No, not that Woody.
A visual tour of wristwatches made of wood watches from 1590 to 2009.
One of the first wood watches I ever featured at The Watchismo Times, a 1960s Swank, reminiscent of the George Nelson clocks of the time.
Also previously featured, the incredibly rare Bronnikov all-wood (and bone) watches of the mid-nineteenth century. Even the movements were made of wood! --> LINK
The wood movement
And reaching as far back as I can, here is a portable sundial made of wood from 1590 which also doubled as a gun powder flask and compass --> LINK
Back in the USSR! This wood cased Raketa watch from an amazing collection of Russian watches --> LINK
LIP, mostly known for the super-cool watches of the seventies has a very wide array of other unusual watches like this 60's sterling silver bracelet watch with wood dial and curved inlaid wood strips in the bracelet.
And some of Richard Arbib's very rare wood dialed Hamilton Electric watches from the 1950s and 60s. Above is the Flight II prototype.
The classic design of the Hamilton Ventura also had a prototype with a wood face. Courtesy of Rene Rondeau.
And an collection of wood dial Hamilton Sherwood with automatic movements. These did make it to production in the 60s but are quite scarce.
More styles of Sherwoods
Original Sherwood strap with inlaid wood
A vintage Bulova Accutron with wood bezel
(All Accutron Posts-->LINK)
An unusual vintage Jowissa wood cased watch
The brand new limited edition Quiksilver Ray watch, an eco-friendly concept watch with a case and bracelet made of solid ebony and using a "Green" non-battery automatic mechanical movement.
More about The Ray --> LINK
The Nixon Rotolog, a modern interpretation of the LIP Baschmakoff Jump Hour of the early seventies but now with a interior light and an entire series made with all types of wood including bamboo and teak (shown above)
Nixon Rotolog collection --> LINK
One of my favorite modern watches using wood, the Nixon Murf featuring wood veneers cover the top half of the face and two discs for hours and minutes below. Eacy style has a different color light for the dial by pressing the big horizontal crowns. And one of it's truly unique features is the way the time is changed, you unscrew the top crown, and then press down to electrically forward the discs. It looks like a Bang & Olufsen stere turntable!
Nixon Murf collection --> LINK
A pair of swanky ladies watches from the modern brand Vestal utilizing Rosewood, Ebony, and Maple for cases and bracelets.
Vestal Wood Watch collection --> LINK
Shooting back up to the higher end of wood watches including the Jaquet Droz above. They have produced watches with all sorts of materials including meteorite.
Last but not least, Svend Anderson's Eros "Navigation Pleasure" model (below). The one-of-a-kind Eros has marquetry work with four types of wood and a secret 10 moving part erotic automaton on the back of the watch.
Related posts on The Watchismo Times;
Watches made of Bone
Meteorite Watches| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |
DEFAKTO One-Hand Watches of Germany
The just released Defakto Eins watches from Germany might inflict some well deserved clock-envy with your little handed friends. Designed by first time creator Raphael Ickler of Pforzheim, Germany, a young guy who's "idea is to display the time with the minimum information while being exact as needed"
He goes on to describe;
"The single-hand principal emphasizes this intention with only three indexes are placed between the full hours on the face - quarter, half and three-quarter. Between each full hour lies space for estimations and after a short familiarization, one is able to read the time very intuitively. Thereby the hollow-milled hand helps to lead the eye to the actual time. So my target was not the conservative watch enthusiast who gets pissed if the clock is one second late a day, the watch is designed for people who do not count every second, for people who feel free to live beyond these rules of;
"&%$#, it's three seconds to five past eleven, my train is coming in two minutes and 57 seconds!" With the DEFAKTO EINS, time is easy, and if you have time your life will get easy too.
Regarding the function: The housing is produced out of stainless steel, the black edition is coated with PVD. Hand and face of the watch are fluorescent and provide readability in the dark. The wristband is made out of calf leather which ensures a long-lasting wear comfort. The mechanical heart of the watch is the Swiss "Automatikwerk ETA 2824". The watch is made in Germany. "
- Raphael Ickler 2009
The exposed ETA automatic mechanical movement
The single hollowed hand appears to float around dial
Product page-->LINK
Related;
Botta Uno One-Handed Watches| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |
The cast for the next Hollywood buddy film? I wish. Actually, these two polar opposites are being tied together with an upcoming auction of their timepieces.
On the left, everyone's favorite non-violent resistor Mohatma Gandhi - To his right, the original gangster and supreme leader of the New York crime family, Joseph "Joey Bananas" Bonanno.
Impress your family and friends with the ultimate Yin and Yang of time. After making a killing with Albert Einstein's wristwatch, Antiquorum will be auctioning this "Godfather Clock" and "Pocket Peace" in early March, 2009.
Giuseppe Bonanno Watch
A yellow gold Patek Philippe, Ref. 1516, that belonged to the late Giuseppe Bonanno, Sr. (the “Godfather” of the Bonanno crime family) is also included in Antiquorum’s upcoming auction. It is a fine, extremely rare and important, 18K yellow gold wristwatch, which is accompanied by a letter of authenticity from his daughter, Catherine Bonanno.
Mr. Bonanno was an original member of the “Commission,” founded in 1931, whose purpose was to establish rule by consensus among the crime families. Other members included the leaders of the Five New York Families: Charlie Luciano , Joseph Profaci , Gaetano Gagliano and Vincent Mangano. It is thought that the character of “Vito Corleone” in Mario Puzo’s novel, “The Godfather” was inspired by Bonanno. The watch was given to him by Charlie “Lucky” Luciano in 1957 in Sicily.
Estimate: $ 5,000-$ 8,000.
Gandhi Pocket Watch
In addition, Mahatma Gandhi’s silver Zenith pocket watch (circa 1910-1915) is expected to attract significant interest. The pocket watch belonged to Gandhi, who later gave it to his grandniece, Abha Gandhi, his assistant of six years, and in whose arms he died. Also offered as part of the same lot are Gandhi’s sandals, glasses, bowl, plate, and letters of authenticity.
A beloved leader of India’s independence movement and one of history’s most widely-recognized and revered civil rights leaders, Gandhi pioneered non-violent civil disobedience and pacifism in response to tyranny.
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000.
Auction-->LINK
Also included is the "Kennedy Onassis" Watch, a waterproof Nastrix wristwatch owned by both President John Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis. Oh Jackie, that's so not cool...
See related;
Albert Einstein's Wristwatch Auction-->LINK
| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |
The Urwerk Tarantula, a brand new design from the Lennon and McCartney of the watch world - actually.. correction, the Jagger and Richards since Time is on Their Side. Watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and designer Martin Frei are appropriately at the Let It Bleed of their career.
The ‘T’ in the 103T is at first a mystery, but only until the first look down through the massive sapphire crystal into the mechanism below. There you will sense a shape before you see it. A form slowly emerges from the orbital cross and stretches its mesmerising legs: ‘T’ for Tarantula. URWERK’s latest addition to the UR103 collection has a few genetic codes borrowed from one of the most famous members of the world of arachnids.
In the UR103T, the titanium cross has been replaced by a completely redesigned structure in ARCAP, a very stable copper/nickel alloy. The dark ARCAP wraps around the hour satellites in a protective embrace. This new configuration ensures that the numbers on the hour satellites can only be seen when they are required to tell the time while passing the arc of the minutes. The actual mechanism for rotating the satellites has been completely modified on the UR103T. With this model the satellites rotate simultaneously behind the scenes in multiple stages, in preparation for their turn to indicate the time. They actually perform a four-beat 480° pirouette. Each satellite turns four 120° turns in the period between leaving the minute arc and arriving again with a new numeral displaying. The orbital satellite complication is over 300 times heavier than traditional hands, a factor that requires absolute precision in the manufacture of its minuscule components, and in assembling, balancing and regulating the complication to obtain an excellent chronometric performance.
The Time Spider
Urwerk Tarantula's fangs reach deep into your wrist
You can almost see the blood dripping from the wound
An early Urwerk with covered case, cool as %$#@!
The Maestro Baumgartner
URWERK website-->LINK
All Urwerk Posts at The Watchismo Times-->LINKWristshots via
Horomundi| Watchismo Blog | Watchismo Shop | Contact Us | Subscribe |
No, not that Woody. 
Also previously featured, the incredibly rare Bronnikov all-wood (and bone) watches of the mid-nineteenth century. Even the movements were made of wood! --> LINK
The wood movement
Back in the USSR! This wood cased Raketa watch from an amazing collection of Russian watches --> LINK
And some of Richard Arbib's very rare wood dialed Hamilton Electric watches from the 1950s and 60s. Above is the Flight II prototype.
The classic design of the Hamilton Ventura also had a prototype with a wood face. Courtesy of Rene Rondeau.
And an collection of wood dial Hamilton Sherwood with automatic movements. These did make it to production in the 60s but are quite scarce.
More styles of Sherwoods
Original Sherwood strap with inlaid wood
A vintage Bulova Accutron with wood bezel
An unusual vintage Jowissa wood cased watch
The brand new limited edition Quiksilver Ray watch, an eco-friendly concept watch with a case and bracelet made of solid ebony and using a "Green" non-battery automatic mechanical movement.
The Nixon Rotolog, a modern interpretation of the LIP Baschmakoff Jump Hour of the early seventies but now with a interior light and an entire series made with all types of wood including bamboo and teak (shown above)
One of my favorite modern watches using wood, the Nixon Murf featuring wood veneers cover the top half of the face and two discs for hours and minutes below. Eacy style has a different color light for the dial by pressing the big horizontal crowns. And one of it's truly unique features is the way the time is changed, you unscrew the top crown, and then press down to electrically forward the discs. It looks like a Bang & Olufsen stere turntable!
A pair of swanky ladies watches from the modern brand Vestal utilizing Rosewood, Ebony, and Maple for cases and bracelets.
Shooting back up to the higher end of wood watches including the Jaquet Droz above. They have produced watches with all sorts of materials including meteorite.
Last but not least, Svend Anderson's Eros "Navigation Pleasure" model (below). The one-of-a-kind Eros has marquetry work with four types of wood and a secret 10 moving part erotic automaton on the back of the watch.
