Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome (RJ) has collaborated with Xoil to launch a watch inspired by the works of the French tattoo artist.

“Like street art, when tattooing is performed at a certain level, it becomes purely and simply art,” says Manuel Emch, CEO of RJ-Romain Jerome. “This is the case of Xoil, whom I met in 2014. He had just finished the customisation of a car, a world in which he seemed to be an outsider and yet fully belonged, having applied the full scope of his talent to it. He was in his bubble, almost anachronistic, with his ability to reinterpret his art in a modern world. Xoil takes his inspiration from an older aesthetic and gives it a determinedly contemporary feel. That is also what we do in watchmaking.” 

“The Tattoo-DNA by Xoil project,” he adds, “is a natural result of our union.”

The new Tattoo-DNA by Xoil is the latest addition to RJ’s Tatoo-DNA collection.

Xoil has applied his art on the model’s watch straps as an extension of his world. Inspired by nineteenth century imagery, the artist has created five worlds -  based on the themes of Belief, Balance, Feeling, Perception and Emotion - in which legendary animals and mythological figures are thrown alongside anatomical plates and esoteric symbols. 

Each of these worlds is tattooed onto a board of five leather straps, with the illustrations overlapping from one bracelet to another. The 25 pieces adorning the Tattoo-DNA by Xoil collection are therefore unique and part of a harmonious whole, Romain Jerome points out.

The enamel dial of the new 44-mm case timepiece echoes the many dials accumulated by Xoil, a fervent collector of curiosities. “As this is a highly classical aspect of watchmaking, very different from our identity, we didn’t want to approach it without making it our own,” explains Emch. “Many dials in Xoil’s collection were damaged and split. We decided to use them for inspiration and break our own, as we have always broken watchmaking conventions. It was the perfect continuation.”

The dial of the new watch has therefore been cut out with a water jet to reveal two separate and opposing parts. A Grand Feu enamel dial, decorated with Roman numerals and crafted in the watchmaking tradition, leaves room for a contemporary and skeletonised movement. Designed by RJ-Romain Jerome, the movement with right-angled bridges reveals the balance wheel at 6 o’clock, like a beating heart beneath tattooed skin.

The skeletonised small seconds ring, off-centred at 9 o’clock, was integrated into the dial to link the two worlds. And to accentuate the duality of the timepiece, Romain Jerome modernised the blue hands by shaping them like the needles Xoil uses for his tattoos.

To finish the timepiece, Romain Jerome’s four characteristic paws secure the case, complete with hollowed lugs where the strap tattooed by Xoil takes its place.

Tattoo-DNA by Xoil is made of black PVD-coated steel, and fitted with a black chrome skeleton movement. The RJ004-M movement is mounted on 21 jewels and beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per seconds, while offering 48 hours of power reserve. The sapphire case-back allows the wearer to admire the reverse side of the watch.

Priced at $24,500, the Tattoo-DNA by Xoil collection is limited to 25 pieces, each delivered with a certificate signed and numbered by the artist. 

Romain Jerome creates the watches of the new horological era. Whether through recovering steel from the Titanic or from the Apollo 11 spacecraft, mingling silver with moon dust or sculpting volcano lava, Romain Jerome asserts its iconoclastic spirit and electrifies tradition by celebrating contemporary legends. Its approach is characterised by a blend of raw character and elaborate refinement, drawing as much on the roar of an erupting volcano as on the writings of H G Wells.

A taste for an all-conquering spirit and visionary avant-gardism merge with the realm of the imagination in the Air, Earth, Sea or Collaborations collections. These worlds exalt contemporary horizons through a resolutely masculine and contemporary touch. From the ocean depths to the immensity of space, from incandescent lava to age-old minerals and metals, the collections are far more than just astonishing watches: they define a new era in watchmaking, sasy Roman Jerome.