One of the great things about studying art at university was the diverse range of people I met. I originally trained as an illustrator and practised as a freelance artist for many years. However, at the time (early 1990’s) commercial art was precarious and payment terms were terrible. Ultimately, that is why many of my former student friends diversified. One of the main areas was animation, which was a huge growth area. Certainly over the last 30-years technology has advanced exponentially in the television, film and games industry. That is why I was interested to hear that micro-watch brand Lytt Labs have just collaborated with London based artist/animator Koby Martin.
Koby Martin originates from Ghana and is synonymous for his bright coloured digital and traditional paintings. His vibrant, spontaneous style has gained him recognition on a global scale. In the last few years, he worked with brands like Adidas, Bacardi, Google, Bacardi, Adidas, Mercedes, Motorola, Nike and several prominent record labels. For his latest project, he has worked on miniature scale watch dials for cool micro brand Lytt Labs.
A few years ago I tested the fantastic Inception Code Red and was impressed with the overall quality. Recently Lytt Labs released a new updated version called Inception V1.1. Notable revisions include bolder luminous numerals, arrow indicators and distinctive brand logo. This model is the platform for their collaboration with Koby Martin. Effectively, they have produced five unique watches with individual hand-painted dials with interesting names (Burning Bush, Fiery Furnace, Mount Sinai, Northern Star, Walk on Water). Each of the timepieces is unique 1/1 piece of art and was released on the company’s website 19th November priced $1,800.
If you miss out on purchasing one of the five Koby Martin editions (which have probably already sold out at the time of publication) I would definitely consider investing in the Inception V1.1. Lytt Labs generously send me the distinctive gunmetal model so I appreciate the subtle refinements. Effectively the essence and overall architecture of the watch has remained the same but somehow it appears sharper. For $849 this timepiece is very competitively priced considering the Avant-Garde aesthetic.
For more information about the Inception V1.1 and Koby Martin, Limited Editions follow this link
