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Phil Toledano on the Toledano & Chan B/1: Design, Inspiration and Interview

Artist Phil Toledano and designer Alfred Chan drew on brutalist architecture and integrated-bracelet watches to create the asymmetrical B/1. Here’s the design story and what the launch specifications say.
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Artist Phil Toledano and watch designer Alfred Chan shaped the Toledano & Chan B/1 around two shared interests: brutalist architecture and integrated-bracelet watches. Its asymmetrical form draws on a window in New York’s Breuer Building; the 2024 launch model paired that design with a lapis lazuli dial and a Swiss automatic movement.

Phil Toledano’s approach to watches

Time+Tide’s September 5, 2024 interview introduces Toledano as a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans photography, video, sculpture and AI, as well as a vintage-car and watch enthusiast. Asked to describe himself, he says, “First and foremost, I’m an artist, but then it gets a bit complicated.”

Toledano says his interest in watches grew after he sold a vintage car to Ben Clymer in 2015 and they became friends. His attraction to a watch is chiefly visual: “as an enthusiastically shallow bastard,” he looks for something “beautifully balanced” and, above all, audaciously original. As he puts it, “Audacious doesn’t have to mean crazy, it just has to be a thought I’ve not come across before.” Read the interview at Time+Tide.

How the B/1 got its shape

Toledano and Chan began talking on Instagram and discovered common ground in brutalist architecture and watches with integrated bracelets. Their design process moved between Chan’s sketches and Toledano’s small clay sculptures of the watch head, which Chan then interpreted.

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#1 Best Overall
Sale
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56X
  • The "Tsuyosa" Automatic, from the NJ015 series, brings ultramodern sports styling right to your wrist. Executed in a versatile 40mm footprint, the sophisticated design of the watch makes a strong impression via a silver-tone stainless steel case and a seamlessly integrated, matching bracelet.
  • . Underneath an anti-reflective sapphire crystal, the sporty timepiece makes use of a sunray green dial, with a 3 o’clock date window and contrasting silver-tone details adding to its classic aesthetic. Powered by an automatic movement and offering up to 50 meters of water resistance, the refined timepiece is a daily wearing choice ready for work, play, and everything in between. Caliber 8210.
  • 3 Hand with Date, Automatic, 42 Hour Power Reserve
  • Sapphire Crystal
  • 50M Water Resistant and 5 Year Limited Warranty

The central architectural reference is a window in the Breuer Building in New York, designed by Marcel Breuer. Its asymmetry informed the B/1’s unusual watch-head outline. Hodinkee also describes the design as translating an asymmetrical window at the former Met Breuer into watch form. Hodinkee’s launch coverage offers a second account of that reference.

Toledano & Chan B/1: 2024 launch specifications

The following details describe the launch model as reported in 2024, not a confirmed current production or inventory status.

Rank #2
Sale
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56Z
  • The Tsuyosa Automatic, from the NJ015 series, brings ultramodern sports styling right to your wrist.
  • Executed in a versatile 40mm footprint, the sophisticated design of the watch makes a strong impression via a silver-tone stainless steel case and a seamlessly integrated, matching bracelet. Underneath an anti-reflective sapphire crystal, the sporty timepiece makes use of a sunray yellow dial, with a 3 o’clock date window and contrasting silver-tone details adding to its classic aesthetic.
  • Powered by an automatic movement and offering up to 50 meters of water resistance.
  • The refined timepiece is a daily wearing choice ready for work, play, and everything in between.
  • Caliber E011.
Specification B/1 launch-model detail
Case dimensions 33.5 mm wide; 9.10–10.40 mm thick, with thickness varying by measurement point, according to Hodinkee. Time+Tide gives 10.4 mm thickness.
Case and bracelet 904L stainless-steel case and integrated steel bracelet with folding clasp.
Configuration Destro, with the crown on the left side of the case, according to Hodinkee.
Dial and crystal Lapis lazuli dial; sapphire crystal.
Movement and functions Automatic Sellita SW100; hours and minutes; 42-hour power reserve.
Water resistance 50 metres according to Time+Tide; Hodinkee lists 5 ATM.
Caseback Closed, according to Worn & Wound.
Edition and launch price 175 numbered pieces; US$4,000 launch price, as reported in 2024.

Sources: Time+Tide, Hodinkee and Worn & Wound. The water-resistance figures are presented as each publication reports them.

Why the movement is not the design’s main story

Toledano frames the B/1 as an object whose appeal comes from its sculptural shape and materials rather than movement technology: “This watch is a sculpture story, a materials story: it’s not about the movement at all. FYI, it’s a Swiss Sellita.” That is his stated design emphasis, not a judgment about what every buyer should value. The launch specifications identify the movement as an automatic Sellita SW100 with a 42-hour reserve.

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Rank #3
Sale
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56E
  • The "Tsuyosa" Automatic, from the NJ015 series, brings ultramodern sports styling right to your wrist. Executed in a versatile 40mm footprint, the sophisticated design of the watch makes a strong impression via a silver-tone stainless steel case and a seamlessly integrated, matching bracelet.
  • Underneath an anti-reflective sapphire crystal, the sporty timepiece makes use of a sunray black dial, with a 3 o’clock date window and contrasting silver-tone details adding to its classic aesthetic. Powered by an automatic movement and offering up to 50 meters of water resistance, the refined timepiece is a daily wearing choice ready for work, play, and everything in between. Caliber 8210.
  • 3 Hand with Date, Automatic, 42 Hour Power Reserve
  • Sapphire Crystal
  • 50M Water Resistant and 5 Year Limited Warranty
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What the launch details do—and do not—tell buyers now

The US$4,000 price and 175-piece quantity refer to the B/1’s 2024 launch. They should not be read as a current asking price, proof of present availability, or confirmation that production status has remained unchanged. A 2026 Unpolished Watches episode summary discusses later B/1-family developments, including a b/1.3r with different material and dial, but does not establish current inventory for the original B/1. See the Unpolished Watches episode summary.

For a present-day purchase, verify availability and price directly with Toledano & Chan or a seller, and confirm which B/1 variant is being offered. The interview and launch articles establish the design story and historical specifications, not current market pricing or a controlled performance assessment.

Quick Recap

SaleBestseller No. 1
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56X
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56X
3 Hand with Date, Automatic, 42 Hour Power Reserve; Sapphire Crystal; 50M Water Resistant and 5 Year Limited Warranty
$346.64
SaleBestseller No. 2
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56Z
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56Z
Powered by an automatic movement and offering up to 50 meters of water resistance.; Caliber E011.
$396.00
SaleBestseller No. 3
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56E
CITIZEN Men's Automatic Tsuyosa 40mm Stainless Steel NJ0150-56E
3 Hand with Date, Automatic, 42 Hour Power Reserve; Sapphire Crystal; 50M Water Resistant and 5 Year Limited Warranty
$346.50

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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