Fragments – Stacked Discs Tells Time

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Design submitted by Anders from Sweden.

Anders says: I was looking at animations of some ultra high-end watches and inspiration struck to make something with a similar feel, but less complicated and more affordable. I wanted to use a standard analog movement, but that soon proved impossible. Hopefully the visual impact of the display exceeds the increased complexity.

Time telling should be easy: the outer ring of numbers tell the hour by the only digit which isn’t scrambled, and single minutes are told by the inner digits. The current 5-minute group is indicated by the lines between the numbers: the two lines that match up mark the spot.

The display is made up of stacked discs which rotate a certain amount each hour/minute to reveal the next number. The watch itself should be metal to give a solid, quality feel. In its current form it probably appeals more to men, but a feminine version should not be impossible.

Backlighting the display should be a given. I came up with some options when I was working on it; most obviously to have three numbers instead of two, to ease readability. Colour and material options are almost endless. Its unusual technical solutions should ensure it has a considerable wow-factor.

25 thoughts on “Fragments – Stacked Discs Tells Time”

  1. Calliperlicious 😀 Very cool idea Anders. I like the fragment look and all the color combinations. I think maybe the 10-minute groups should be in the ring and the remaining 9 numbers in the middle. So there is only one of five alignments to find. I’m not sure if this would work though. But generally, this display that looks different through-out the day and so strange is cool. I hope this or something like this can be done. 5*/YES and good luck!!

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    • Thanks for the support Sam!
      I had a few different ideas of how to ‘divide’ the time, unfortunately I had most of them after I’d modelled the watch face and made the textures…=) The best alternative I’ve come up with is probably to have three numbers, with the minutes to the right of the center of the face, to avoid having to find the correct number and add up. Not sure it’s worth modelling though…=)
      The big problem in making this would be the movement, since it needs to be very particular and exact to make the number fragments line up correctly. Hopefully the good folks at TF can make it work.

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  2. Really interesting concept this which also happens to look great! My only change would be to make the 5 min lines more obvious. The hours and single minutes are nice and clear but I had to really look for the lines. That said its a minor detail really. 5/Y best of luck sir! 😀

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    • I know what you mean with the 5-minute lines, it’s really the achilles heel of this concept. As I mentioned to Sam there are a few alternative solutions, I hope someone will have the chore of making it work…=)
      Cheers for the support mate!

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  3. Hi Anders, in your project there is a side “retro” with the strap of the 60s and the revelation of the hidden numbers reminds me of adventure movies where you have to find a secret code to activate the opening of a door …
    I love animation, superb!
    5 * / Yes.

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    • Now that you mention it, it does look a bit 60’s-ish. I’m glad you like it, and that my little animation turned out as well as it did. =) Thanks Patrick!

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  4. Awesome. Love the blue and silver one. Your watches have that “jewellery” quality about them. There’s an element of class. 5y

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  6. Snygg… ser fint ud. -As a fellow Norseman I have to support Anders with this one. I love the blue and silver one.

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  7. This is my favorite of yours I think, Anders. It both hides conventional digits and features glyphs, much appreciated features by me. The only thing I would ask is if you could add a rubber strap version that would feature some of the glyphs enlarged, and printed around it evenly spaced like language. I can picture this on your red-on-black version, with large glyphs down a black band in either a matching red or a bold contrasting yellow. Can also picture the red on white with maybe black-outlined yellow glyphs. I’d buy one of those today. Love your concept–5*/y!

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  8. It is certainly a great design. I do agree with Pete that the 5 minutes lines need to be more obvious – I would struggle to read this otherwise. If that could be resolved, I’d definitely want one. 5*/Y

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  9. great idea. very outside the box. fresh and new. I like the silver and blue. 5*
    beautiful renders. 🙂

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  11. Anders, dunno why but I find it a bit disappointing just having to look at the 2 recognisable numbers when telling the time. As usual your graphics are great tho. 😉

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    • Thanks for the comment mushy! I know what you mean, my first sketches were a bit more spectacular (one big number across the whole face showing the time in sequence, for example), but as the design progressed this seemed the most makeable, and the most readable… =)

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  12. I love this watch. particularly the first and last two models. like the last commentor, I do not like the real numbers in there. maybe if the real numbers were replaced with two other special symbols only we would know to look at 🙂

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