Hi Folks,

I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. A year and a half ago we went on a journey. We couldn't answer a "what if" question, so we thought, there's only one way to find out.

We got together and designed 3 watches and tried to get them made. 1 1/2 years on, it looks like the journey is coming to an end (or beginning). Anyways, we are not trying to sell our watches on this forum (because these are just pictures of our samples, there isn't anything to sell at the moment).

What we are interested in is what you guys think of our designs. We only have 2 of them done, the third is still being assembled. We felt this was a suitable forum since its about bigger watches and our watches measure 45mm (case without crown). Keen to hear what the rest of the world thinks of our designs, good and bad it's the only way to improve.

GMT with power reserve


Chronograph with carbon fibre dial



ps. sorry for the amateur pictures, we did it with a pns.

Thanks,
Sean Wai

Very interesting design. What does the needle at the 12 position indicate.

It's a power reserve indicator.

I like it. Unique and different. What movement are you using for it.

Sean... first of all... congrats on the project! That you guys went ahead to pursuit your dreams! More power to ya!! and Best of luck!!

For me... the watch doesnt give me the "WOW" factor! It gave me a mixture of IWC ( crown )/ Pam/ Anonimo ( a combination of 2 ). I frowned when I looked at the pics and asked myself "what design/ style they are trying to achieve?"

Good luck and update here with your journey!

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

Thank you for your sincere opinion. Although in a way I do agree with you, I would like to explain why the designs are the way they are, to give an insight to how the decisions were made rather than to defend it.

When we set out to design the watch, we wanted to create a large stainless steel sports/ dress watch. Obviously the premise being to design a watch style that we personally liked the way we wanted it. We essentially set out designing a round dial set on a rounded off square case. And lets face it, there's only so many ways you can design a watch case in that style. I personally feel there is enough difference to stand apart from a PAM or Anonimo.

We are not watch designers by training, and alot of the cues that you've picked up weren't necessarily at the back of our minds during the design process, rather stumbled upon. For example, using a diamond crown was just an obvious choice because it fit the size of the case and functioned well for some of our winding movements. Whether IWC created or popularized this crown style and hence would look strange on a PAM 'looking' case wasn't even a consideration. In our mind function and aesthetics wise it was a perfect match. I feel that being less influenced by the stigma of mixing and matching assumed norms do lead to very interesting variations especially of something so simple as a watch.

Again, thank you for the comments, do note that these are our first attempts at designing a watch that we feel offered something unique to the watch community. We only hope to get better and more so with comments like yours.... sometimes 2c is worth more.

5/10 for effort
Alot of Panerai Scuderia Ferrari stylistic detail which is part of Panerai's DNA. ...themed DNA inspiration in the design - good try - do something original you have talent just need some original design philosophy ....
Cheers guys

The case shape is unique and interesting. I'm not a big fan of the "O" at the 12 o'clock position. It seems gratuitous. Other than that, I like the dial design, especially on the GMT.

I think it would look better with a more "square" crown. The case is very square but rounded. A complimentary crown might look better.

The dial isn't singing to me at all. For me, the big hands need simple dial. Try alternative hands if you are having so much detail. Good luck and post some more pics.

thus if you had a base, or just a second hand along with the hour and minute hands, that would sing to me. I do see influences by IWC, Anonimo, Panerai Sub hands, and even Rolex also...however it is different enough to stand on it's own IMHO in many ways too. All in all a good first effort. I like thick straps....how wide is the strap on the watch right now? I would go with at least 24mm, but 26mm straps would compliment it even better IMHO. I still like it though...not bad...

L8R, Michael

Many great responses and ideas. Trust me when I say we tried the watches with many many many crowns and hands and these were the only ones that fit the watch design best. It may not be perfect, but you know, perfect is something very subjective.

We'll take all these comments and try to digest it somehow for our next designs. It's definitely an interesting market and designing a watch from scratch was definitely not the easiest thing to do. To a large degree, the pricepoint of the watches determined the design. On one hand it is great to be totally original, on the other, it's gonna cost alot not just in opening molds for everything but also to do marketing for completely original designs. We felt that it would be easier to launch a watch that people could relate to immediately. We do have a new design that is a total departure from others, but that won't be out for sometime. I'll post some pics once that is ready.

I just saw that a very popular brand of watches started having 0 at the 12H.... guess it's coincidence, but I see the big boys feel it looks ok there too.

The straps are 4.5mm thick and 24mm wide. We will probably offer them as AM straps. 26mm straps look really good but didn't fit the case design.

Just got this in the mail yesterday. I think it exceeded my expectations by a mile. The regulateur actually turned out nicer than the illustrations/ designs, not too sure why. I guess the rose gold was hard to imagine.





Still appreciate all comments

I really like the RG case...very nice. I am still a SS kind of guy, but maybe some day I will have another Gold watch...but I do have two at this time, however they don't see any wrist time

All in all a good effort IMHO, Michael