Movado’s New Watches Are Works of Art

They’re the result of a partnership with artist Carmen Herrera.

Ashley Davis Ashley.Davis@nationaljeweler.com

Stainless steel 40 mm Swiss quartz movement timepieces with calfskin leather straps from Movado’s latest Artist Series collaboration with Carmen Herrera ($1,000)

New York—Movado has a new capsule collection in collaboration with artist Carmen Herrera.

It’s the latest in the watchmaker’s “Artist Series” limited edition collections.

Its first was in 1988 with Andy Warhol. Since then, Movado has worked with artists like Yaacov Agam, Pop Artist James Rosenquist, designer Max Bill, graffiti artist Kenny Scharf, and photographer Alexi Lubomirski.

Herrera is a 106-year-old Cuban-American artist. Originally trained as an architect, her abstract paintings and sculptures are minimalist musings on shape and color.

They’ve been presented in solo shows and are part of permanent collections at institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art.

A portion of the proceeds of Herrera’s capsule collection with Movado will benefit the Public Art Fund.

Previously in 2019, the Movado Group Foundation sponsored the Public Art Fund’s exhibition of Herrera’s first major outdoor sculptures, “Estructuras Monumentales,” in New York City’s City Hall Park.

Now, the Carmen Herrera x Movado Artist Series features five unique designs on Movado’s classic “Museum Dial” originally designed by artist Nathan George Horwitt in 1947. Each design is inspired by Herrera’s most famous works.

An early black and white painting Herrera created while living in Paris, “Untitled” (1952), now in MoMA’s collection, is the inspiration for one timepiece.

Two of the five limited edition timepieces from the Carmen Herrera collection. These 36 mm square-dial versions cost $1,000.

Another is the “Blanco y Verde” painting series completed between 1959 and 1971, as well as the “Estructuras” sculptures Herrera has created throughout her career. Select paintings from 1989 and 2016 also informed the designs.

“It was important to me that this collection represent work from throughout my career,” said Herrera in a press release from Movado.

“It is, after all, a design for a timepiece, and I was very conscious of the implications of that philosophical and challenging concept, as well as the history and prestige of the Movado brand. Movado has worked with many incredible artists, ranging from Max Bill to Andy Warhol, so it has been wonderful to work on this project. I’m delighted to see my designs come to life with the help of Movado’s talented team."

Born in 1915 in Havana, Cuba, Herrera’s early love of art was nurtured with private lessons from the age of 8, thanks to her parents.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Herrera lived, studied, and exhibited her work across France, the United States, and Cuba. She studied architecture at the Universidad de La Habana in Havana from 1938-1939 and trained at the Art Students League in New York City from 1942-1943.

She exhibited five times at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France between 1949 and 1953.

In 1954, Herrera moved to New York, where she still lives and works today.

Carmen Herrera; Courtesy Lisson Gallery. Photo by Jason Schmidt.

Public Art Fund’s Artistic and Executive Director and Chief Curator Nicholas Baume remarked, “The idea that an artist might just as well design a watch, a textile, or a piece of furniture as create a painting or sculpture is central to the ethos of modernism. How fitting that the legendary Carmen Herrera, an artist who began as a student of architecture in Havana in the late 1930s, should embrace the opportunity to collaborate with Movado.

“This dazzling series of watches embodies that modernist vision of the integration of great art and design into functional form and everyday life.”

There are only 100 editions of each of the five Herrera watches, all available on the Movado website.

Crafted in stainless steel with calfskin straps, the timepieces range from 36 mm to 40 mm and feature Swiss quartz movements. Two of the timepieces have square dials, while three feature round dials.

They retail for $1,000 each.

Seven special sets of all five timepieces with exclusive packaging have already sold out.