A Time To Love — Pay It Forward With New RumbaTime Jane Collection
Maya Angelou once said, “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” This principle seems to have guided the creation of RumbaTime‘s new Jane collection and accompanying “Time to Make A Difference” campaign. The collection encompasses four timepieces, each designed to benefit a particular charity organization, with $2 from the sale of each watch being donated to that non-profit entity.
The collection, which launches on February 15th on RumbaTime.com, is named after Jane Street, a cobblestoned stretch in New York City’s West Village that was once home to novelist John Cheever and later re-imagined as a mecca for hipster celebs like the Olsen twins and Mischa Barton thanks to the “hot spot” status of the Jane Hotel. For many residents, the street is also noteworthy for housing the home of Corner Bistro (which some swear offers the best burgers in the Big Apple). All the watches in the collection have the same face — a minimalist, simple, round face with either a gold or silver dial — but come with unique, lively, multi-colored, cotton-braided straps designed to be interchangeable. Customers, then, can buy a watch with a specific strap design for $60 and, if desired, purchase other bands for $20 each, thereby giving themselves the option to customize their timepiece as desired.
The braided straps feature the familiar chevron and diamond patterns we associate with handmade friendship bracelets, a clever and fitting touch for a collection centered on the idea of using fashion as a philanthropical tool. For one, the friendship bracelet theme gives each piece a personal touch, a DIY quality that makes it feel more precious. More importantly, it speaks to the pay-it-forward goal behind the socially responsible collection. After all, isn’t the willingness to lend hand a helping hand a crucial part of any strong friendship? I personally like to think of the woven threads as being symbolic of how, as a global society, we’re all inextricably intertwined.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each timepiece will benefit the following four charities: GiveDirectly, which assists Kenyans and Ugandans living in extreme poverty through cash transfers made via electronic payment systems; Young Survival Coalition, a global organization that provides assistance to women diagnosed with breast cancer, providing them with an online support network and organizing conferences where they can interact with other cancer fighters and survivors face-to-face, as well as granting them access to resources like a comprehensive list of organizations that provide financial assistance to those undergoing treatment; Action Against Hunger, which is fighting child hunger, helping to save the lives of malnourished children, providing clean drinking water to communities in need, and enacting programs that help bolster agricultural production, thereby creating food networks that will lead to self-sufficiency; and Social Tees Animal Rescue, a New York City-based no-kill shelter that saves at-risk animals, removing them from kill shelters and placing them in safe havens and finding them adoptive homes.
Each strap, then, corresponds to one of these organizations: the turquoise, teal, lilac, black, and pale yellow design (shown at far left in the group image) corresponds to Give Directly; the design incorporating pale pink and deep magenta benefits the Young Survival Coalition (hence the use of the color pink, which is associated with breast cancer awareness); the band with the orange, turquoise, crimson, navy and white motif nods to Action Against Hunger (the charity utilizes blue, orange, and white in its logo); and the black, white, and gray strap benefits Social Tees Animal Rescue (a color scheme perhaps inspired by their black-and-white T-shirts) .
A perfect gift for a socially conscious and style-obsessed friend and an excellent way to spruce up your own spring and summer wardrobe, each watch in the Jane collection marries function with fashion and, moreover, with compassion and solidarity. This is one purchase that won’t result in any buyer’s remorse — on the contrary: it will make your heart swell with pride.
