Larsson & Jennings: New York Take Over

Our Scandi love affair is showing no signs of abating. First by means of funky furniture design, then through addictively dark TV drama, now a Swedish / British collaboration is giving us timepieces to die for. And it’s an obsession that has crossed the Atlantic. In this case via London - Covent Garden to be precise.

Larsson & Jennings is an Anglo-Swedish label with a simple mission statement: to create contemporary watches, combining the classic British aesthetic with Swedish minimalistic design. Initially founded in 2012 by pals with a shared interest in watches - British born Andrew Jennings and Swedish Joakim Larsson – the pair hatched their watch plan while on a skiing holiday in Austria. Now with a flagship store established in London, the company has just opened its second outlet, a concept store, in bustling New York.

The clean and compact blue fronted shop is in Prince Street is everything a fashionable NYC outlet should be. Framed by classic red bricked tenement flats boasting a fire-escape ladder reminiscent of Friends, the shop interior presents a bright backdrop of whitewashed brick walls and stark white floor. And pride of place, in the centre of the space, lie a carefully selected display of watches on a sleek royal blue counter, itself hand built in Oxfordshire to replicate the minimal London store.

A bubble of contemporary calm, this is probably the one place in the city where the possibilities of choice won’t overwhelm you. But the quality probably will.


The Swiss made unisex watches fuse the modern and the traditional. The minimal watch faces in black and white are dominated by their Roman numeral centrepiece, and when coupled with an array of individual straps – quality leather, chain metal or bright fun canvas – create an exclusive design for the wearer. And they don’t just look good, they’re engineered to work well too. In fact functionality of design is key to the concept – if it’s not needed, it doesn’t go in.

And Larrson & Jennings have recently launched a collection of watches that use an automatic mechanism which - for the uninitiated in watch-workings like me - means they don’t need a battery. Powered by the movement of the user, the 100 hand-assembled mechanical parts work together in unison, powering the watches and allowing them to accurately keep time to within just seconds per day. Plus if they’re well looked after, they should last forever. This is impressive stuff.


The quote painted on the shop wall reads, ‘Where Classic Meets Contemporary. Where Minimalism Reigns.’ Manhattan’s neighbourhood of Nolita now has a cool new resident to contend with, intent on bringing some Anglo-Swedish style to the streets of New York.

And with a New York flagship store opening in Bleeker Street this spring it looks like the time has come for NYC residents to add a little British heritage and Scandinavian minimalism to their timepieces.


For more info on Larsson & Jennings head to www.larssonandjennings.com

Words by Bethany Minelle
www.journalisted.com/bethany-minelle
@Bethanyminelle

Photography Larsson and Jenning (press shots) and Oliver French
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