Portola Series
Art Deco x Minimalism. An exercise in using only a few simple well proportioned forms with contrasting textures, mesmerising reflections and different dial colours to create a series that is simple but has character and personality which takes time to fully discover. The watches in this series feature the same cushion shaped 39mm case with hairline finish on the body and polished bezel. The dials and movements vary creating a unique look for each timepiece. The chapter ring, hands and general proportions of the inner and outer dials define the identity of this series.
Guilloché 1
Features a bronze salmon coloured guillochè dial, thermal browned hands and chapter ring. The dial has a linear guilloché pattern on the inner portion of the dial and a classic barleycorn pattern on the outside. All finishing done by hand.
Case: 39mm diameter. 316 Stainless Steel, machined in California. The bezel is part of the case, masked and polished while the rest of the case is linear / radial grained.
Crystal: Domed sapphire.
Dial: Hand guillochè main dial by Tig in California (engineturner.com) to my chosen patterns. Linear pattern in the middle, barleycorn outside, bronze oiled brown after guillochè.
Chapter ring and hands: Laser cut stainless steel, cut in California. Polished and heat browned in my kitchen.
Indices: Machined, in California. Hand polished.
Case Back: 316 Stainless steel. Exhibition style with sapphire crystal. 18mm lugs. Machined in Asia, polished for many hours in my patio.
Strap: Bespoke navy chromexel leather, lightly padded, with brown stitching. By @delugsstraps. Made in Asia.
Movement: ETA 2824-2 fully decorated with blued screws. Made in Switzerland.
Hand Hammered
The dial of this Portola watch was hand hammered for hours! It took me 3 dials to learn the right force, cadance and hand motions to get a nice, uniform looking dial. After hammering, the bronze dial was chemically oxidized to a deep brown.
The watch also has a sub-seconds hand and which is a results of using an overhauled vintage Peseaux 7001 movement. This was my first experience with movement cleaning and replacing the balance wheel!
Due to the sub-seconds and the more prominent chapter ring, this watch in the series is a little less ‘minimal’ but has a lot of character and still fits with the aesthetic of the other two watches. The hands are straight grained to keep with the more textured look of the dial.
Guilloché 2
A very similar watch in design to Guilloché 1 but more subtle and understated. The outer barley corn guilloché pattern has been replaced with a hand applied radial grain. The dial is copper that is oxidized to a weathered chocolate brown. Oxidation is done by a immersion patina process and requires quickly stopping the reaction at the right moment to get the tone of brown right.
The hands are polished stainless steel making for great visibility against the brown dial. Chapter ring is stainless steel that is thermal browned to a honey color and subtly contrasts the dial.
Prototypes
01-A
This is the first completed design that features a bronze patina dial with contrasting bronze index ring and a portal into the movement. It uses a Miyota 8N24 automatic movement.
02-A
This watch has a machined aluminium dial that was bead blasted and black anodized to give it a matt black finish. The chapter ring is bronze with chemical patina applied. The hour markers extend from the aluminium to the bronze giving the dial and chapter ring an integrated look. Again, a Miyota 8N24 movement was used on this watch too.