Jorg Weppelink’s five standout watch campaigns are memorable because they give the audience something to do: imagine a future self, follow a sporting history, recognize a design tradition, enter a fictional world, or trust a fellow collector. His selection—Rolex, Omega, Swatch, Linde Werdelin and Audemars Piguet—also shows that effective watch advertising can live in print, posters, catalogs and comics, not only in polished video.
What makes these five campaigns different
Weppelink’s list is about campaign ideas rather than five isolated advertisements, with one example per brand. His criticism of much luxury-watch advertising is that it presents a distant, outdated version of luxury. These campaigns create a closer relationship with the viewer through participation, narrative, visual authorship or personal credibility.
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| Brand and campaign | Period | Primary medium | Story mechanism | Product’s role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rolex — “If You Were…” | 1960s–1970s | Print grid | Imagined future identity | Promise attached to the reader’s scenario |
| Omega — “Great Moments In Time” | 2006 series | Posters | Olympic history | Supporting detail to the historical story |
| Swatch — Herbert Matter × Paula Scher | Later adaptation of 1932 design language | Print advertising | Design homage and appropriation | Inserted into an established visual language |
| Linde Werdelin — “The Perfect Five” | 2010–2012 | Graphic novel and campaign material | Serialized fiction | Plot device worn by characters |
| Audemars Piguet — owner-story catalog feature | Early 2000s | Catalog profile | Collector testimony | Proof within a personal story |
1. Rolex: “If You Were…” makes the reader the protagonist
The format
Rolex’s 1960s–1970s series used a black background, a strict grid of text and images, and Helvetica typography. Every execution carried the line, “If you were … tomorrow, you’d wear a Rolex.” Weppelink describes the repeated message as the campaign’s defining feature.
Why the copy works
Rather than showing a watch as a remote luxury object, the sentence asks the reader to complete a situation. The imagined role—whatever the accompanying image suggests—comes first; the watch follows as the logical choice for that future self. That small act of mental participation turns a static print ad into a prompt.
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The visual restraint reinforces the idea. The black field and modular grid provide a consistent system, while the blank space around the conditional phrase leaves room for the reader’s imagination. The result is aspirational without requiring a celebrity or a detailed product specification.
2. Omega: “Great Moments In Time” turns Olympic history into the subject
From timekeeping to storytelling
Omega’s Olympic timekeeping relationship began at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. For a 2006 poster series, the brand represented one story from each of the 22 Olympic Games with which it had partnered, according to Weppelink (Fratello Watches, 2020).
A history-first creative choice
The posters place the sporting event and its graphic depiction ahead of the watch. Viewers encounter a memorable Olympic episode, not a product portrait; Omega’s role as timekeeper is understood through the historical frame. This is a fundamentally different proposition from advertising that makes the case through case finishing, movement architecture or a model worn by a famous person.
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The campaign therefore converts institutional history into shared memory. Even readers who are not shopping for a watch can engage with the drama of competition and the visual language of Olympic posters.
3. Swatch: Paula Scher revives Herbert Matter’s design language
A deliberate link to Swiss graphic heritage
Paula Scher encountered Herbert Matter’s work in Swatch’s office building and recreated the visual language of his 1932 advertisements for the Swiss National Tourist Office, adding Swatch watches to the compositions. Matter’s original work supplied the historical reference; Scher’s adaptation made it relevant to a contemporary watch brand.
Why the ads became objects of affection
Weppelink remembers the results as quirky, colorful and distinctive enough for people to collect and paste into school planners. Their appeal comes from recognizable authorship and visual energy rather than conventional luxury codes. The watches are part of a larger graphic world, so the audience can appreciate the design even before considering the product.
Rank #3
- Comprehensive Guide to Rolex: Explore the heritage and innovation behind every Rolex watch, with detailed chapters on materials, craftsmanship, and model-specific histories.
- Expert Tips on Authenticity: Learn to identify genuine Rolex watches with tips on spotting counterfeits, including the tricky 'Frankenstein' watches made from mixed genuine and fake parts.
- Luxurious Presentation: This 200-page book is bound by hand in exquisite bonded leather, offering a tactile experience as rich as the content inside.
- Ideal for Collectors and Enthusiasts: Whether you're a seasoned collector or a newcomer, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the prestigious world of Rolex watches.
- Visual and Descriptive Richness: Packed with vivid photographs and detailed descriptions, this book offers a visual feast alongside its in-depth analysis, perfect for both display and study.
This is appropriation used transparently as brand character: Swatch associates itself with Swiss modernism while allowing the source style to remain visible. The campaign’s collectability also gives the advertising a life beyond its original placement.
4. Linde Werdelin: “The Perfect Five” makes watches plot devices
A graphic novel released in parts
“The Perfect Five” was a multi-part graphic novel produced from 2010 to 2012 with illustrator Dominique Bertail and writer Thierry Smolderen. The characters wear Linde Werdelin watches, and the story gives those watches an active role. The brand’s founders also appear within the narrative.
One story across every channel
The comic was not an isolated piece of branded entertainment. Its imagery extended into online promotion, product sheets and other promotional material. As Weppelink puts it, “The images from the graphic novel were not only used for the comic itself but also for an online campaign, the product sheets and all the other promo materials.”
Rank #4
That integration solves a common advertising problem: a dramatic film or illustration can attract attention while leaving the product disconnected. Here, the watches belong to the fictional world and reappear consistently wherever the campaign is encountered. Readers first meet the brand through entertainment, then see the same visual language support practical product information.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.5. Audemars Piguet: a Royal Oak owner supplies the proof
Not a conventional campaign
Weppelink identifies this example as a feature in an early-2000s Audemars Piguet catalog rather than a standard advertising campaign. Bruno Rubinski, a Royal Oak owner and collector, explains his attachment to the watch.
Credibility without a hired spokesperson
The persuasive device is testimony from someone whose relationship with the watch is the point of the story. “No brand ambassadors, no influencer stories but Bruno Rubinski, a watch collector that explains the love for his Royal Oak,” Weppelink writes. The format asks readers to listen to an owner’s experience instead of borrowing authority from celebrity status.
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That distinction matters in a category where polished endorsements can feel interchangeable. Rubinski’s account frames the Royal Oak as an object that earns a place in a collection, giving the product emotional context without pretending that every buyer shares the same lifestyle.
How the five campaigns involve their audiences
Five different invitations
- Rolex: imagine who you will be tomorrow.
- Omega: remember or discover a sporting moment.
- Swatch: recognize and enjoy a piece of graphic-design history.
- Linde Werdelin: follow a fictional world in which the watch matters.
- Audemars Piguet: hear a collector explain a real attachment.
Five different jobs for the product
The watch is the implied answer in Rolex, a secondary historical marker in Omega, an element inside Swatch’s visual composition, a plot device in Linde Werdelin and evidence within Rubinski’s testimony. That range explains why the list is useful: creativity does not require making the product the loudest object in every frame.
What watch advertisers can learn from Jorg’s selection
Give the audience a role
A conditional sentence, a historical episode, a visual reference, a serialized story or an owner’s voice creates a reason to pay attention before the sales message arrives.
Build one idea across media
“The Perfect Five” demonstrates how a central narrative can move from a comic to online material and product documentation without becoming a collection of unrelated executions. Omega’s poster series similarly uses a repeatable historical structure to make a large partnership legible.
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Paula Scher’s adaptation and Bruno Rubinski’s testimony are memorable precisely because they identify a maker or a person. They avoid the anonymous perfection that can make luxury advertising feel interchangeable.
Weppelink’s broader standard is simple: “In the end for an ad to work, it must land in your heart.” These five examples do that by offering an experience around the watch, not merely a polished image of it.
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