SPECIFICATIONS :
The Wilbur LEO JW1
CASE : 48.50mm X 46.00mm X 16.50mm 8-part modular titanium ( materials can vary by edition ), sapphire crystals w / anti-reflective coating , 30 meters of water resistance , hand finished , exhibition back .
MOVEMENT / DIAL : In-house Engine One automatic jumphour , made in Switzerland by Concepto ,, hours displayed on proprietary sapphire & aluminum jump-hour disks shown under central window , minutes on hubless ring disc ( fixed pointer on bridge ) and seconds on small disc ( fixed pointer on bridge ). JW1 movement chassis , JW 1 rotor
STRAPS : Black silicone with Cordura option . BASE PRICE : $ 32,500 .
TUMBLING SATELLITE
The latest Wilbur watch is out of this world .
WHILE THE WILBUR LEO IS ROUND AND RESTS ON THE WRIST like a traditional watch , its sculptural , multi-part titanium case does not enclose traditional hour , minute and seconds hands . The LEO instead displays the time in an unusual manner on a dial that looks like a satellite tumbling its way around Earth ’ s orbit .
At the center of this 48.5mm by 46mm titanium puzzle the LEO displays the hour prominently – and digitally .
The hour digit that appears in the LEO ’ s central aperture is actually a mash-up of two otherwise indecipherable symbols that meet once per hour . One clear sapphire disks and another brushed-black sapphire disk rotate twice a day on either side of the hour display . When they meet , those ‘ alien ’ symbols form the correct hour digit at the dial ’ s center .
To display minutes and seconds , the LEO returns to earth , displaying each at the end of fixed bridges that double as hands .
Wilbur ’ s other-worldly method of creating the hour digit is put into practice by Swiss movement engineering company Concepto , and is a global premiere .
Jason Wilbur , company founder and chief designer , explains that the LEO took him seven years to finalize . The idea originated from learning about the Roswell , New Mexico , ‘ alien ’ stories .
“ I wanted to create something that sprang from learning in my youth about the Roswell incident with all its alien stuff ,” he recalls .
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