December 7, 2024

Architectural Concepts Guide

Elevating Home Design Standards

The B/1 by Toledano & Chan Brings Brutalism to Your Wrist

The B/1 by Toledano & Chan Brings Brutalism to Your Wrist

The tenets of Brutalism emphasize and elevate bare building materials for honest designs with intrinsic appeal in a celebration of the unadorned and monochromatic. While there are some show-off exceptions, the horological community shares a similar appreciation for truer expression and simpler form, with many timepieces revealing their inner workings. The B/1 wristwatch by Toledano & Chan takes that connection to another level, drawing significant inspiration from the principles of Brutalist architecture used as a plan to construct a fashionable signifier with modernist sensibility.

A Toledano & Chan B/1 wristwatch, featuring a silver band and a blue, rectangular dial with silver hour and minute hands, elegantly displayed on a wooden surface. Its brutalist design exudes modern sophistication.

Person wearing a blue shirt and jeans has their hand in their pocket and is donning a square-faced Toledano & Chan B/1 wristwatch with a blue dial, showcasing a touch of brutalist elegance.

Created by Phil Toledano with partner Alfred Chan, the B/1’s stark and angled case takes on an architectural element attributed to the revolutionary designs of the 1970s, specifically Marcel Breuer’s Met Breuer building in New York City.

A rectangular-faced Toledano & Chan B/1 wristwatch with a metallic strap and a blue starry dial, placed on a textured surface, exudes a subtle Brutalist elegance.

A wrist adorned with a silver metal Toledano & Chan B/1 wristwatch featuring a blue lapis lazuli dial and no markers, worn by a person in blue jeans.

The B/1 is also unique as a destro, a watch designed with the crown facing left. The intricate design of the watch, including its angular hour and minute hands, pays homage to the irregular and geometric forms found in both Brutalist architecture and the distinctive watches of the 1970s​.

Toledano, an artist and avid watch collector himself, says the Met Breuer’s intense, sculptural, and unified design elements are vividly reflected in the B/1. Where the New York Brutalist building is realized in concrete, its timepiece counterpart is stainless steel. The asymmetric bezel and crystal, alongside similarly chiseled hour and minute hands, mirrors the sharp angular shape of the building’s distinctive windows. A vibrant blue lapis lazuli dial creates fashionable contrast that, while certainly not Brutalist in nature, adds dazzling depth to the design.

Silver Toledano & Chan B/1 wristwatch with a rectangular blue speckled face, featuring minimalist hour and minute hands, displayed on a wooden surface. Its Brutalist design adds a striking touch to any setting.

The watch is powered by a Swiss-made Sellita SW100 automatic movement, ensuring that its bold design is matched by reliable performance​.

Close-up of a Brutalist Toledano & Chan B/1 wristwatch band with rectangular, brushed links arranged in a repeating pattern against a textured wooden background.

Close-up of a Brutalist metal watch band with the brand "Solids and Sons" engraved on it, placed on a wooden surface.

A Toledano & Chan B/1 wristwatch with a silver band and blue rectangular face, displayed on a black cushion inside a partially opened, weathered gray box, resting on a rustic wooden surface, embodies an understated brutalist elegance.

The B/1’s dimensions further reference its architectural inspiration. With a width of 33.5mm and a thickness varying between 9.10mm and 10.40mm, the watch features an angled case that plays with light and shadow, a vital visual element that Toledano credits to the Brutalist ethos. This celebration of form, function, and simplistic beauty cost the lucky few, who were able to snag one before it sold out, $4,000.

To shop the next drop launching at the beginning of 2025, visit toledanoandchan.com.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

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