Some things just shouldn’t be mass-produced. If you’re looking for a highly specialized product, you really don’t want one out of the literally tens of millions that have fallen off of some assembly line somewhere. You want one that is produced in smaller batches, with a keen attention to precision and detail that’s simply not available to those made en masse. Essentially, when it comes to finding an elegant luxury product, you want an exquisite scotch, not a light beer.
This was the mindset Steve Jacobs had when he launched Olio Devices earlier this year. Olio is a boutique brand devoted to creating high-quality timepieces that give those who wear them the ideal combination of modern technology and timeless fashion. Jacobs, who developed products for Apple, HP, and Google, has seen the perils of mass production up close—where the exact same products are widely used by so many that it leaves little room for individuality or style. "When you think about fashion, that's almost the exact opposite of what you'd want,” as Jacobs himself has put it.
Olio’s model is to combine high-end materials—everything from 316L stainless steel, to 24-karat gold ion-plating, or single-crystal sapphire lenses—with high-end functionality to create finely crafted, easily connected timepieces for the busy modern lifestyle. It goes against the gimmicky fad of having yet another smartphone attached to your wrist, opting instead to provide stylish consumers with a high-quality take on the classic wristwatch. But this doesn’t mean Olio has shunned technology—far from it, in fact, as its pieces all allow for the all-too-crucial modern demand of connectivity. And Olio has wisely avoided choosing sides in the OS platform battle, since its timepieces are compatible with both iOS and Android. Every single one of those timepieces is the result of small-batch production, ensuring that aforementioned Scotch-like bespoke quality is always intact. This is one of the many reasons why The New York Times recently called Olio’s approach “a pretty sprightly hop in the right direction.” Vanessa Friedman, the Times’ Chief Fashion Critic, went on to compliment the handsome design “the Olio watch reminds me most of a really oversize Cartier Ballon Bleu—it has the same curves—with the more hard-core aesthetic of a sports watch.”
But like with all beautiful things, seeing is believing—and Olio has put together an incredible video set to the dope track “Really Love,” performed by Brooklyn’s hottest, rising pop band, Body Language. You can get a first look at the video above, which also gives a sneak peek at some of Olio’s most stunning timepieces.
There’s a style for everyone. But in today’s marketplace, full of products that are clones of a clone, Olio takes the elegantly simple approach that those styles don’t all have to be the same. So, if you’re looking for custom-crafted quality in a mass-produced world, you need look no further.
