The solution found with the Timeless Watch HMS may be the best available: make the date window take up more space so as not to be left stranded in the dial, waiting for rescue. This is why you see date windows encroaching on hour markers and floating in the middle of dials at 4:30. Here’s the thing: if you want to make a watch of a certain size, your dial design will still be hamstrung by the diameter of the movement. My first impression was that it was like a Magic 8 Ball, which is not entirely accurate but is close enough. How do you feel about this date window? Scroll up to the wide dial shot and notice how the “DATE” text only becomes visible at angles. I like the shape and design, and legibility doesn’t suffer for the flatness, so it’s really a matter of opinion. The aperture reminds me of the openings of a safety razor, if you’re familiar. They’re a bit flat against the texture and contrast in the rest of the dial and the roundness of the case. The hands are made of blasted rose gold, with a polished steel seconds hand. And here, you can see the divots match the hour/5-minute indicators. The way the 5-minute numbering is included–not interrupting the chapter ring, but encapsulated within–is a great touch, too. Very design-forward, a bit Bauhaus, and I like how it emerges from the central ring and is segmented. It’s brilliantly done and plays with light superbly. While it dominates the dial’s real estate, the guilloche may be the least divisive part of this dial. There’s a lot to unpack with this dial: the font, the hands, the guilloche, the open gear, the date window, the name plate - that’s a long list to discuss. While I’d never put a case-side nameplate on a watch I designed, I’d never design a watch, so I don’t terribly mind. The rounded bezel and the shortness of the lugs, however, balance out any features that might have caused wearability to suffer. The watch sits rather nicely on the wrist, though the straighter lugs and concave case back might lead one to believe it would wear poorly. Perhaps the same form in non-PVD steel with a rose gold ring would have been a better fit? It’s not actually plastic, it’s steel with a black PVD coating but against all the metal of the case, it seems out of place. One thing I found to cheapen the look of the watch is the plasticky crown. As is found in much higher-end watches, these lugs are in fact individually screwed into the case from the interior. I love the rings of rose gold-plated stainless steel where the lugs join the case. Smartly, the caseband is broken apart from the bezel and caseback by thin polished rings. The brushed caseband complements the sandblasted lugs and bezel. While the dial has plenty to discuss, the case is really the highlight of the watch.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |