subject: Diesel Watches Offer Young Hip And Smart [print this page] It is hard to credit that Diesel has now been around for almost 40 years. Founded by Italian designer Renzo Rosso in faraway 1978, when punk was at its height and Margaret Thatcher only an aspiring Prime Minister, the Diesel brand has long been synonymous with smart, knowing advertising and a youthful sexiness that, while challenging, never stepped too far over the line. Helmut Newton it isnt. What it is, and remains despite its four decades, is young, hip and smart.
Its two big ad campaigns of the moment are typical. The offbeat, ironic "Be Stupid" campaign "Smart has the Brains, Stupid has the Balls" - champions those willing to challenge the accepted wisdom, an overflogged concept that Diesel gets away with flogging once again through sheer panache. "Sex Sells (Unfortunately We Sell Jeans)" cleverly manages to have it both ways. True to Diesel form, both simultaneously flatter and challenge, and are less about selling products than reinforcing an image.
Diesel's watch collection is at one with the rest of the brand in that it has tended to combine quirkiness with style, reinforced by ads that can be either mildly transgressive or appealingly bizarre.
Design-wise, it has also managed to stay on the cutting edge, often by crafting the perfect post-modern blend of vintage and futuristic, exemplified by Diesel watches. The appeal of many of Diesel's watches is that they combine the offbeat, and therefore individual, with the reassuringly stylish elements of great watch designs past. Others, on the other hand, are just offbeat, which doesnt seem to do any harm either.
