About Time: Suave Texas Retail King Designs a Sleek Watch in a High-Powered New Partnership

As if Brian Bolke didn’t already have enough on his plate, the president, partner and co-founder of Forty Five Ten managed to find time to design a watch — all while in the thick of his store’s imminent, much-anticipated move to gargantuan new digs on Main Street in Downtown Dallas.

Little was known about Bolke’s collab with Fossil on a collection of sleek watches until last week’s TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art First Look party, which he chaired with Taylor Tomasi Hill — his vice president, creative and women’s fashion director for Forty Five Ten.

Themed “About Time,” the party, which has long been sponsored by Fossil, alluded to the notion of watches, and when we arrived all was revealed: A pair of stations were set where guests could build their own watch from the newly debuted Forty Five Ten x Fossil collection.

The timepieces are a testament to the impeccable taste Bolke is famous for: Most notably, the size of the face was considered carefully, a round 40 mm, which takes on the appearance of a man’s watch when worn by a woman, yet isn’t overpowering when worn by a man.

At the First Look event, myriad combinations of faces and straps could be chosen: rose gold was a popular choice for women — I paired mine with a tan strap — while the men went a bit more mod, with a black face and white or black matte straps. The branding is subtle — perfection — with the only allusion to a logo or brand name on the face. The numbers 4, 5 and 10 are the only numeric symbols on the dial, while elegant lines mark the rest of the hours.

We anxiously await getting our hands on the full collection, which offers such chic options as green lizard, black and red alligator, and gray snakeskin straps. Dearest Brian, do consider designing other items in the future — you’re a natural.

Mix and match your timepieces at Forty Five Ten in Houston and Dallas, TTH Forty Five Ten in Highland Park Village, and Fossil NorthPark Center — plus farfetch.com and fossil.com.