1919 Heritage
Ole Mathiesen pays tribute to the first generation founder of the family business, Axel O. Mathiesen, with the 1919 Heritage collection.
Ole Mathiesen pays tribute to the first generation founder of the family business, Axel O. Mathiesen, with the 1919 Heritage collection. Nineteen-nineteen was the year when Axel O. Mathiesen took over the distinguished Copenhagen based watch company Alvild Dahl, Christensen & Matthæis Successors. People started wearing watches on their wrists at that time, and that was also when the fluid Art Nouveau lines were transforming into the Art Deco style. It was an unstable period with great changes in politics, culture and lifestyle.
The 1919 is a watch that can be worn on a daily basis and on every special occasion. The 40 mm diameter provides enough substance and volume to cast off a casual attitude without it attracting attention, while the overall expression is a balance between modern and classic Danish design. The vintage look, the indisputable origin, Ole Mathiesen’s pure lines and its perfect size all contribute to making the 1919 Heritage a fantastic tribute display in honour and respect for the founder of the family business.
The new 1919 Heritage collection is the result of a combination of legacy and tradition. It was created out of a wish to design a tribute to master watchmaker Axel Mathiesen, who started a watchmaking business in 1919. To produce this tribute collection, we drew on the company culture and generations of expertise.
The unmistakable trademarks of Ole Mathiesen’s design are indebted to the three concepts on which his watch design was based – honesty, tradition and quality.
This new collection is intended to discreetly acknowledge its close relationship to the famous Ole Mathiesen timepiece from 1962, while still exhibiting a contemporary, independent character.
That is difficult to achieve, because all superfluous detail was trimmed to make the 1962 model, and its final minimalist version contained only that which was absolutely essential. Including a reference to the year 1919 was imperative.
The entire process of producing this collection was an exercise in uniting opposites, the cross between casual and classic, between softer lines and the established mode of expression, between the younger and the older, between present and past, and between elegance and functionality. Creating a tangible timepiece out of refined materials and with incredible attention to detail is a delicate task.