Atelier Jalaper Watch Made from Aston Martin DB5 Hood

I recently posted on the “controversial” Bremont Wright Flyer, a limited edition watch that contains a bit of fabric from the Wright Brother’s first-in-flight airplane. It’s not the first watch to incorporate a piece of something else in its construction. Here’s one from a slightly faster and definitely meaner airplane . . .

No question: it’s a trend. An increasingly ridiculous trend. I speak here of the Triwa watch made from Humanium – a metal made from confiscated guns. No really.

Which brings us to Atelier Jalaper’s kickstarter project to sell watches made from the bonnet (hood) of an Aston Martin DB5

Far be it for me to rain on Atelier’s parade when they’re just $30k away from their $140k fund-raising goal, but huh?

Their watch isn’t made from a hood that sat atop a famous DB5. It’s not James Bond’s movie car, or any of the DB5’s used in filmic tributes. It just a DB5 bonnet. You know, a spare part. Or worse — and more likely — a bit of an Aston hood that rusted to near oblivion, with the rust removed.

To be fair, the watch and its ilk are in keeping with the ancient urge to tear something you love to pieces; what ancient Greeks called sparagmos. Just ask the bodyguards who worked for One Direction; it’s still a thing. And the Atelier’s prototype isn’t entirely bad looking.

Still, if I wanted a watch made from a piece of a vehicle, I’d want it to be made from a piece of my first car: a green Pinto station wagon. Meanwhile, modern materials please.