Wearing your truck on your sleeve

Wearing your truck on your sleeve

Volvo’s award-winning FH, recipient of a red dot design award – an internationally recognised quality label for outstanding design achievement – has inspired a whole collection of driver gear. The signature piece, the Driver Performance Watch, especially incorporates design cues from the new truck.

According to Patrik Palovaara, senior designer at Volvo Trucks’ design studio in Gothenburg (Sweden) and designer of the Driver Performance Watch, the signature piece has been inspired by elements from the new Volvo truck, such as the pattern of the truck’s interior and the signature Volvo fonts in the truck’s new instrument cluster. “The watch’s proportions and the way it sits on the wrist has also been designed to give the watch a stance reminiscent of the new Volvo FH,” says Palovaara.

He explains that the brief was to create a collection linked to the launch of the new FH. “The challenge for us was to not just copy the design, but to capture the feeling of the truck and find our own ways of interpreting it.” The watch is made of fine matt stainless steel with a Ronda movement with chronographs. It has a mineral glass lens, is water-resistant up to 100 m and features a black rubber strap.

“The design of a watch should make a clear statement. The Driver Performance Watch communicates pride,” Palovaara explains. “You’re proud of your truck and you’re proud of your watch. It’s the subject of conversation.”

And the Driver Performance Watch definitely is the star of the collection of drivers’ gear – “Volvo Trucks Driver Gear – Travis”, named after Travis Lofgren, a long-haul trucker.

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