By Dave Schwab | SDUN Reporter

Vivid Trends watches, popular at Hillcrest’s CityFest in August, are available for sale at Martin and Wall and The Collection in Hillcrest.
Darren Harris, a founding member of Vivid Trends, said the mystique behind the fledgling company’s initial Vivid Trend watch, part of the Limelight Collection of e-commerce business Vivid Trends, is its interchangeability.

“You can actually remove the face strap from the band and put it on another, different-colored band,” he said, noting two different-colored watches give four different variations. “With 10 different colors you have 100 different watches that you can build a variation of,” he said.

Brandan Wall of Martin and Wall said the new watch line has really caught on with his clientele, even though it’s only been available for a short time.
“It is already highly popular with our customers because of the bright colors and soft wristband…” he said. “Many of our customers are buying two or three watches at a time… getting colors to match shoes and bags,” noting the $30 retail price.

One Vivid Trends watch owner who’s impressed with the product and its versatility is Pacific Beach resident Christian Cabrera.
“I just love the watch…” Cabrera said. “It’s affordable [and] convenient. The coolest part about it is the faces change. It’s almost like you have more than one watch when it’s only one watch.”

Cabrera said he likes the watch’s “duality.”

“It’s a watch, and it’s a fashion accessory,” he said, noting the bright color is something people take notice of.
“I get a lot of comments from people, ‘Nice watch,’ or ‘Where’d you get that watch?’” he said.

Cabrera said he liked Vivid Trends watches so much he bought a couple and is sending them to friends and family on the East Coast as stocking stuffers for the holidays.

Besides how it looks, Cabrera also likes how the watch feels.

“It’s very comfortable,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like one of those big, bulky huge watches on your wrist, even though it’s a big watch.”
That’s the key to the appeal — and success — of Vivid Trends watches, Harris said.

“We look at this watch as being more of a fashion accessory than a timepiece,” he said, noting people who spend their time on cell phones texting, e-mailing and reading that have the time right there in front of them too.

“These watches with their different colors make them very popular because of the affordable price point, and because people can have different outfits that the different colors can go with,” Harris said.

Harris said he’s always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but never suspected he’d find his niche in e-commerce. After starting the business with partners Philipp Mikelatos and Garr Stephenson this July, business has been robust and is escalating.
“We’re in over 20 physical stores across the country — New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle, Malibu, Milwaukee,” Harris said, adding there’s room and plans for further expansion.

“We’re aiming at going down the road of accessory [and] clothing lines — T-shirts, tank tops, belts, wallets, sporty types of things,” he said, adding Vivid Trends is more than just a single product line.

“We want this to become a household brand name,” he said, and hinted at a new watch product line in development by Vivid Trends.
“We have a digital watch coming that people will be able to pop in and out of the same brand,” he said, adding, “We’re also getting ready to launch a camouflage band.”

Martin and Wall is located at 3828 5th Ave. For more information about Vivid Trends watches, visit www.vividtrends.com or www.wrapyawrist.com.