
Launch of series ZS – an actual re-design of series Z: flatter, finer, smaller
and more delicate, but still with the popular interchangeable strap. And
creation of series KLD (KL with date indicator) and continuation of the
classic series K. Extension of the series O and OC with completely black
models (PVD).
Series KLD
Series ZS
Awards
Knowing that the watch label has received a FORM 99 award in Germany in 1999 for three of its models makes it obvious that the a.b.art collection has highest design standards. Back then one of the series awarded
a prize was series A with the 31-hole date indication, which, even though
not in our collection anymore, is still a part of permanent collections in several well-known museum shops , e.g. the MOMA in New York. In 2008
the German National Confederations of Skilled Crafts chose two a.b.art
EL 106
I 101
models, EL 106 and I 101, and awarded them a FORM 08 certificate.
In 2009 the series O 101 with the 31-hole date indication has been
awarded the well sought after red dot design award 2009 and the same
model is nominated for the German Design Prize 2010.
O 101
Quality assurance
The admittance to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH in the
spring of 2007 means another big step to assure high quality products
and is another commitment to Swiss Made production. With this development comes our need to further structure and tighten our a.b.art
collection. A first step in this direction was made at the end of 2008
with the finishing of all our a.b.art series with sapphire glasses and the
development of our own a.b.art steel bangle as an alternative to our
leather straps.
Contact
For more information, please contact:
◾ François Zahnd, [email protected], General Manager
fashiontime ltd
Alexander Moser-Strasse 76
CH-2503 Biel
Tel. +41 ( 0 ) 32 397 01 01
Fax +41 ( 0 ) 32 397 01 97
[email protected]
www.abartwatches.com