These Morris & Co. x August Berg Watches Are So Perfectly Spring
By Amy Elliott | March 23, 2021
"I’ve lived in New England long enough to know that a string of sunny days in the mid-50s does not a springtime make, but these Morris & Co. x August Berg watches are certainly getting me to entertain the thought of warmer weather and fields of flowers.
The watches popped up in my Facebook feed recently—guess the algorithm’s got my number!—and I clicked in, and then did some Googling, and then contacted the brand on Instagram to learn more. I found out that the series launched last fall, so the watches are not brand-spanking-new to market, but I’m thinking I’ve timed it just right since I cannot imagine wearing, say, one of the Forest Hare watches up top at any other time of year. (We regard the bunnies that pop up in our yard each spring as an extension of our family.)
August Berg is a Singapore-based brand founded by Danish entrepreneur Anders Peter Juel Sauerberg. The watches are designed in Denmark and have a Scandi-chic vibe—the clean-lined concepts perfectly balance those that get the ornate and fanciful Morris & Co. treatment.
Currently helmed by the Sanderson Design Group, Morris & Co. continues the legacy of William Morris, the famed British textile artist and a leading voice of the Arts and Crafts movement. Morris founded his design firm in 1861 and is perhaps best known for his wallcoverings adorned in whimsical flora and fauna motifs.
In recent years, the most iconic William Morris prints have appeared on everything from apparel (remember that H&M collaboration in 2018?) to hand cream (always happy to see these when they show up at my local HomeGoods). The Met Store—at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art—was probably the first to bring William Morris merch to the modern consumer.
The August Berg collaboration is an irresistibly playful homage to the Pimpernel, Strawberry Thief, and Forest prints, among others, and showcases them in springtime-perfect shades of primrose pink and peacock green. Some of the watches are emblazoned with the phrase “Love Is Enough,” a poem penned by Morris himself that also provided him an outlet for typographical and book design experiments.
More reasons to be into this collaboration: For every 20,000 watches sold, August Berg will contribute funds toward the building of a school for children in local communities through the Human Practice Foundation, a Danish not-for-profit organization dedicated to offering quality education and contributing to local income opportunities in Nepal and Kenya.
Look out for a Morris & Co. x August Berg 2.0 release this summer.
For now, four ways to spring into action. ... "
Indigo/silver Strawberry Thief watch in stainless steel with indigo perlon strap, $234
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