Louvre At First Sight: Swatch X Musée du Louvre

Long before brand collaborations became the norm, there was Swatch. For over three decades the Swiss watchmaker has proved its flair for covetable collaborations, from artists like Keith Haring and Damien Hirst to designers like Jeremy Scott and Manish Arora and even athletes like Tony Hawk. Swatch’s latest partnership puts the art in heart – the brand has teamed up with the grand dame of art, the Musée du Louvre, for a capsule collection of watches that brings a whole new meaning to the term wearable art.

The collection sees several classical masterpieces reinterpreted with a playful twist, including the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, The Abduction of Helen by Guido Reni, Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix, and portraits of Henry the IV and his wife Marie de’ Medici by Frans II Pourbus.

With LISA MASQUEE, da Vinci’s magnum opus takes shape as a watch strap, with a perforated free loop that, if positioned right, makes Ms Lisa look like she’s wearing an orange bandit mask.

In FLECHE D’AMOUR, Guido Reni’s baby cupid points at a red heart, which is actually a date indicator, while his chubby arm gets inked with a large ‘5’ tattoo as the only hour marker on the otherwise numberless dial.

Not even royalty is spared from the watchmaker’s sense of humour. HENRYTHEFORCE and HAIRYBLUE MARY give 17th-century power couple Henry IV of France and Marie de’ Medici a Swatch makeover, with red glasses for Henry and electric blue hair dye for Marie, lending the aristocrats a distinctly hipster vibe.

All five watches are powered by quartz, and feature plastic cases, silicone straps, and black free loops printed with the Louvre name.

The collection is available at the Swatch boutiques in Marina Bay Sands, ION Orchard, Orchard Gateway, VivoCity, and Tampines Mall, and online at swatch.com