During "the week of the bedside table" at the Hogeschool Utrecht I got the opportunity to work on something I'd like for four full days. I decided to make my very own watch, a project that had been on my bedside table for over two years. For me this watch would be something I could use to show people what I do as a product designer as well as something I could just be really proud of and wear everyday.
More info on the week of the bedside table can be found here.
* Wiskey flask by Matthijs Huijben
I spent my first day on working out a design by sketching and research, by the end of the day I had a concept that could be translated into a solidworks model. I also started to source materials like leather for the band. In order to keep the project feasible I decided from the start to use some of my old watches as a source for the parts I could not easily make. Some of these parts were for example the inner clockwork and winding button, which were too small and complex for the 3D printer.
On the second day I translated my design into a 3D model, After consulting with the expert on some of the small details, the watchcase was printed on the same day!
I spent most of the third day working on adding a smooth finish to the case and painting it black. Next to that I also designed the watch face and prepared the leather for the wristband. Thanks to very helpful advice from my classmates I decided it would be best to print the wach face as a sticker for optimal quality. Unfortunately I was not able to do this on such short notice.
On the last day I assembled the watch, and cut and threaded the wrist band, which turned out to be quite a challenge. I kept working hard with the deadline fast approching and finished the watch just in time for our week of the bedside table exposition!
During this week I learned just how much you can do in only four days and with a lot of dedecation and enthousiasm. I greatly enjoied working in an environment full of enthousiastic people working on amazing projects. The next step will be to redesign the watch and making it from original parts. I have already started my research, now i just need a week to just do it!
