Fortunately , talented Austrian craftsman Ingomar Gaksch was up for the challenge . We decided to power the watch with a Unitas 6497-1 movement . I am not talking a standard-off-the shelf mechanism , but a wonderful brushed steel minimalistic skeletonized version .
DUET Not long after Hemisphere , I began to work with another Russian craftsman named Ruslan Skuitte . I presented Skuitte with a concept of an oval , dual time zone watch called the Duet . For this project , the case is constructed from solid silver and the dial hand-carved from Grenadilla , an African hardwood .
Originally , I envisaged a timepiece with two skeletonized subdials . However , to maintain a diameter of 60mm , the only viable caliber was the Swiss-made ETA 2671 , which isn ’ t a skeleton . Therefore , I had to go back to the drawing board to find a more cohesive solution . This meant solid brushed silver dials with ‘ Yin and Yang ’ laser-cut detailing and industrial style drilled hands .
The ‘ Duet ’ project with Ruslan Skuitte was the first timepiece I ’ ve designed that could be made to order . Already a few watch enthusiasts have expressed an interest in this piece . Potentially , I would like to manufacture different variants of this watch using different types of woods . There is also the possibility of making a ghost version with a transparent sapphire dial .
CONCRETE ‘ EDGE ’ Most of the watches I have designed and created so far are examples of what is possible . They are experimentally but could potentially be adapted to customer specifications .
A few years ago , I became fascinated with concrete as a material . In the 1990s this material was synonymous with a high density of large , unattractive , modern buildings and spurred the term Concrete Jungle . However , in recent years it has become a preferred choice for architects and industrial designers . This inspired me to write Concrete Dream Homes , my sixth book ( due to be published 2021 ). I also created a bespoke Italian Nappa blazer using digital printed concrete textured leather and concrete buttons . This inspired me to create a very unusual watch called the Edge .
Within the watch industry brands like 22 Design Studio , Diesel , Dzmitry Samal , Hublot and Giuliano Mazzuoli have achieved interesting results with concrete . In 2018 I also had the opportunity to work with the English craftsman George Slaughter .
George had made some concrete buttons for my bespoke leather blazers and was experimenting with different textures . I wanted to create a very large hexagonal case with a very raw brutalist aesthetic .
84 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | WINTER 2021