…but I’m gonna post about it anyhow. I’m sort of at a loss for words about this wrister. Pictured is the Opus 11 from Harry Winston. It’s one of the most buzzed about, avant-garde timepieces for 2011, definitely an eye-catcher but I’m kinda struggling with legibility. More and more, I’m seeing timepieces that are so advanced technically and with such intricate design sensibilities that the basics of reading the watch seem to fall of the “requirements” list. Maybe I’m being a bit too “traditional” in my take on this timepiece, but it just doesn’t have an interface that invites me to read it and want to look at it.
On this wrister, designed by Dennis Giguet, the three overlapping cylinders on three levels are configured to deconstruct time. The main circle is the hour’s domain, flanked by two pavilions. One shows the minutes on a jumping disk for the tens and a running disk for the units. The other, slightly lower, displays the regular beat of a big titanium balance-wheel.
The defining feature of the Opus 11 is it’s “exploding dial”. Every hour, the hours display showing the lapsed hour basically blows up and a new hour appears. Kinda gimmicky, kinda cool…
