September 9, 2019: Call it a like-minded partnership, Swiss watchmaker RJ marked the 80th anniversary of Batman with a special event held at its newly opened Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées concept store in Paris. Until September 22, fans have the opportunity to see and experience RJ’s new collaboration watches created with DC Comics to celebrate two of the Dark Knight’s greatest nemeses: ARRAW Two-Face and ARRAW The Joker.
By joining forces with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, RJ combines high-horology and iconic DC characters. The RJ X BATMAN VILLAINS collection was built on the global success of their first Batman watch collaboration project with Warner Bros. Consumer Products in 2014, which was launched to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Batman.
For the 80th anniversary, RJ channels its dark side with the RJ X BATMAN VILLAINS. Each limited to only 100 pieces per series, both the ARRAW watches are the first collaboration watches to be presented in an ARRAW watch case.
The Joker chronograph, inspired by the criminal mastermind, perfectly reproduces the aesthetic of the comic strip Super-Villain. Design cues from his flamboyant character appear through the watch, from his lethal razor-tipped playing cards to his striking facial make-up. The dial is a stylistic reinterpretation of The Joker’s face, with an intricately airbrushed finish that evokes the make-up of the Gotham villain.
The 45 mm ARRAW Joker case is crowned by a titanium bezel that is laser engraved with an intentionally chaotic The Joker motif. The ARRAW hands are also uniquely stylized with playing card “Aces” at their tips. The back of the titanium case features a bold laser-engraved portrait of the Joker himself. As part of the collectors’ edition, the watch comes with an exclusive deck of The Joker playing cards.
The Two-Face watch is a remarkable interpretation of the complex and conflicted villain and former Gotham City district attorney who was once one of Batman’s biggest allies, now turned nemesis. RJ designed the ARRAW Two-Face to be instantly recognizable with a distressed outer bezel, in which the laser-engraved titanium bezel and calf leather strap have been intentionally structured along the right-hand side to echo the symmetrical disfiguring of Two-Face. The clean, structured left side carries a laser-engraved coin, which Two-Face famously flips to make life and death decisions.
On the watch this coin serves as a rotating second hand. Like the watch itself, the calf leather strap is designed to present one clean and one distressed side. The straps that come with the ARRAW Two-Face can easily be swapped by simultaneously pressing the screws with the Batman logo on the watch lugs. As part of the collectors’ edition, each watch comes with an exclusive double-headed coin.