Sol by Shin Azumi

Untrod is a mysterious project (Mysterious because I couldn’t find a link for it anywhere) that collaborates with international designers on various project themes. Coincidently the first theme is about watches.

For the project, designers were asked to investigate the possibility of bringing new meanings to the conventional form of a watch. Below are some of the design concepts and I hope to dig up all of them:

The Sol, pictured above, is a solar powered watch that features the cell technology on the face instead of disguising it. (I’ve done a similar design myself minus the solar technology part)

Ororon by Fumie Shibata

The Ororon does a simple improvement. The strap on this watch fastens on the case itself. Unfortunately, they didn’t work around the problem of adjusting it for different wrists thus rendering it obsolete commercially.

Analarm By Industrial Facility

I like the name of this one – It’s called the Analarm and it’s by industrial facility (They previous did a watch for Seiko Instruments – See link). The watch is inspired by the alarm clock with the exception that the sound is replaced by a vibrator that indicates when the alarm is activated. I like how it sets the alarm – You have to keep the alarm button pressed while moving the hands to the desired time and then release the button. Simple.

Skew by Ross Mcbride

Madokadoke by Ross Mcbride

Duo by Ross Mcbride

The last three are all done by Ross Mcbride who incidently runs his own little wristwatch brand called ‘Normal’. The first one is called the Skew. It allows the wearer to adjust the case so it can be adjusted to your ideal viewing angle.

The second one is the most impressive. It’s called the Madokadoke and it is a bracelet that camouflages the buttons and the presence of the watch except when the digits appear to tell you the time. This concept has been done before by Hiranao Tsuboi but it was definately not as sexy in it’s execution.

Finally, the last one is called the Duo. It’s a dual time watch where the crown is concealed under a silicon flap.

related links

Designboom: untrod: watch designs