Street Art Meets Haute Horology: Maurice Lacroix Reveals the Urban Canvas of the AIKON Automatic Wotto Limited Edition

Urban culture in luxury watchmaking often combines street appeal with high-end craftsmanship to create clocks that represent contemporary lifestyles mostly inspired by hip-hop, graffiti, and modern art. In fact, street artists play an important part in the world of watchmaking, combining creativity with time-keeping precision. What’s more, they add a distinct aesthetic and storytelling element to timepieces with elaborate engravings, exquisite tiny paintings, and novel dial designs; their work with watchmakers preserves old decorative techniques while pushing the frontiers of modern design. 

Created in partnership with British artist Craig Watkins, a.k.a Wotto, the newly launched AIKON Automatic Wotto Limited Edition (Ref. AI6008-SS009-090-1) is a perfect example of how urban or street art can elevate a timepiece to the status of an everlasting icon of beauty, culture, and innovation. The artistic AIKON variant (Ref. AI6008-SS009-090-1) is limited to 1,000 pieces. 

A well-known figure in the street art movement, Watkins is a freelance illustrator specialising in character design and unique branding. In fact, he has been freelancing ever since he graduated with a BA in Illustration & Design in 2000. The name, ‘Wotto’, was coined by an artist friend and it has been used over the years as a way to brand his work. Typically, Wotto’s artistic narratives are based on his personal experiences. Originally from the UK, he currently lives with his family in Orange County, California.

Of course, Watkins is not the only artist Maurice Lacroix has collaborated with to craft timeless pieces, and this is also not the first time Wotto and the watchmaker have teamed up. In 2021, Hungarian artist @Timeengraver engraved an AIKON watch and shared it on Instagram, making for a genuinely modern story. Maurice Lacroix then created the limited-edition AIKON Automatic Urban Tribe and AIKON Automatic Skeleton Urban Tribe, with the designer's approval. Two years later, @Timeengraver created a new piece with graphics by Wotto. 

Carrying the legacy of artistic collaborations forward, the 42 mm AIKON Automatic Wotto Limited Edition, a stainless steel watch, has its case, bracelet, and bezel entirely engraved with motifs emanating from Wotto’s prolific imagination. Skateboarding ghosts, lightning flashes, and so on follow one another in hieroglyphs on the links of the AIKON’s integrated bracelet, extending onto its case and bezel. Like a rebus, each link tells its own story. These ideograms are enhanced by the contrast between the polished finish and the engraving of the ornaments.

The dial has a grey background serving as a canvas on which the artist has placed a raft of mischievous characters in a gradation, from yellow to blue. Placed in the centre of the monochromatic timepiece, this colourful medley is particularly eye-catching. The hour markers are rhodium-plated, dotted, and marked simply with a metal tip. There is a date window at 3 o’clock, along with a rhodium-plated logo at 12 o’clock. The hour, minute hands are rhodium-faceted; there is a white SLN, rhodium-plated second hand as well. Powering the watch is an automatic ML115 caliber with a 38-hour power reserve. Showcasing a transparent caseback and a 200-metre water resistance, the watch is finished on a 5-row stainless steel bracelet with an Easychange system; a Wotto-designed pattern is engraved on every link.