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Skagen Aktiv – True Danish Design

A tour de force of timekeeping—The Aktiv Collection, from Skagen, pays homage to the pride the Danish people take in their active lifestyle. Favored for its sleek urban style and durability, their casual timepieces are certain to score high marks among the fashion conscious and adventure enthusiasts.

For ease in body movement and to keep with a casual appeal, AKTIV features a stainless steel signature mesh or titanium link band– available in either grey or ion-plated black. The hue of the modest yet bold watch dial matches the band. To create a unique perception of depth on the dial, there are two levels with day and date functionality. The grey face features an orange inner dial and the black features a lighter grey. The integration of these timeless elements, combined with high-quality craftsmanship, express a lifestyle defined by the active man wearing it – modest yet bold, youthful yet mature, ever-evolving and full of energy.

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Skagen’s most distinctive collections represent a passion for the Danish aesthetic, an emphasis on simplicity and a higher grade of craftsmanship. Combining sophisticated designs with functional masculine details, these timeless pieces are this season’s icons of stylish simplicity. Whether you’re a watch connoisseur or design enthusiast, our collections mix natural and modern elements to make them perfect for today, tomorrow and beyond.

“SKAGEN AKTIV are not ‘sports watches’ per se, but ones that cater to an active lifestyle, including an urban one. Danes are by nature very active and these pieces are elegant enough to wear to work but light (weight wise) enough to bike to work.” said Thomas Bennedsen, Sr. Creative Director, Skagen Denmark

The concept of Scandinavian design has been the subject of many scholarly debates, exhibitions and marketing agendas during the last 50 years. But many of the democratic design ideals that were the central theme of the movement survived and are reflected in contemporary Scandinavian and international design.  The Danish values – the simplicity of life, the Nordic light, clean water and fresh air.

The idea that beautiful and functional everyday objects, from watches to a chair, should not only be affordable to the wealthy, but to all, is a core theme in the development of modernism and functionalism. This is probably most completely realized in post-WWII Scandinavian design. The ideological background was the emergence of a particular Scandinavian form of social democracy in the 1950s, as well as the increased availability of new low-cost materials and methods for mass production. Scandinavian design often makes use of form-pressed wood, plastics, anodized or enameled aluminum, or pressed steel.

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Tom Handley
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Tom Handley is a contributor for TheManual. As a professor of public relations and social media strategy at Parsons The New…
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