"What If?"

11 August 2023

84s

Squaring the circle.

Swiss watchmakers Swatch need a break from their tiff with the Malaysian government, so they imagine a world where squares have all but replaced circles. That means square wheels, square buttons, square balls, square vinyl records, and—you guessed it—square watches. It's why you should never trust a bloke in suspenders to pick your next design.

Director Dan French and his crew have plenty of fun with the concept, rewarding repeat watchers with all manner of background details where circles have been squared. Highlights include a severe afro fade and a lava lamp inside a quadrilateral game room.

It's capped by a lovely exchange between two men on a balcony, as one asks the other: "What if it was round?" They laugh it off at first, but the circular seeds of doubt have sown.

UK

Watches