Posted by Today advertisement is often glossy colourful magazines, high-resolution photos, celebrities, social media…
Showing the watch in a luxury setting or zoomed in details of the watch in focus…
This was not always the case…
Not only for Jaeger-LeCoultre, many other brands as well… It was more of creating a feeling than focusing on a specific watch!
Back in 1948 Jaeger-LeCoultre had a series of French advertisements which focused on time and hands rather on watches.
The series were created based on poems, illustrated by the artist Jean Pagés with the theme “praise of time”.
What I really like here is the subtle way these ads are made. Line drawings, always including female hands and a watch. Even if these drawings are more like sketches, each of them set a scen and combined with a poem they transfer a feeling!
Paul Claudel: “C’est en vain, sur la scène, à bonds entrecoupés.
Que la danseuse, au Temps, essaye d’échapper.
C’est en vain que, captif d’un rythme envelopp´s,
Le ressort, au cadran, essaye d’échapper…”
Google Translation: “It is in vain, on the stage, with interrupted leaps.
Let the dancer, in time, try to escape.
It is in vain that, captive of an enveloped rhythm,
The spring, on the dial, tries to escape…”
Baudelaire: “Je sais l’art d’évoquer les Minutes heureuses”
Google Translation: “I know the art of evoking Happy Minutes”
Paul Claudel: “Toutes choses, dans le Temps,
écoutent,
concertent,
et composent.”
Google Translation: “All things, in time,
listen,
consult,
and compose.”
Marcel Proust: “Une heure n’est pas qu’une heure…
c’est un vase rempli de parfums, de sons, de projets et de climats”
Google Translation: “An hour is not an hour …
it is a vase filled with perfumes, sounds, projects and climates”
Paul Claudel: “L’aile,
tout bas, évapore
le Moment
qui n’est pas encore…”
Google Translation: “The wing,
very low, evaporate
the moment
who is not yet…”
Anna De Noailles: “… et sentir,
au fond du repos,
l’éternité du Temps…”
Google Translation: “… and feel,
at the bottom of the rest,
the eternity of time …”
Yes, less focus on the actual watches. More about how to use the time you have… Watches representing the time…
Personally I love this type of advertisement, makes you feel, makes you think…
If you like these kind of historical posts, stay tuned, I have much more history to write about!
The Blomman Watch Report 