Being an eighties kid and an incredibly geeky one at that, I pretty much grew up with games like Nintendo’s Super Mario and Taito’s Space Invaders. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw Romain Jerome referencing these video game icons. Of course being a humble journalist I could never afford one of these limited edition pieces but when I sat down with the CEO of Romain Jerome, Manuel Emch, he told me that the introduction of these pieces brought with it an entirely new set of collectors to the brand.
“Initially when we did the Space Invaders it was because our potential customers could emotionally attach themselves to this reference; but we quickly noticed that while we did touch this target audience, we also started getting attention from the generation that came after that, so today our target market has grown to the 20 to 40 years of age bracket.”
The 30 – 40 year old group bracket made sense as potential customers for the price point that Romain Jerome is offering these watches, however as Emch puts it, even the younger generation seems to have the means to afford these pieces. “Increasingly we are discovering that there are more and more young and successful entrepreneurs. There seems to be a change in the structure within our society thanks to the internet and social media. The whole capacity of creating successful businesses quickly also helps build a new customer base for us,” Emch explains with a grin.
So without further ado, here are the geek watches of Romain Jerome.
Released in Japan on 22 May 1980, PAC-MAN is one of the most successful arcade games of the 80s and is still played and enjoyed today. The second PAC-MAN watch features the star of the show and even the four legendary ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.
In honour of the game’s 30th Anniversary the watch features the essence of the original Super Mario Bros. game from 1985. On the dial Nintendo’s world famous plumber is cast in an 8-bit fashion exceptionally dressed in his recognisable red shirt and blue overalls.
In collaboration with the Taito Corporation the Space Invaders watch offers little ‘invaders’ that are meticulously machined one by one. They are then lacquered by hand in either white or coloured cold enamel, before being placed on the dial.
Released in June 1984 Tetris is a game designed by Alexey Pajitnov. On the dial, you’ll find a random sequence of the game’s signature Tetriminos, that have been gemset by hand in the center of the dial.