Movado Teams With 106-year-old Artist For New Watch Series

Movado has enlisted a 106-year-old Cuban-American artist to design the next edition of its Artist Series of watches.

Carmen Herrera — primarily a painter whose work is in the permanent collections of institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art — has leant her sense of color and linear style to Movado’s watches.

The company linked with Herrera in 2019, when the Movado Foundation sponsored Estructuras Monumentales, the artist’s first large-scale sculpture exhibition, organized by the Public Art Fund in New York City’s City Hall Park. Proceeds from sales of the Movado and Carmen Herrera watch collection will benefit the Public Art Fund.

“Carmen’s work is truly extraordinary, from our first sponsorship through Public Art Fund, it was clear the partnership was a natural fit. There’s a shared sense of modernism, an appreciation for clean lines, and bold, minimalist design. Culture is also something Carmen and I personally have common — we are both Cuban Americans. Her story, dedication to her craft, and enduring drive really resonated with me. We are proud to honor Herrera’s legacy and support Public Art Fund with this collection,” said Efraim Grinberg, chairman and chief executive officer of the Movado Group, who is also an enthusiastic art collector.

“It was important to me that this collection represent work from throughout my career. It is, after all, a design for a timepiece and I was very conscious of the implications of that philosophical and challenging concept.…The earliest work referenced is a black and white painting from 1952 that I painted during my time living in Paris. It is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which is a great honor for me. I also drew on works from my Estructuras series, which are my sculptural works that I first made in 1971, and the Blanco y Verde series that I completed between 1959 and 1971. I wanted to showcase more recent work as well so I chose one painting from 1989 and one from 2016. I like that one is symmetrical and the other is asymmetrical, contrasting balance and tension, color and form,” Herrera said of the works represented in her Movado designs.

Movado has produced 100 of each style, priced at $1,000 and exclusively available on Movado’s site. Additionally, Movado has created a run of 15 collectors sets, which include all five styles presented in keepsake packaging, priced at $5,500.