Prototype N. 01

My first foray in to real independent watchmaking.

The inspiration for this project was my desire for a modestly sized, manual wind, time only movement, something which is nearly impossible to find outside of very high price movements. This would be the type of movement that would be in my ideal “every day” watch, and because I couldn’t buy it I decided to make it.

The movement began as a Venus based chronograph, which was then modified to remove the chronograph related components as cleanly as possible. The movement was then entirely stripped of its original nickel plating, at which point I added the polished bevels and other decorations, and finally nickel plated again. I have since replaced other small components as well, such as the setting lever bridge and the ratchet wheel.

The case is made of three parts; bezel, midcase and caseback, all made from C954 aluminum bronze. This material starts as a brilliant gold when freshly finished, but has since patinaed to a very dark tone. All of the case components were made on a Haas OM2 CNC mill and finished by hand.

The dial is made of engine turned silver with inked markers. The hands were laser cut from sheet metal before being sized and painted.