L.E.D. Digital

L.E.D. Digital
Designer: Philippe Starck
Manufacturer: Fossil
Price: US$125
Buy It

It's 12:54 and time to buy a new watch. Being a dyed-in-the-wool watch aficionado, this design pushes my buttons (or doesn't - at least apparently) far more than it's celebrated predecessor.

L.E.D. Digital has a lot going for it: Starting with the looking-forward-by-looking-backward technology, nodding to Robert Indiana's LOVE, and landing at 'Is that a watch': what's not to like? LED watch technology tradtionally appears under a crystal. Here, acrylic light pipe digits extrude out of the soft polyurethane strap; thus, it's the representation of LED. And, like any LED, one must press a button to view the time. On L.E.D. Digital, under "2" and "4" o'clock, one presses hidden buttons for the time and date, respectively. When not in use, the pattern, elaborated by extra points at the ends of each "line", provides visual interest not found under a crystal.

L.E.D. Digital ships in a free collectible tin and, like all Starck's designs for Fossil, with a museum box. Given the rapid appreciation of everything Starck, buying one to wear and one to display is hardly out of the question.