Piston Heads Analogue Watch Design

Posted on by

Design submitted by Dante from Indonesia.

The idea for this watch is from a system of cylinder head pistons of a vehicle engine, where the pistons move up and down.

The is a simple watch design which only consists of 12 pieces of large dots used as hour indicators and 10 pieces of small dots, each divided into 6 sections which stands as minute indicators.  The system only uses the rise and fall of the dots to tell the time.  When big dots are protruding, it shows AM, and when flat indicates PM.

The material used is metal with different finishes combined with elastic rubber/soft-grained leather.

34 thoughts on “Piston Heads Analogue Watch Design”

  1. sleek… totally sleek & cool.. love the robust feel of the watch! it is indeed a good harmony between modern & analogue!

    Like

  6. Agree with other post, it’s nice, no real wow factor. That being said, I don’t need every watch I buy to scream at me. Sometimes something that is subtle and cool is just as appealing.

    I would say it’s one of the more tastefully done watches in terms of design and finish. Display hard to read.

    Like

  7. A very beautiful design. Wow for Indonesia too. I love how the elastic rubber or soft leather strap works with the Aluminum. You could call it PISTON or V12. Now the question is how could this be made??

    Like

    • I had a slightly similar idea that I submitted a while back, and thought that linear piezo-electric motors might be a possible solution. They can be made very small, they’re rather powerful, as far as I know they are quite efficient and when switched off they hold their position. Might be worth looking into.

      Like

      • thank you for your interest ….. I really appreciate it .. for the watch working system, I initially thought to use a series of gear that is set by a digital system (PCB’s), but I don’t know what it looks like, it is still in my design stage, and I hope the team can assist in exchanging ideas and able to make it happen. And maybe the idea of Mr. Anders S can help their realization, thx Mr. Anders … 🙂

        Like

  8. personally i prefer digital clocks and watches, but i really dig the polished but steampunkish design of this watch.

    perhaps this could be realized using magnetic materials and a base that can be partially magnetized?
    of course, this would suggest that the watch is coated in a way that would prevent either the parts being influenced from outside and also influencing the batteries.

    Like

  9. Oh woof woof 😀 That looks industrial and yes, cool. Time reading is a bit hard but it looks sooo stylish! Maybe 5minute groups can be read better (5-10-15-20… easier than 6-12-18-24…) but this would change the layout. The combination of elastic strap with (almost) rigid exoskeleton is cool so far. But it is a little too much unfunctional matter for me. I totally love the smooth and rounded geometry.

    I had a quite similar submission (not that realistic looking… I’m jealous, tehehe. The screwz watch it was.) but there was a little problem mentioned. I was about movable parts exposed to dust. Dante, you are a product designer, can you tell us, is it actually a problem?

    Like

    • Thanks for the advice Mr. Samukun 🙂 , actually I did think to make dots minutes in multiples of 5 (1-5; 5-10; ….), but when visualization will look very crowded (not simple) because the number of dots minutes will increases. And for the dust, I guess it’s no big deal, because a very small distance between the body and the dots, and the hole has been designed for the entry of dust can be minimized. It will still be some dust, but can be cleaned with a brush periodically … Thanks… 🙂

      Like

  11. A very interesting watch, very cool design. Love to see it live in action :), but yeah it has caught my attention 😉

    Like

  12. Absolutely beautiful! great idea and design. I think the leather would be perfect for a watch like this. Please produce this Tokyoflash!

    Like

  14. I like the steam-punk flavour here too. Futuristic and unusual but using mechanical technology. I love the case and strap but am not overly keen on the frame around the case. As someone mentioned above, how it would be made is the question. It’s actually not all that easy to read on second glance.

    Like

  15. I feel like what makes it difficult to read is the tiny little individual minute indicators. Why not just make those solid pistons like the hours and since there are 10 of them every six minutes one could pop up. Alternatively, you could add two more and then each entire minute piston would be five minutes.

    I love the design, just trying to help it be more practical and easier to read.

    Like

    • 🙂 Thanks for the input Mr. Dylan…. About 1 dots with 5 minutes, actually that was easier to read, but if I add 2 more dots, it will create more crowded visualization… My considerations are also on the shutter and its proportion of the dots, if I add 2 more minutes dots, then the size of the dots minutes will be smaller and more difficult to read.

      By the way, thanks for your criticism and suggestions, I really appreciate it… Thanks again.. 🙂

      Like

      • I have another suggestion that might make the time reading easier without having to add dots or reduce minute size… It’s hard to explain in just words, so I copied one of your images and drew on it with a suggested alternative method to read the time.. It’s similar to 12-5-9, but with a twist.

        Like

  18. Wow Dante!
    That a really nice time piece you have created! Only a shame the strap can’t be adjust to a wrist, but I guess at this stage this is a detail.
    I would buy it!

    Like

  21. hey! this is almost the same concept i have been pondering at for years – even sent an email to tokyoflash about it (might have been a year ago).
    Differense would be that my idea is much larger than an arm wrist watch – rather a puplic space wall whatch.
    But the basic idea of enginge pistons are the same. and to keep things easy it’s 4×6 pistons. first two line hours, the other two minutes of 5. i should be big and clunky – you should hear the pistons clatch into position… and i would want it dirty and raw (and unpolished – maybe even rusty?) – rather than sleek and cool. hehe.

    Like

Comments are closed.