Disclaimer: this article/video was not sponsored by Dietrich or any other entity.
Dietrich: https://dietrich.com/ & https://www.instagram.com/emmanueldietrich/
Matt-Smith Johnson: http://www.sentientcreative.ca/work/ & https://www.instagram.com/teenage.grandpa/
Video
I’ve been a fan of @emmanueldietrich’s designs since discovering his watch brand many years ago. The @dietrich_watches brand is just one piece of his entire design portfolio, and his work spans many design disciplines. But what I most enjoy are his biomorphic designs which I think are best expressed in watches such as the Dietrich Device 1 (DD1), various iterations of the Organic Time series, the impressive but rarely seen Perception, and the Time Companion line.
Among them I found the Time Companion series to be an exciting one as it took on the integrated bracelet sports watch genre and managed to impart its own identity to a watch that manages to draw inspiration from the past (such as the Credor Locomotive KEH018, said to have been developed by Gerald Genta in 1979), but also assimilating the hexagonal design motif into Dietrich’s own style of biomorphic design.
And when I became aware of the TC-Pure collaboration he did with Matt Smith-Johnson (@teenage.grandpa), another designer whose work I enjoy, I knew I had to have it. Many years later, I’m glad to finally get hold of one of these pieces, and I couldn’t be happier.
I particularly like the design of the bracelet (even though its rigid construction makes it unfriendly to small wrists), and the hexagonal motif continuing from the case to the links. The monochromatic color palette of this version also allows the case and dial finishing styles to really stand out.
While the case measures 42mm, it tends to look like a 39mm watch on wrist. But as previously stated, the rigid links lack the articulation needed to support smaller wrists. I wouldn’t be able to recommend this watch for anyone with a wrist size smaller than 6.5-6.75″, which is a real shame since the case would have been suitable for a lot of small wrists too. Dietrich did recognize this and released a much more flexible and comfortable bracelet for their Skin Diver series, which I have also reviewed (Skin Diver SD-1, Skin Diver SD-2).
The attention to detail on the dial is excellent, and I’m particularly impressed by how almost all design elements have the hexagonal motif baked into them somehow. Even the seconds hand pip gets a hexagon!
To wrap this up – I think this was an excellent design and I am glad to finally own it. I would like to see Dietrich get back into the watch design game, and I hope that Emmanuel channels some of the design eccentricity of older models such as these to bring to his next pieces.
