There are new crazes in the fashion world all the time and latest one to smack on to UK scene is the brand of watches, Toy Watch and their particular product Toy Watch Fluo.
Essentially, they are a fairly low-cost version of a Rolex with a hint of Swatch in there too. They have the fashion credentials of being Italian designed, and by designers who are passionate about ostentatious watches.
Toy Watch use the impressive Miyota Quartz Movement (mechanical and wind on kinetic energy from your movement) and have been described by Toy Watch stockists as “indispensable” and “pioneering”. They are built using a variety of materials like the classic that is steel to the strong and light Plastermic, such as with the Toy Watch Fluo.
They have also been making a big stir on the celebrity scene with a number of high profile celebrities having been spotted wearing them including Madonna, Al Gore(!) Lily Allen, Heidi Montag (to name a few) and most notably Oprah Winfrey who on her annual Favourite Things Christmas show, made a point of highlighting Toy Watch models as hits with her. It wasn’t in fact the popular Toy Watch Fluo that caught her attention, but the Crystal and Coloured Crystal models.
Of the Toy Watch she said, “I loved mine so much, I wore it just about every day on my big road trip with Gayle”.
It makes no surprise that this one comment and promotion of Toy Watch has sent us “ordinary folk” crazy for it, as we respect the views of mega-celebrities and don’t want to be seen as a sheep that is not following the flock!
Perhaps I am looking at this to cynically? They are good watches and I admit they do look good too!
I think part of my issue, is the influence of celebrities on the rest of the Western world, which I have never thought as proactive on their part. The other part of the issue is the statement they make regards money and status, which is summed up the best when looking at their range, which is aptly named the “Money Collection”.
Better than the Toy Watch Fluo, this collection associates the image of its new Money Collection to a universal symbol: the dollar. Obviously synonymous with u, power and the supposed ultimate goal in man’s quest for happiness, and it is this iconography that I have a problem with.
However, there is another side to Toy Watch and they cannot be blamed for the workings of our society. They have created a Limited Edition watch for charity; Keep A Child Alive (KCA), which have the words ‘Time To Love’ on the back and about 50% of the profits from each sale will go to KCA – you can’t argue with that.
Despite all the hype though, are they all that?
Well probably not in the scheme of world peace; but if you want a cheaper alternative to what would normally be a very expensive collection of cogs and springs; are fashion conscious and occasionally would like to know what time it is, then the Toy Watch and especially the Toy Watch Fluo would probably be the one for you.