Hemisphere , by Martin Pauli and Ben Birkett , designed by Steve Huyton .
WITH THE HELP OF A FEW FRIENDS , AUTHOR STEVE HUYTON ALSO DESIGNS AVANT-GARDE WATCHES . HERE , HE BRINGS US BEHIND THE SCENES DURING THE DESIGN AND PRODUCTION OF A FEW CUSTOM PIECES .
ORIGINALLY WHEN I BEGAN WRITING ABOUT WATCHES IT ’ S FAIR TO SAY MY PRIMARY FOCUS WAS Haute Horlogerie . I vividly recollect visiting high-end boutiques to get access to exclusive limited-edition timepieces and quickly became fascinated with smaller brands that previously had never appeared in print before .
This journey led to a fortuitous encounter with acclaimed jet engineer Frank Heydrich , who also created his own meteorite watches .
Initially , Frank Heydrich made me a custom-made watch called the ‘ Mini Meteorite ’ to review on my website . In subsequent conversations , I informed Frank of my watch designing aspirations .
POLARIS I had a concept , called the Polaris , loosely based on an iconic clock from legendary 20th Century industrial designer George Nelson . Essentially , I wanted to create a large Swiss mechanical timepiece with three-dimensional spherical markers .
The project took over a year because every component was custom-made . Originally Frank was going to make the case using CNC machine . However , due to time restraints , it was eventually 3D-printed by a laser sintering company that normally specialized in manufacturing parts for the aerospace industry .
After showing Polaris at Baselworld in 2015 , I featured the Polaris ( under the label of Paolo Mathai Horology ) in my first book entitled ‘ Limited Edition Watches ’.
PURE CARBON In late 2015 I had several conversations with a watch manufacturer in
Switzerland to make a carbon version of the Polaris with black onyx spherical markers and three-dimensional carbon fiber hands . The quotes were astronomical , and their factory didn ’ t have the capability of fabricating carbon hands , which was integral to the design . Therefore , I had to fastidiously research to find more viable alternatives .
Around this time , I was working with Austrian craftsman Ingomar Gaksch , who previously made me some bespoke straps with carbon buckles . Even though he didn ’ t have the capabilities to create the entire watch , he could provide the raw material .
It took two years to develop Pure Carbon ( pictured on the following page ), and that couldn ’ t have been achieved without my watchmaker friend Ben Birkett .
Originally , we were going to make an identical copy ( in carbon ) of the Polaris . However , we decided to increase the proportions dramatically and make a 67mm diameter ( excluding the crown ) supersize watch . As far as I ’ m aware this is the largest Swiss mechanical carbon timepiece in the world .
HEMISPHERE My third project , called Hemisphere , is a collaboration with Martin Pauli ( Angular Momentum ) and Ben Birkett , my partner on many subsequent projects .
What makes collaborating with Birkett really special is that we visualize the overall aesthetic in a similar way . For example , we both thought that setting tiny globes into the bezel would create an amazing dome-like ( hemisphere ) effect .
Originally black onyx seemed the natural choice because it worked well for the Pure Carbon . However , as the project progressed carbon fiber became a more logical solution due to the fact that the hands and crown are
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