The perfect watches for Halloween: our memento mori collection
If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know that we like to think about time differently. All of our watches tell a story or make you think.
One theme that runs through many of our watches is the idea of memento mori: a Latin phrase which literally translates to ‘remember death’. Although it may sound morbid, we think it’s important to remember that life is short and we need to seize the moment.
Many of our customers love to wear our memento mori watches at Halloween (we’ve even had customers dress up like their watches in the past!)
Keep reading to find out which MJW designs you should be wearing this Halloween…
1) The Ambassador
The Ambassador watch was inspired by a painting named “The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein.
The skull in the Hans Holbein painting was created as a visual puzzle - the view of the skull was obstructed, meaning the viewer had to approach the painting from high on the right or low on the left, to be able to actually see it clearly.
Like the painting, the skull in the Ambassador watch is distorted and is only visible for a short time - every time the hour and minute hand align.
The remainder of the time the image is an abstract mix of colours and shapes.
See the watch here.
2) The Accurate XL
The hour hand reads "remember", the minute hand "you will die".
The dial and rim of the glass are mirrored, so when you look at your wrist, you see yourself in the watch face. (This is so that there is no ambiguity about who the message is aimed at!)
The design is also a play on the notion of accuracy in time keeping - this watch is accurate in a rather more fundamental sense than the traditional horological measures...
See the watch here.
3) The Last Laugh
The eyes and the nose of the skull are mirrored, to remind you of your own mortality.
Instead of hands, you need to check the skull’s teeth for the time: the upper teeth show the hours, and the lower teeth show the minutes.
The watch has a jump hour feature, so the hour flips in the top teeth, exactly on the 59>00 minute shift, blink and you’ll miss it!
See the watch here.
4) The Last Laugh Tattoo
This version of The Last Laugh features specially commissioned artwork by British tattoo artist Adrian Willard. Adrian described his inspiration for the design:
“the design comes from the Mexican Day of the Dead festival. The festival focuses on gathering to remember friends and family who have died.
Many gifts and offerings are handed out including sugar skulls that are given to both the living and the dead.
It has become a very popular image in the tattoo world over the years and has replaced the regular skull in the mainstream tattoo trends”.
Similarly to the Last Laugh watch, to read the time you need to check the skull’s teeth. The upper teeth show the hours, and the lower teeth show the minutes.
See the watch here.
Don’t forget to share your halloween wrist shots with us on social media, by using the hashtag: #mrjoneswatches