Incognito – The fashion bracelet with a secret second life.

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Design submitted by Peter from the UK.

Peter says: It may come to a surprise to TF fans and blog submitters alike, but believe it or not not everyone wears watches. Many don’t particularly like them and prefer to wear jewellery or leather bracelets etc. For that reason I decided to design a simple concept based on a cuff style leather bracelet that looks and feels like a leather bracelet but has a covert LED watch built in, “Incognito” was born

I have created a few simple examples of what a time smuggling bracelet may look like.

My thoughts are that the bracelet could be made of leather, carbon fibre effect leather, faux leather or maybe rubber like materials. The bracelet would feature bold stitching and simple press stud fastenings. The watch modual would be hidden inside the bracelet with no obvious external signs. The LEDs would protrude through the leather to imitate the stitching so would be invisble to the un-intiated. Its only when the display is activated that all is revealed. The buttons would be on the front of the module under the leather and you would simple press malleable areas on the front of the bracelet to activate time or settings

For my examples I have illustrated two 12/5/9 style formats and an analogue format not dissimilar to “seven’s” time telling. Digital formats would also be possible with this style of concept.

This concept may appeal to people who wouldn’t normally wear a watch, people who like casual jewellery and leather products. Such a concept may also appeal to people who like out-door persuits like surfers and skateboarders etc.

The leather bracelet inspiration and covert time telling makes this design stand out from the more conventional.

24 thoughts on “Incognito – The fashion bracelet with a secret second life.”

  2. “time smuggling bracelet” – ha ha, excellent!

    Yes I really like this idea. As long as the module can be kept small & concealed it would really work.
    On that side I would like to see a flexible circuit board embedded between the leather layers, perhaps a wire inside leading round to a battery at the back.

    My favourite is the last one in two-tone, but all 3 are very nice. Top marks.

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    • Thanks a lot for posting and commenting Toky, great feedback! If it wasn’t possible to make a flexible modual or one small enough to be fully concealed it could protrude from the underside of the bracelet if it was inboard of the sides. So you just see a bit of a gap between leather a wrist. Another thought is if you needed plenty of power then maybe you could have a second smaller bracelet that you can connect with a built in power, like a range extender. Cheers again! 😀

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  3. Quality design work Pete! Simple but effective. I agree with TF that the electronics need to be as well hidden as possible. A chunkier buckle might be a way to house batteries etc? It might mess up the simplicity (and the covert nature) of the concept, though… Anyway, I’m sure it’s not impossible to solve.

    I actually prefer the two-tone as well, hopefully it’ll be in stores soon! Best of luck! =)

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    • Nice suggestion Anders. Maybe the batteries could be visible/external so they don’t take up internal room. You just des guise them as rivets or studs etc. so they hide in plain sight. Hopefully there are possible solutions, cheers for the feedback and vote sir! 😀

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      • An idea I had when I’d posted was that the press studs (for closing the bracelet) could be used as battery compartments. If you make them oversize, you could have screw-tops on the inside of the inner (male?) halves… Just a thought…

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  4. Hi Pete, I’m not too bracelet, even if this one is fine.
    I went to see your projects, it’s incredible diversity and imagination, with the mastery of 3D, woua!
    To me, Pete deserves 5 ​​stars and a big Yes to all its designs, bravo!
    (in addition, it is very sympathetic nerve, which does not waste anything)

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    • Thanks a lot Patrick, yeah this design isnt for everyone. Bonefide watch lovers may prefer a watch that is obviousy a watch. Cheers for checking out my ever growing collection, must be over 130 by now lol.
      Cheers for the feedback and the vote! 😀

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  5. At first I thought it was going to be like a non-TF watch I’ve seen on the Internet, which I think was called Grim Pilgrim or something like that. However, that was just a dot matrix showing through an all round leather strap and had a very chunky watch underneath. This is sooo much better!
    The other watch mentioned above makes me think that having a full TF watch just under the LEDs would not really be a problem – after all, TF watches can be very thin. There could be, like Rorschach, leather running under the watch too, if that helped hide it.
    All three variants are great, but I prefer the 2-tone and the RGB LEDs – this looks fantastic.
    Another “must make” – good luck and 5*/Y

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    • I just looked at that grim pilgrim watch (strange name) it is a bit on the clunky side to say the least. They probably used on off the shelf module rather than a bespoke one. If feasibility did mean a chunky body under the leather bracelet it should be narrower than the bracelet so it isn’t so obvious. And if it is fairly obvious it should be a contrasting material. Maybe chrome so it looks like a gap rather than a watch body. Hopefully if TF did consider this design for development they could keep it slim. Cheers for liking and the feedback as ever sir 😀

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      • My thoughts were that if people buy a watch as chunky and with the case as obvious as in grim p, then the wonders TF can do with watches (thin / narrow cases) would mean that it would probably not be necessary to separate the battery with wiring around the bracelet (which sounds at risk to me when just using leather).
        Anyway, I’m sure they will be able to come up with a great solution to this minor challenge (non existant, in my mind) and the watch will be an excellent addition to their range 🙂

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  6. I can see this having real potential as both Leather Fashion Cuff & a timepiece. Brilliantly executed Pete.

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  9. I like the idea. I have a watch with a similar idea ( 2 columns of round LED’s = 12x1H & 24×2.5M ) but it lack a proper custom adjustment that is present here. (it’s a one size with one magnet. & it’s in rubber, which is very uncomfortable in the summer) I like that you did them with 2 studs. Of course, more stud could be added to give a broader custom adjustment.

    I like the carbon-fiber & the dual-tone finishes. Leather/false-leather isn’t my style. I like both 12-5-9 with a slight advantage to the 2nd type. I like the analog but I’m not sure about the +1/+4. It might be because it look like it’s right to left. L to R might fix things. Or because of their “forced” positions.

    I would buy.

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    • Cheers for the epic feedback as ever Makko. I think the world needs more un-conventional watches like this and the one you mention. Fingers crossed TF see the potential, cheers 😀

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  10. Time is running out for this concept so just wanna say a quick thanks to TF for posting it here and everyone who took the time to vote, comment and share.
    Cheers everyone!

    Pete from the UK 🙂

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