RJ ARRAW to the Core

RJ ARRAW 2018 

Romaine Jerome of moon rock fame has shortened its brand name to RJ and introduced a new core line ARRAW. For a time Romaine Jerome was hyper focusing on the nostalgic crowd who grew up in the eighties playing Pacman in smoke filled arcades or alone at home playing Tetris on their clunky Commodore 64; however, as the new now generation of money makers want watches, they are looking for watches that fit into their framework of style.

The new RJ ARRAW Collection is targeting a wider range of watch wearers while still maintaining the intrinsic Romaine Jerome look.  Romaine Jerome port hole signature bezel and iconic bumpers are smooth and untainted with rust or moon dust, but still undeniably distinct.  As with all Romaine Jerome creations ,whether it be Pokeman, Batman, Super Mario Bros or intergalactic space themes, the watch elements are of impeccable design and quality.

The RJ ARRAW Chronograph collection is powered by an  RJ2040 self-winding movement.  The bezel is pronounced and chunkier than RJ's other collections and frames a smooth galvanized dial, gradient painted and  lacquered to enhance the perception of depth.  Skeletonized hour and minute hands are applied with SuperLuminova providing time-display in the dark. A 30 minute counter at the 9 o' clock, 12 hour counter as well as a date window at the 6 o' clock and small seconds hand at the 3 o'clock make up the three and a bit sub dials. A Sapphire crystal covers the dial providing optimal scratch resistance and readability.  The dial is available in 45mm for men's watches and 42mm for the ladies, which is smaller than most of RJ's other collections.   This reduction in size is another move to target a larger customer base with preferences of slightly smaller sized dials.

The RJ Arraw Collection also caters to the ladies.  The only other ladies watches from the RJ brand are those emblazoned with Hello Kitty - so in the event there are ladies who want to wear an RJ watch without a Hello Kitty can now wear an ARRAW.  The ladies collection is quite extensive with numerous color and material options such as titanium, gold, ceramic with interchangeable rubber straps and matching steampunk piston pushers.

 There is a fine line between being buried into watch brand oblivion by trying to fit into the current popular trend - the downfall of many a watch brand - and being exclusively edgy enough to fit into the norm while maintaining a brand independence.  RJ has accomplished the latter feat remarkably and created an attractive collection of timepieces which I am sure will be on the wish list of many.

In conjunction with the new RJ brand unveiled at Baselworld 2018, the company has established its very own manufacturing company, RJ Forge.  To facilitate their manufacturing goals, RJ Watches SA will purchase Playing Moment SA (Nyon, Switzerland) - a company with pervasive watchmaking knowledge in component machining, finishing and assembly - not to mention a highly functional and fully equipped workshop with CNC machinery.  Playing Moment S.A. contributed a great deal in the creating the RJ ARRAW collection. In the future they will generate new product ideas contribute to RJ's research and development.

The new RJ brand name as well as the companies strategy change will increase sales and lend itself to a more mainstream watch brand  while still incorporating its spectral and  steampunk collections. This new venture will move the brand from the display cabinet to the conference room.