With the eye of the artist ...

*

The watch is no longer just a tool to measure time.

Just like outstanding jewelry, it is a way to express one's personality and style.

Huge brands not only impose some trends, but fit in these trends as well.

We focus on individuality, uniqueness and self-expression through artistic, one of a kind works.

Uniqueness is definitely something more than "limited edition".

There is only one ArtWatch No. 1 at the world.

Express yourself by the Art

*

This is the first luxury watch hand made by us according to our own idea and design.

It was born from the desire to create a unique item, not intended for mass production.

With the desire to prove, that the wristwatch can be a work of art, not just a product. 

It is unique – made in just one copy. 

*

Short description of main elements you will find in the table below.

*

	Monoblock watch-case decorated with a mechanical ornament was made in just one copy of 925 silver. Finished with hand-bent and polished titanium on the wrist side.
	Hand-cut sheets of the best sapphire glasses. Extremely hard and scratch-resistant.
	A dial is hand crafted from scratch. Crouching dragon on it, is a unique bas-relief made of... parts of watch movements - using them is distinctive for our art.
	Watch-hands are hand cuted according to our own design. Gold plated.
	Mounting elements (for example: screws, gasket, socket pipes) are made by hand.
	Clasp of a leather strap is hand-made of 925 silver.
	Swiss automatic movement ETA 2892A2 with 42h power-reserve. (we used a movement in a version for Longines watches)
	Unique strap made of cayman leather was designed especially to ArtWatch No. 1 and 100% hand sewn by Jakub Szymaniak.

*

 ArtWatch No. 1 will be sent to the new owner in a box designed and hand crafted by us of exotic wood. 

Also a short album which contains the most important information about history of this watch, warranty and users manual will be attached to ArtWatch No. 1.

If it will be bought by a customer from Poland – one of us will bring it to the buyer personally.

In the case of a foreign customer, it will be sent to the buyer by insured courier parcel.

*

*

FULL DESCRIPTION:

*

HOW THE IDEA OF UNIQUE WATCH WAS BORN

*

Many of our clients have been asking, if we have any timepieces except jewelry. I used to response that it's beyond our technological range and even if one day I'll do something working, it wouldn't be cheap, because I will make it at the highest possible level. I think it is important, that we managed to resist market pressure and did not start ordering in Asia. But the idea was still in the back of my mind...

The decision to take care of it seriously was taken after the first festival It's All About Watches in 2017.

After talks with Torsten Nagengast and Augustin Matei, we found that we can make the dial, however standard sizes of ready watch-cases complicated the matter. In addition, we realized that timepiece is not only a dial, but: a watch-case, hands, strap and everything related to it as well. I've started following the industry, technologies and trends; collecting materials, tools, books and documents; talk to the experts, watchmakers, collectors.

First drafts I already made in November 2017. Main technical assumptions at that stage were: a monoblock watch-case, using silver, titanium, sapphire glass, a premium quality Swiss movement and a dial made entirely by hand using our artistic skills and favorite material - watch parts.

The timepiece created in this way was planned to be outstanding beauty, mostly locally and hand crafted and absolutely UNIQUE watch. Yes, I know - it's totally crazy to put so much effort into just one, single piece. But why only one? It's quite simple: when the project assumes the production of some copies, we talk rather about the „design”. And if you make just one item - you can create a „Work of art”. And that was the plan :)

*

STERLING SILVER WATCH CASE PROJECT

*

Although this timepiece was supposed to be a work of art, its construction has been well thought out.

The watch-case was precisely made of sterling silver with huge attention to dimensions. Both parts of it perfectly fit to each other and are screwed together with self-made stainless steel screws. All delicate ornaments are recessed in the watch-case block, to protect them from possible damage. The strap ears are integrated with the watch-case – it makes them stronger and allows to reduce optically dimensions of whole watch. Watch-case width (without crown) is 40mm, while its length is 44mm. The thickness is 14.5mm.

Silver as a precious metal has a whole range of interesting properties, its surface is naturally getting dark for instance. We decided to use this feature as an advantage: all surfaces of the watch-case are multifaceted - grooves, recessed mechanical ornaments are supposed to stay dark, while all protruding edges will automatically polish themself while wearing.

Watch - case was additionally strenghtened by titanium plate from the wrist side. It is also a kind of protection against allergies (just in case, if someone would be allergic to silver). There are several varieties of titanium. I chose Grade 5 because of its extraordinary durability and resistance to crack (this type of titanium is used in the aviation industry). Titanium grade 5 has also a very good compatibility with human tissues and bones (it is used in implantology) and excellent corrosion resistance. Unfortunately, due to the high stiffness, Grade 5 can be formed only at very high temperatures (around 1200C). I cut the shape of the plate, I drilled it (for placing telescopes) and bent precisely to make it fit perfectly to the watch-case. Next I had to polish the plate – I managed, but it wasn't easy. The effect fully rewards all my effort.

*

EXCLUSIVE WATCH WITH SAPPHIRE GLASS

*

There is only one glass protecting the dial and watch-hands in normal timepiece, but nothing was supposed to be normal in this project! I've designed octagonal dome of 9 glass plates.

The sapphire glass I used is extremely hard and scratch resistant (9 points on the Mosh's scale - 10 points is for a diamond), Sapphire glass is resistant to solvents and temperature fluctuations, but is very difficult to shape and grind it instead. What's more, sapphire glass is highly transparent for the entire range of the spectrum.

It was necessary to cut out 9 tiles of sapphire glass. 9 tiles of precisely calculated dimensions and inclination angles of the side edges. The idea is that these glasses hold themselves like an igloo walls - the pressure on any wall is transferred to the others, which are based on a specially profiled inner ring in the watch-case. The outside glasses edges are protected by a silver cage and all abuting glass edges are sealed with special watchmaking glue.

As you can see, despite its openwork construction, a dome closing the interior of the watch is assumed to be very resistant.

*

SEALING SYSTEM  OF A LUXURY MEN'S WATCH

*

Even a simple timepiece has to be tight to be functional - any dirt and moisture inside are unacceptable. That's why I designed own gasketing system. At the beginning I decided to make a monoblock watch-case, because it doesn't have a lid on the wrist. It eliminates one sensitive point of the watch, but the movement, dial and watch-hands must be mounted from above in this kind of watch. I designed the connection of the watch-case block with the dome with a narrow, tightly fitted V-groove, which is protecting interior of a watch against the dust. There is a place prepared for a silicone gasket directly behind it (to protect a watch against moisture). Another barrier is the steep ring supporting the glasses. Two elements of the watch-case wedge each other and are screwed together by four stainless steel screws. Screws are also made by me. I had to shape them out and tap by myself. Also the gasket had to be prepared from scratch. So we made a gasket of silicone.

The construction of the crown is based on a proven solution of a tube and a double gasket placed inside it. The crown is covered with an octagonal sterling silver cap. It is also protected from both sides by two solid insets on the watch-case - the so-called „crown guards”.

*

LUXURY WATCH WITH A DRAGON ON THE DIAL

*

A dial of this timepiece is hand crafted from scratch. The dragon crouching on it, is a unique bas-relief made of watch parts by my wife Anna. And why the Dragon? Dragons are mythical and magical reptiles – identified with: great intelligence, authority, wisdom, and power... but also with: chaos, evil and destruction. Dragons are often guardians of great treasures. In psychology the dragon was a personification of human fears and the dark side of personality. He stood in opposition to the hero, who had to overcome the evil in himself.

Our dragon is sitting in this project - this are all adversities, which we had to overcome to make a dream about creating this timepiece come true.

Apart from any decorations, hourly indexes are placed on the dial as a standard. Anna designed the composition of the dial in an unconventional way - there are only a few hourly indexes on the dial, complementary to the bas-relief with dragon. We could afford this eccentricity, because right indexes went to the outer, top ring of the dome at the very first, designing stage. Oh well... nothing is ordinary here.

*

HAND CRAFTED & GOLD PLATED WATCH HANDS

*

Watch-hands were also an interesting challenge. First, it was necessary to design their shape, which would not be the same as any ready-made solutions. I started the work with: a stylus, a frame-saw, drills, a caliper and a loupe. The minute and hour hands were not as hard to do as the second hand - the longest, thinnest and perfectly balanced with a counterweight stylized to our „T” logo. You have to know, that a dial with dragon sculpture of watch parts is thicker than any other wrist-watch dial. Because of dial thickness, watch-hands are mounted on sleeves. I made these sleeves of interior diameters 1.5mm, 0.9mm i 0.25mm(!) by myself. I placed watch – hands on sleeves and rivetted them. Next - elements prepared in this way were covered with 24K gold.

*

ARTISTIC MEN'S WATCH WITH SWISS MOVEMENT ETA 2892A2

*

We really would like to put inside some movement made in Poland. But no original Polish wristwatch movements have ever been produced in this country. Some timepieces were imported form Switzerland and rebranded in Poland before the war. After the war, in PRL, some movements were produced on Soviet licenses and components here. But none of these were ours. The reasons for this situation were describe by W. Podwapiński already in 1956 („Zegarmistrzostwo” VI pages 32-33). We decided to swiss quality and a proven solution when choosing a movement. Type and thickness of the movement were important criteria of choice. We wanted some thin movement with automatic winding. It also had to be perfect quality and quite popular, so it is easy to service it. Finally we chose ETA 2892A2 movement and bought one brand new and originally packed. Movement used in Artwatch No. 1 is dedicated to Longines wristwatches, but also brands such as: IWC, Omega, Breitling, Tudor and others used this model in their projects.

*

UNIQUE DRAGON WATCH WITH CAYMAN LEATHER STRAP AND STERLING SILVER CLASP

*

Extraordinary timepiece needs an extraordinary strap. This obviously couldn't be typical, available „from catalog” product.. It had to be a super premium class, handmade item specially designed to this unconventional item. Just like with the movement, we turned to a specialist. Jakub Filip Szymaniak designed a strap in original shape specially for the ArtWatch No. 1.. Next he created a prototype and finally sewed the strap of a truly dragon's material – premium class, certified cayman leather (caiman crocodillus fuscus) bought from European distributor. This strap emphasizes the predatory nature of the beast from the dial. Triangular profilings of leather refer to the watch-case shapes. The strap was made entirely by hand - Jakub sewed it by himself using waxed thread on two needles. Holes for threads he made traditionally with an awl.

A strap clasp fitting to the shape of watch-case was made in our atelier. I made it by hand, in traditional goldsmith techniques, from sterling silver and stainless steel.

*

HOW DID WE MAKE THIS ONE OF A KIND  WATCH

*

Installation of all previously prepared elements was probably the most difficult stage of work. There was no place for any mistakes. Titanium plate had to perfectly fit to the watch-case, because holes for telescopes in titanium and silver had to be in line. Installation of the strap on telescopes and screwing on a clasp. Movement with winding steam had been well set in the prepared space under the dial. Every sleeve with watch-hand had been firmly mounted on its axis and all three of the sleeves had been installed one in another (like a matryoshka). The dome had been carefuly equipped in nine sapphire glasses and next both elements of the watch-case and the gasket had been screwed together. There is no such thing as „almost well” in watchmaking. Work is done or correctly or failed! That's why, while assembly, all the elements had to fit to each other... like in a watch :)

*

PREMIERE OF THE LUXURY MEN'S WATCH – MY LECTURE ON „IT'S ALL ABOUT WATCHES” FESTIVAL

*

The idea of ArtWatch was born thanks to the first edition of this festival. The project implemented by us, was supported by Association for the Promotion and Development of Watchmaking. That's why it was quite natural, that we showed Artwatch for the first time at the festival organized by this association. Let me remind you that our assumptions were unusual:

* we had a plan to make just one, unique, luxury timepiece. Single copy.

* it was going to be unusual and recognizable at first glance,

* we wanted to created a work of art, not only a product,

* we showed, that it's possible, to make a wristwatch nearly from scratch in this country... and WE can make it.

For this reasons, a story of ArtWatch was presented during my lecture, which I had a pleasure to give during festival „It's all about watches” in 2018.

photo by Michał Woźniak CZASOFILE 

*

A HAND MADE ROSEWOOD BOX FOR OUR LUXURY WRISTWATCH

*

A unique timepiece needs also a suitable box. We made it by ourselves from scratch of rosewood. Massive, raw and simple wooden box was intended to be a contrast to the open-work dome construction. Smoked and waxed rosewood is also a contrast to the light gray fabric inside the box. Optical impression of austerity of the block contrasts with silky smooth, natural, waxed wood. The packaging is supposed to surprise with itself and with the hidden content.

*

DOCUMENTATION, WARRANTY AND USERS MANUAL OF OUR ARTISTIC WATCH

*

The finishing of all works is an album briefly presenting the history and stages of the creation of an ArtWatch No. 1. We prepared a book, which is going to be delivered to the future owner of an ArtWatch together with this unique timepiece. This publication very shortly describes individual components of it and our assumtions. It also contains warranty and users manual. So the customer will receive all relevant documents in a compact, book-like form.

*

OUR PHILOSOPHY - IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A REALLY UNIQUE WATCH?

*

We realized that there is almost a dictatorship of design on the market. It is a result of economic, practical and technological considerations. It comes also from desire to join the trends of large brands – because people mostly prefer being like everyone else, because they need for acceptance. Large companies with huge budgets, a staff of economists, market analysts and engineers, create fashion and social demand for their products. Even small manufacturers (or maybe especially them) create typical timepieces that must appeal to a wider range of customers. Models similar to others are created from parts "from the catalog", produced mostly in Asia. Differing from each other only by details sometimes... and often referring to already recognizable and liked models or themes (from historical to cosmic).

We didn't want to become another micro-brand in this spinning wheel. We chose our own way - hard and steep, in spite of trends. ArtWatch No. 1 is an expression of independence and persistence towards everything around us. It is amazing to realize that there will never be another the same construction in the world. ArtWatch is like a fingerprint, like a picture in the gallery, like a live concert played for one person. You read something more than the time when you look at it. And the dragon in the silver cage reminds that this is not the end of the fight...