technomarine chronograph raft watch

Just 18 months after taking the helm with huge promises, the romance between Vincent Perriard (formerly Concord) and Technomarine is over.? It was just last July when I first wrote about Perriard coming to Technomarine to re-ignite the brand in close efforts with Christian Viros (formerly TAG Heuer).? From the get-go, Perriard came with big promises, nee – a GUARANTEE of a new era for the troubled brand.? You can read some of this big talk in a Dec’09 interview with Perriard by my watch friends at The Watch Lounge.“Expect the unexpected” Perriard said.? I’m just not sure this “unexpected” he had in mind!? I don’t know much and won’t speculate on the ‘why’, but I will say that whatever the circumstances of this departure, this does not reflect well upon Perriard nor Technomarine.Good work by he who is always in the know” (aka Gregory Pons of Business Montres (en francais)) on this scoop!

If TechnoMarine's desire was to catch my attention and maintain my curious observation with (what I think is) their holiday card - then they have succeeded. The brand best known for their late 1990s act of "breaking taboos" and mixing plastic with diamonds has been quietly undergoing a transformation over the last few months under new direction by Vincent Perriard, formerly of Concord watches. While I didn't always agree with the design direction at Concord while Perriard was at the helm, he did supremely succeed in getting the world's attention. Whether you liked or disliked the new Concord, at least you knew about it. While Concord was very upscale and highly limited, TechnoMarine is a company with higher volumes in mind. As such I am extremely curious to see what the brand will offer with its newest watches when they are to be unveiled in March 2010. In the above image you can see a blizzard obscured (thank you cold winter of Photoshop) new TechnoMarine watch design. Black and blue mixes comfortably in a watch that seems to suggest the brand identity well. Aside from this, I know nothing yet about this new chronograph dive watch. What I do know, is that I don't quite understand the holiday message. But it sounds awfully fun, and I'd smile if I heard it come from a TechnoMarine office worker's intoxicated optimistic new year's greeting, while attending some fantasy company holiday party they may have had. Happy "marine time" to you too TechnoMarine, see you in 2010. Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.