I frequently take the opportunity to praise watch manufacturers for their innovative use of materials or their attempts to create entirely unique pieces. But the products offered by Romain Jerome simply take the cake. I’m nearly wordless to describe what they’ve done.
Their historic DNA line provides something that no collector can be without. First I’ll introduce the more conventional one: a watch constructed of metal salvaged from the Titanic. That’s right: the storied, fated, sunken queen of the seas. Apparently, Romain Jerome bought up this precious metal at auction, treated it to halt the rusting process, and put it into their watches. Pieces will likely cost upwards of one hundred thousand dollars, but even at this price, there literally is nothing like it available on the market. Building history into a watch was sheer genius, and the product development guy (or gal) at Romain Jerome who thought this one up ought to get some kind of award.
So this was way back in 2007 or thereabouts. In 2009, thanks to the success of the Titanic line, the company introduced something even more spectacular. Metal from Apollo XI has been built into this latest historic DNA line. Even better, moon dust is sprinkled on the watch face, which itself is built to resemble the lunar surface. Using parts of the vehicle that helped achieve the greatest feat in humanity’s history is one thing, but to actually put moon dust on the piece gives it a tremendous dimension. There are only so many samples available from the moon, and most of this is sealed off in government labs for study. Most of us will never see, up close, a part of an entirely alien world, yet here is the chance to really own your own piece of it. With these two achievements behind it, I can’t even begin to imagine what’s next for Romain Jerome watches or what they will do in the future to top this. Whatever it is, other-worldly won’t do as a descriptor; they’ve already done that.
