1/2/2024 0 Comments Corum coin watch hunter case![]() ![]() The idea spawned various iterations, including a bejewelled skull, another in greenish patinated bronze, as well as a fabulous engraved version that lassoed in tattooing, yet another martial tradition. The skull motif was also used to strike fear in the heart of the ships they pursued, sometimes pillaging for the state and at other times for personal gain.īell & Ross took its most famous watch case, the square BR 01, and fitted it with a skull-shaped dial and bezel. As life on the high seas brought together pirates from far and wide who spoke different tongues, the Jolly Roger became the uniform symbol that transcended national origin and united them. They adopted the skull and crossbones, better known as the Jolly Roger, which emerged during the golden age of piracy. Where contemporary art and fashion go, so does modern watchmaking.Īn unlikely but nevertheless striking series of skull watches come from the French maker of aviation-inspired timepieces, Bell & Ross. And then there’s the diamond-encrusted sculpture by Damien Hirst, which has a nine figure price tag even a Queen would struggle to stomach. It’s found on the fashions of Alexander McQueen, whose skull scarves were sold out all over the world after his suicide, to the ungraceful clothing of Philipp Plein. And as with so many other pop culture motifs, the skull has become something expensive, to a point of being emptied of its meaning. Today, the skull has been appropriated by myriad constiuencies for varying purposes, becoming a part of pop culture. Youth and street culture has taken it as an emblems of defiance rather than dread, and so have biker gangs as well as a series of musical genres, from punk to heavy metal and death metal. Another apocryphal tale propounds that it was given away during the period of mourning after the death of her first husband, King Francis II of France. As with well-worn stories from centuries ago, it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction, but the lurid image of Mary spending her final days pondering the hollow eyes of her skull watch is matched only by her actual beheading, which took a particularly inept executioner a horrifying three strokes to complete. ![]() The gruesome tales surrounding the watch, however, are dubious at best, with a popular account suggesting that before Queen Mary was beheaded for treason in 1587 at the order of her cousin Elizabeth I, she gave the watch to one of her ladies-in-waiting. ![]() (Image: Victoria and Albert Museum, London) And this was also a time when the Catholic Church itself, possessed of both wealth and influence, became a contested turf, resulting in endless religious conflict and political unrest. The great powers of the day, France and England, fought over the French throne in a series of long, deadly wars, known collectively as the Hundred Years’ War. ![]() That misery was compounded by ceaseless conflict. Disease was common, but none more famous than the plague pandemic of the 14th century, with recurrent outbreaks persisting for the next 400 years. Skull watches were in a sense futile, since life in the medieval Europe was brutish and short, averaging just 40 years. That notion was later to gain tangible form with the creation of skull watches, embodying the idea that death drew closer with each passing tick. Striking mechanisms were added to watches for practical purposes, and presumably to remind the wearer of time’s passage. While the invention of the pocket watch in the 16th century brought reasonably exact time measurement into the daily life of those who could afford such timekeepers, it also cultivated a deeper awareness of the brevity of life amongst the broader population. Share Facebook Linkedin Twitter Weibo Instagram ![]()
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