Diesel Shows Their Bad Ass! Creative Director Wilbert Das Talks With The Watchismo Times

BEHOLD THE BEHEMOTH!

Diesel, a brand that pushes envelopes, or rather sleeves with their constantly revolving motley crew of watches. Just introduced is the Super Bad Ass Collection. Above, the DZ7127 with laser blue crystal changing color from blue to yellow depending on the angle and FOUR separate timezones - one main chronograph, a digital display and two other analog clocks.

A watch that lets you keep tabs on the bedtimes of your illegitimate children around the globe. Comes in both Black DZ7125 and Brown DZ7126.

I had a Q&A with Wilbert Das, creative director of Diesel and asked him about the direction of Diesel Timeframes...

Watchismo: Why and When did Diesel start producing watches? How did that begin?
Das: Diesel launched the timeframe collection with Fossil in 1999 . Renzo Rosso, the founder of Diesel wanted to truly make Diesel a 360° lifestyle brand. Timeframes were the next step in making that a reality.



The other series of Badass watches are part of the Black Label Collection, the Three Time Zone with asymmetric case coming in the black dial steel bracelet (above) DZ9052 or brown Dz9053

Watchismo: Will Diesel continue to push the envelope with adventurous designs? Is it important to stand out in the watch world?
Das: Diesel will always push the envelope when it comes to the design. We like to make people stop and think about the product. Of course, we love it when we are featured in the watch world but what’s more important is that Diesel stick to the brand DNA and continue to keep things new for our customers.

Diesel's latest Timeframes Video

Also introduced are really adventurous new designs like the DZ9043 Hinged Triple Time Zone, the hardware allows for the watch to hug to the shape of your wrist and look good considering its massive size.


One of the more controversial models just announced is this (above) No Face watch DZ9044 & DZ9045 which at first glance looks to be a block of steel but is in fact, four separate watches located on the sides of the watch only (shown below). I would love to be a part of these brainstorming sessions at Diesel, they are obviously trying to challenge what a watch is and what it can be.

No Face Sideview Displays

And satiating my mechanical tastes, they are also producing some very beautiful skeletonized timepieces (watches with exposed movements). Up until recently, interesting mechanical watches were only for the rich but Diesel has introduced some really great designs with visible Automatic mechanics, rotors, balance wheels, the works!

Watchismo: With mechanical timepieces being more and more popular, will Diesel keep developing new higher-end automatic watches?
Das: We'll definitely keep developing new higher-end automatic watches as we think it's the future!!!



Another remarkable mechanical watch is this Black Label DZ9017 Automatic Retrograde. The case is suspended on bars that penetrate all the way through the watch and the dial features two retrograde date displays (when they get to the bottom, they "jump back" instead of going in a full rotation) and an exposed balance wheel seen from the front and a rotor from the back. Really love how Diesel has been advancing their designs to reflect complexity in both mechanics and design!

And making a huge impact with people recently, the Freak of Nature DZ4160 aka "Frankenwatch". People either love it or hate it, nothing in between. What appears to be a touched-up photo is the actual watch, a Frankenstein timepiece cross-breeding two entirely different watches into one. A hybrid wristwatch fusing a steel oval case with a gold square surrounding a split-faced multi-colored chronograph dial. Best of all, check out the half leather strap, half metal bracelet. There is a tamer version too, the DZ4159.

Watchismo: What are some of the likely directions in the future for Diesel watches?
Das: Diesel generally seeks a point of difference and wants to keep an edgy feel to their products. Thanks to the collaboration between Diesel and Fossil we want to keep on offering our consumer a solid know-how and a very creative touch, keeping on developing and introducing outstanding watches.


Ok, this is my favorite of the bunch, the DZ1242 Sonar Seconds Triple Time Zone. I don't believe it comes across in the photo but this is the Godzilla of the bunch. You don't wear this watch, IT WEARS YOU! Shot a little video of the radar style seconds in action below.

Video of Sonar Seconds in action

Anyone that knows me knows I have a tremendous nostalgia for the sideview LED watches of the seventies, models like the Bulova Computron, Mido Swissonic, Girard Perregaux Casquette, Synchronar and others. So obviously I must feature the DZ7091 with it's steroidal nod to that era of vintage digital LED timepieces.

Watchismo: Diesel watches have always a spirit of both vintage and modern looks, what are the sources of inspiration for all the designs, especially the Black Label collection and the watches with side time-zones, hinges and see-thru dials.
Das: Diesel is a unique brand that attracts people that are creative and have the same sensibilities. Diesel takes that idea and incorporates it into all aspects of the brand. We’re a global company and our customers are as well, hence the time zones on our watches. Vintage is also really important to our consumers, especially in the denim world which translates into their lifestyle.

ABOUT WILBERT DAS

Diesel's long-time Creative Director Wilbert Das was born in Holland in 1963. He grew up working on his family’s dairy farm before departing at the age of 19 to study fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem, a school which has produced many noted international designers. Upon completing his degree in 1988 Wilbert drove to Italy for an interview at Diesel. Company founder Renzo Rosso offered him a job on the spot and literally had Wilbert working that same afternoon. Thus started one of fashion’s longest-running and most successful collaborations. In 1993 Wilbert was recognized with the official title of Diesel Creative Director, with broad responsibilities ranging from directing all clothing & accessory design to following advertising & communications, retail & interior design.


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BONNNGG! Big Ben's 150th Anniversary - Alex Doak Goes Inside for The Watchismo Times

The Watchismo Times contributor Alex Doak scales Big Ben for a right royal ear bashing

“Truly impressed – and I’m a watch geek, so that’s saying something”

In retrospect, that was probably rather a sarcastic thing to write in the Palace of Westminster’s visitor book, but I was genuinely bowled over by my experience last Sunday, despite the early hour and my late night before. From scaling all 334 steps of the Great Clock Tower and watching Dent’s mighty movement whirring away with its governor fans click-clacking overhead; to peering out of those world-famous clock faces across a sprawling, sunkissed London town, before standing mere inches from Big Ben and its four melodic counterparts as they bonged-out 10 o’clock – this was tantamount to the Hajj for this watch anorak. Desperate to immerse ourselves fully in the Big Ben experience, my mate Pete and I even spurned the offer of ear plugs, bearing the full force of that 13.7-tonne bronze bell at point-blank range (audible for four and a half miles) and bathing in the deep, subsonic resonance of the iron infrastructure for minutes after the tenth bong had faded. Not even the strains of YMCA, pounding out from the finish line of a 10km fun run on Westminster Bridge below could detract from this most reverent of horological experiences.

Although any UK resident can write to his or her MP and request a guided tour of Big Ben (smug pedants be gone, by the way – it’s now officially acceptable to refer to the whole clock by the big bell’s popular nickname) mine was actually one of several being held this summer in celebration of Big Ben’s 150th anniversary. In an age when the most obscure of milestones are hyped beyond comprehension (40 years since the Moon landing? Why 40?) it’s amazing so little has been made of Big Ben’s one and a half centuries – especially when you consider what an icon this clock actually is. No clichéd Hollywood establishing montage of London would be complete without a policeman / vicar / Hugh Grant cycling past the Clock Tower; Radio 4’s hourly news broadcasts would surely lack all gravitas without its opening salvo of bongs; London’s skyline would merely be anodyne without SW1’s tower (paired with EC1’s St Paul’s dome of course).

Once through the airport-style security gates and duly reminded with an air of forboding that this tour was not for the physically infirm or claustrophobic, we commenced our ascent of the Tower – a phallic masterpiece positively bulging with history.

The view from the bottom of the 334 steps. Deep breath…

The view from the top. Well worth the slog

Denison and Dent’s Clock

It all began with a terrible fire, which destroyed most of the Palace of Westminster in 1834. Out of the 97 designs submitted for the new Palace, master Gothic architect Sir Charles Barry’s was successful and construction of the Clock Tower began in September 1843. Barry was no clockmaker though, and he sought advice from the Queen’s Clockmaker and good buddy, Benjamin Lewis Vuillamy.

Other respected clockmakers, such as the marine chronometer pioneer Edward John Dent, wanted the chance to be involved though, and disputes quickly broke out (this was to set the tone for the entire project – by completion, the chief contractors for the Tower had been reduced to corresponding via letters in The Times). In 1846 therefore, a competition was held to decide who should build the clock. Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airy – who had awarded Dent’s first commission in 1814 to build the Admiralty’s Standard Astronomical Clock – was appointed referee and set out unprecedented standards for the clock to meet.

These included:

· the first stroke of each hour to be accurate to within one second

· the clock’s performance to be telegraphed twice a day to Greenwich Observatory

Airy’s demanding standards led to delays that lasted seven years. Most master clockmakers of the day complained that such a level of accuracy was impossible for a clock of its size – at 4.2m and 2.7m, and 100kg and 300kg, the minute and hour hands are particularly susceptible to the elements, acting as windmills on all four clock faces, feeding unwanted energy from the rain and wind back into the delicate movement. The best that could be hoped for, they said, was three minutes a day.

Airy appointed Edmund Beckett Denison – barrister, MP and gifted amateur horologist –to design the clock, then in February 1852, Dent was appointed to build the clock to Denison’s own design, mostly because his quote of £1,800 was half that of Vulliamy’s, but also because Dent had made an impression the year before with a turret clock on display at London’s Great International Exhibition. It won the Council Medal for Horology and after the Exhibition it was erected at King’s Cross Station, where it remains (and where the revived Dent watch brand received its latest public clock commission, for the Eurostar terminal).

Dent died in 1853 and his stepson, Frederick, completed the clock in 1854 for a final bill of £2,500. Working along similar lines to a grandfather clock, it is regulated by a 2-second, 4.4m pendulum and powered by three stone weights totalling 2.5 tonnes, which are wound up on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

If you watch Dent’s Big Ben clock movement long enough, you’ll eventually figure out how it all works, so logically is everything laid out. Watchismo Times regulars probably won’t resist comparing its lateral array with Ruchonnet’s Cabestan

The “governor” fans above the movement use air resistance to regulate the rate with which the chiming mechanism unwinds

Crucially, Dent’s clock is accurate to within one second per day – just as Airy wanted ­– and as such Big Ben remains the largest and most accurate striking mechanical clock in the world.

Pre-decimal-currency pennies are still used by the Palace of Westminster’s three appointed clockmakers to regulate the clock mechanism: adding one penny causes the clock to gain two-fifths of a second in 24 hours.

The achievement of such accuracy was partly thanks to the British government’s perennial inability to get anything done on time (or budget). The Clock Tower’s construction was delayed for 5 years, and until its installation in 1859, Dent’s 5-tonne behemoth of a mechanism was kept at his factory on the Strand. In the meantime, Denison tinkered, most notably inventing the 'Double Three-legged Gravity Escapement' in the process (later known as the Grimthorpe Escapement when Denison was made Baron Grimthorpe in 1886). Since used in turret clocks all over the world, this revolutionary mechanism is key to Big Ben’s world-beating accuracy, ensuring the swing of the pendulum is unaffected by the weather’s influence on the hands. In an agonizingly simple but revolutionary manner, Denison’s gravity escapement isolates the pendulum from the going train. The energy from the going train alternately lifts two rocking gravity arms, which, when falling, give constant and independent impulses to the pendulum.

This Flash animation showing the inner workings of Big Ben, is brilliant --> Click here

No photography allowed up the Tower – but I managed to sneak in a clandestine snap (above) with my mobile in the space between the clock room and the clock faces. Each face is 7m in diameter and has 312 separate pieces of pot-opal glass panels framed by gun metal. Illumination of each dial is performed in a delightfully rudimentary manner by a bank of 28 oversized energy-efficient bulbs at 85W each. Lifetime of each bulb is 60,000 hours

The Bells! The Bells!

Denison also became involved in the design of the bells for the clock, in particular Big Ben. Until the Westminster clock tower, the largest bell ever cast in Britain was Great Peter in York Minster, weighing 10.3 tons. (Now, Big Ben is only superseded in Britain by Great Paul at St Paul’s Cathedral down the road.)

But Denison was adamant that his own design, method and alloy recipe would allow a larger bell to be created. Eventually, a 16-ton monster was cast at the Warner & Sons foundry in Stockton-on-Tees in August 1856. Too wide to be transported by rail, it arrived at the Port of London by sea, from where it was pulled across Westminster Bridge by 16 white horses.

The bell was hung in New Palace Yard. It was tested each day until 17 October 1857 when a 1.2m crack appeared. No-one would accept the blame. Theories included the composition of the bell’s metal or its dimensions. Warners blamed Denison for insisting on increasing the hammer’s weight from 355kg to 660kg.

Warners asked too high a price to break up and recast the bell so George Mears at the Whitechapel Foundry was appointed. The second bell was cast on 10 April 1858.

This bell was 2.5 tonnes lighter than the first. Its dimensions meant it was too large to fit up the Clock Tower’s shaft vertically so Big Ben was turned on its side and winched up. It took 30 hours to winch the bell to the belfry in October 1858. The four quarter bells, which chime on the quarter hour, were already in place.

Big Ben rang out on 11 July 1859 but its success was short-lived. In September 1859, the new bell also cracked and Big Ben was silent for four years. During this time, the hour was struck on the fourth quarter bell. The dispute went public and resulted in two libel cases against Denison, who was found to have befriended one of the technicians at the foundry, got him drunk and bullied him into giving false testimony that the fault had been due to poor workmanship and concealed filler. The cantankerous lawyer lost both cases and a close examination of Big Ben in 2002 found that there was no filler in the bell. As one contemporary of Denison put it: "Zealous but unpopular, self-accredited expert on clocks, locks, bells, buildings as well as many branches of law, Denison was one of those people who are almost impossible as colleagues, being perfectly convinced that they know more than anybody about everything - as unhappily they do."

In 1863, a solution was found to Big Ben’s silence by Sir George Airy, the Astronomer Royal:

· Big Ben was turned by a quarter turn so the hammer struck a different spot

· the hammer was replaced by a lighter version

· a small square was cut into the bell to prevent the crack from spreading

The total cost of making the clock and bells and installing them in the Clock Tower reached £22,000.

There are four quarter bells each weighing between 1 and 4 tonnes

The famous “Westminster chimes” – emulated on a smaller scale by Grande Sonnerie wristwatches – are struck by four quarter bells positioned around Big Ben tuned to G, F, E and B. Their tune is based on Handel’s Messiah, a phrase from the aria I Know that My Redeemer Liveth. They were set to verse and the words are inscribed on a plaque in Big Ben’s clock room:

All through this hour

Lord be my Guide

That by Thy Power

No foot shall slide

Why “Big Ben”?

Officially, the Clock Tower’s bell is called the Great Bell though it is better known by the name 'Big Ben'.

There are two theories for this name’s origin. These are that the Great Bell was:

· named after Sir Benjamin Hall, First Commissioner for Works 1855-1858, whose name is inscribed on the bell

· named after Ben Caunt, a champion heavyweight boxer of the 1850s

The first theory is thought to be the most likely.

Stop – Hammer Time!

Stoppages are rare, but the most notable are:

2007: the longest suspension of the hour strike (Big Ben) since 1990. Big Ben's famous 'bongs' were silent for seven weeks in 2007, allowing essential maintenance work on the clock mechanism to take place. From 11 August to 1 October, an electric system kept the clock moving, but Big Ben, the name for the Great Bell, and the quarter bells were quiet. This was the final phase of a programme of planned works to prepare for the Great Clock's 150th anniversary in 2009.

October 2005: The clock mechanism was also suspended for two days in to allow inspection of the brake shaft.

Over the years, the clock has been stopped accidentally on several occasions - by weather, workmen, breakages or birds. The most serious breakdown occurred during the night of 10 August 1976 when part of the chiming mechanism disintegrated through metal fatigue, causing the mechanism to literally explode under its own immense forces, dropping its weights to the base of the Tower with a noise that the policeman on duty initially reported as being an IRA bomb. The Great Clock was shut down for a total of 26 days over nine months - the longest break in operations since it was built - until it was fully repaired.

The Secret’s Out

But despite Big Ben’s remarkable, unflagging accuracy, one burning question remains: how is it checked? Mike McCann, who rejoices in the title of Keeper of the Great Clock, gives a slightly embarrassed laugh when he is asked. The answer is that he does what everyone else does: he rings up the speaking clock. He does so from the phone in the clock room at five to the hour precisely, starting a stopwatch on the third pip, and then goes up the belfry to see when the hammer on Big Ben strikes the hour. Simple, if not technologically sophisticated.

See also on Watchismo: Alex Doak’s report on modern Dent’s most recent public clock commission

Sources:
www.bigben.parliament.uk
www.dentwatches.com
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/bong-a-change-of-tune-at-westminster-481163.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5425798.ece

Related "Alex Doak" Posts at The Watchismo Times;
UnBNBelievable - Confrérie Horlogère
Sarpaneva's Black Moon Rising
Plenty of Scratches but only one Dent

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Urwerk King Cobra CC1 Reintrepretation of 1958 Patek Philippe Cobra Prototype - Cylindrical Retrograde Linear Jumping Hour Display

I started this blog nearly three years ago and the watch that started it all was the very obscure 1958 Patek Philippe Cobra -- A timepiece so advanced for its time, only one prototype was ever produced.

It has taken over half a century for someone to take it seriously and attempt a reinterpretation -- Urwerk, the coolest independent brand in the world has just introduced the "King Cobra UR CC1", an unexpected follow-up to their revolutionary Tarantula and Hammerhead series and a serious nod to the masterpiece originally created by Louis Cottier.


Geneva – September 2009

Time is usually - nearly always - displayed by a circular indication: one dial and two (or three) with the time displayed around a perpetual circle. However, this 360° representation of time goes against everything we learnt as we grew up drawing a straight line on a blank page and marking it Past, Present and Future. Why do we think of time as travelling in a straight line yet display it rotating around a circle? The answer is straightforward: mechanisms that continually rotate are much simpler to produce than those that trace a straight line then return to zero. In fact, the latter is so difficult that, until now, nobody has ever managed to develop a production wristwatch with true retrograde linear displays.

Linear. On the UR-CC1, there are two horizontal indications displayed by two retrograde cylinders: one for the (jumping) hours, the other for the minutes. And don't be lulled by the apparent simplicity of the displays; the UR-CC1 is the result of more than three years of research, development, production and testing to ensure that the rotation and instant fly-back of the large hour and minute cylinders was achieved without compromising accurate timekeeping.


Triple-cam. A vertical triple-cam operating a rack (visible through a window in the side of the case) rotates the minute cylinder. From zero to 60 minutes, the minute cylinder rotates through 300°. On arriving at the 60-minute mark the cylinder instantly (1/10th of a second) reverses back to its original position thanks to an extra-flat linear spring. The retrograde movement of the minute cylinder triggers the hour cylinder to advance (jump) one complete hour.

The triple-cam is crafted from bronze beryllium, a metal selected for its inherently self-lubricating properties and low co-efficient of friction, and takes the form of three small inclines. The precise shape of the curve of the incline is relayed to the pivoting rack, while the teeth on the end of the rack mesh with and rotate the minute cylinder. The triple-cam makes a complete rotation in three hours so that each of the three inclines takes 60 minutes, and 180 points of reference have been calculated on each of the three cams to ensure the precise and isochronic rotation of the minute cylinder.

Rack: The toothed segment at the end of the rack transmits and transforms the rotation triple-cam into the rotation of the minute cylinder. The toothed rack presents two properties that at first appear contradictory: absolute rigidity, so as to accurately transmit the motion of the cam to the minute cylinder; and extremely low mass to consume as little energy as possible and minimise the effects of gravity and accelerations/shocks. This vital component has been fabricated in nickel by Mimotec using their photolithography process. The honeycomb pattern of the nickel structure resolves the two apparently contradictory requirements of maximum strength and minimum weight.

Seconds disk: The dial of the UR-CC1 is animated by a rotating disk displaying the seconds both digitally and linearly – a world first! This incredible exploit was achieved thanks to Mimotec’s photolithography production technique, which enabled the component to be fabricated from ultra-light nickel; the procedure is even more precise than electro-erosion. To reduce mass to an absolute minimum, the minuscule numerals were even skeletonised. A small tab at 10 seconds bearing the URWERK logo precisely counterbalances the disk's single-digit numbers. This marvel of micro-precision weighs only 0.09 grams.

Rotor Fly Brake: UR-CC1 features URWERK’s pneumatic shock-absorbing Rotor Fly Brake automatic winding system, which minimizes rotor and mechanism wear and damage from shock and harsh movements. The operation of the Rotor Fly Brake is visible through a window on the side of the case.



Technical Specifications:

Model: UR-CC1

Case: available in either grey gold with titanium case back (limited edition of 25 pieces) or black gold with titanium case back (limited edition of 25 pieces); brushed-satin finish

Movement: calibre UR-CC1; automatic winding regulated by “fly brake turbine” pneumatic shock absorber

Indications: linear display for hours and minutes with jumping hours and retrograde minutes ; second display both digital and linear

Dimensions: 45.7mm x 43.5mm x 15mm

Dial and Bridges: ARCAP P40. SuperLumiNova treatment on hours, minutes displays

Genesis of a creation

1958. Messrs Gilbert Albert and Louis Cottier combine their talents to create a watch destined to revolutionize the horological world. Their idea is completely outrageous: it is the world’s first watch to feature a linear display. It is an extraordinary, avant-garde piece that fulfils none of the aesthetic criteria of the time. As for its linear indication, the idea may seem simple but the execution is a technical headache of monumental proportions. However Messrs Albert and Cottier believe in it and they stick with it, creating a prototype for Patek Philippe.

1959. A patent is deposited by Louis Cottier, detailing the technical scale of the achievement. Then – nothing. The prototype is put on to one side. Does the watch even work? Today nobody knows for sure. It took its place in the corner of the Patek Philippe museum and proceeded to arouse curiosity from time to time.

1998. With pencil and paper Martin Frei, co-founder of the URWERK brand and an aesthete at heart, sketches the first outline of his future creation: a watch in which the hours and minutes are indicated by two straight, parallel lines. But he hesitates. With Felix Baumgartner, master watch-maker and co-founder of URWERK, another idea springs to mind – the concept of the hour satellite, presented for the first time at Basel. The earlier project is postponed, sine die.

2006. URWERK is henceforth known and recognized for its mechanical hour satellite watches in which orbiting hour satellites indicate the minutes. But the idea of developing a different way of telling the time continues to fascinate Felix Baumgartner. In the end it is the Alfred Hitchcock film “The Birds” that gives him the decisive nudge in the right direction. In one of the most famous scenes from the film, the heroine seeks refuge in an old Dodge. The image lasts only a few seconds but it is crucial – a close-up of the dashboard and its linear speedometer. Yes. That’s it! A continuous line with which to mark time. Felix and Martin work non-stop on this new project. Their research leads them to the discovery of Gilbert Albert and Louis Cottier’s watch. It will be their “muse”.

2009. Three years of research. One year of testing. URWERK’s “King Cobra” is unveiled. ‘CC’ for Cottier Cobra, a homage to the genius of Louis Cottier, inventor and creator. Once more, URWERK redefines our vision of fine watchmaking and pushes back the frontiers of the possible.

The original 1958 Cobra

Original Prototype Movement

Watchmaker Felix Baumgartner

I am not big on nostalgia, but I have always loved the linear speedometers found on old cars. My older brother had a 1960’s Volvo and it was that which gave us the first idea for a horological linear indication. I recently watched the film ‘The Birds’ by Alfred Hitchcock, and in it the heroine took refuge in an old Dodge with a linear speedometer- it is one of my favourite scenes. There are very few wristwatches with linear indications. One of them, if not the first, was ‘The Cobra’, which was developed in the late 1950s by Mr. Louis Cottier. It is sensational! Although it was created over half a century ago, it is still very contemporary. Unfortunately, it only exists as a single prototype and was never put into production. Now, 50 years after he filed his patent (1959), URWERK pays homage to the work of Louis Cottier by creating its own interpretation of the Cobra. -Felix Baumgartner

Designer Martin Frei

I am interested in the perception of time. Physicists tell us that time can be warped or stretched, and our daily experiences are with the circular cycles of the days, seasons and years. But I am also intrigued that time can be ordered, even straitjacketed, to flow in a linear direction - a straight line from the past, through the present, to the future. And, because this can represent an individual’s lifeline, I feel that this linear format can be a very human way to look at time. That plus the fact that I think it looks really cool! -Martin Frei

Additional presentation party photos by Ian Skellern of Horomundi

Urwerk Website Link

Related Posts;
Urwerk Tarantula
Urwerk Hammerhead
Urwerk TiAIN 103.08
Interview with Martin Frei
Urwerk Time Bandit
Urwerk Visit

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Eris Planetary Sphere Watch by Pierre Junod - Post Neptunian Object Inspired Swiss Timepiece

Named for the largest known (and newly discoved) dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest body known to orbit the Sun directly, Eris is approximately 2,500 kilometres in diameter and 27% more massive than Pluto. The spherical Eris watch is considerably smaller that that, in fact I broke my calculator trying to determine its 32.2mm percentage of the former planet. Eris would have been our tenth planet if Pluto hadn't been shamed into oblivion.

Either way, this watch, designed by students from l’Ecole d’Arts Appliqués Genèva is a 100 % Swiss made product by Pierre Junod Switzerland and can be worn as a pocket watch, pendant or used as a small desk clock. The Materials are white hour hand & orange minute hand, anthracite anodized aluminum case, laser engraved figures, mineral glass, Swiss quartz movement, each watch is sold with a natural rubber strap to hang from your neck, a wall, anything you wish to have time fly by.

The time is displayed with two pointers (extended from hidden hands) floating around the "equator" of the globe. The minutes indicated on the upper hemisphere and the hours highlighted down below.

Materials:

• white hour hand & orange minute hand,
• anthracite anodized aluminium case,
• laser engraved figures, mineral glass,
• swiss quartz movement, each watch is sold with a natural rubber band

Dimensions:
Diameter: 33,2 mm
Thickness: – mm
Weight: 36 g
Battery Ref: Renata swiss made 364

Designer:
EAA Geneva, teachers & students:
Sandy Barbey, Anouck-Eva Meyer, Emmanuelle Taillard

Orange hand (minutes) White hand (hours)

Chart of the tran-Neptunian objects

Product page for the Pierre Junod Eris Planet Watch

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Cinco De Nooka - Five New Models from NOOKA! String Theory, Sky Pyramid, Hyper Space & UNDRCRWN

Nooka announces the release of a brand new collection of graphically inspired watches for Summer 2009. The four new additions to the Nooka line of timepieces feature bold geometric designs inspired by the simplistic shape of a triangle.

This new series of designs inspired by higher dimensional physics and our utopian optimism that the planet will once again embrace space as a necessary next frontier! They were designed in-house by futuretron infinity of dinosaur island. Above is the brand new Sky Pyramid ZenH model

Designer Matthew Waldman's personal touch was the decision to have the pattern in the models overprint the whole face.

This Black "String Theory" model consist of a light-weight aluminum case and soft, polyurethane band.

This new series of designs inspired by higher dimensional physics and our utopian optimism that the planet will once again embrace space as a necessary next frontier! Designer Matthew Waldman's personal touch was the decision to have the pattern in the models overprint the whole face.

They also come in snazzy custom packaging! the only word that comes to mind is "dope".

White String Theory

Hyper Space

Nooka and UNDRCRWN have come together to create a fun and colorful collaboration. The watch features a striped polyurethane band with a black ZenV display. Only 200 will be produced!

The basketball and Hip-Hop-centric brand known as UNDRCRWN team up with Nooka on an upcoming watch release. The colorful striped design features a multi-colored polyurethane band designed by founder Dustin Canalin.

See the entire Noo Nooka Watch Collection Here


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