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Richard S. Cunanan

Judgement On Gotham


Romain Jerome has sent up the Bat Signal.

With the Romain Jerome Batman Skylab watch, the brand released a timepiece that places Batman in his natural habitat. Crime? Despair? A detective’s office? No. They have placed him on a grid map of Gotham City.

Romain Jerome’s Skylab model provides a transparent platform with an architectural dial. And within it, concealed and yet overseeing all, the Batman symbol lurks. In fact, just like Batman himself, it only shines forth when the darkness comes. And then the blue glow comes to infuse the night.

The placement of the Batman symbol among the mechanical clockwork that frames him accentuates both the scheming that Batman is famous for, as well as the idea of him lurking in the great machine of the city itself. Gotham is his dark domain, where he holds sway. Batman has ever been more a symbol of terror for the guilty than hope for the innocent. His prefect is not protection, but punishment. Here, seen within the grids and cogs, his threatening presence seems hidden within the city itself, waiting to uncowl itself to punish the wrongdoer.

But perhaps my favorite aspect of the Romain Jerome Skylab Batman is seen on the case back. The transparent crystal shows a city map of Gotham, laid out in all the intricacy you could desire. You could practically plan a route using the back of this watch. I have always been a fan of city maps, and I have to admit I love the idea of putting one on a watch. The map pulls you in, and the fact that it’s a map of Batman’s hunting ground makes it all the more appealing. You can almost smell the retribution.