The idea was to build something distinctly vintage looking utilising a trio of rings under the indices. It was the rings that were the catalyst for this design and I knew the indices had to be applied. The rest needed to compliment it without detracting from the aesthetic.
I wanted to use the indices from a gold PRX dial and leaning towards the dress look I decided to strip off the lume. The hands needed to match with no lume and I knew I wanted to use either dauphine or baton style. With the rectangular indices it made sense to use baton hands but I prefrred the dauphine style after building a watch with both sets. The subtle black line running along the outer edge is a reminder that it’s the little things that can make all the difference.
The first case I used was a 34mm one housing an NH38 movement and it complimented the modern vintage look.
The second case was a standard Oyster 36mm two-tone with the baton handset. I added a few touches to this one to create a more complete watch.
While I enjoy the gilt look I don’t typically wear them, and certainly not in a two-tone case, so I set out to make a black and silver variation. I didn’t want to just hit reprint though and slept on the idea for a few nights until I came up with this stripped down version.
I first designed and tested it without the text at the base but I knew it needed something to ground the dial and add some interest. Through trial I settled on a cursive type and called it Koda Signature.
The seconds hand is painted in matt black and mostly disappears over the matt black dial giving the watch a two hander look. I considered leaving the tip silver so that it looks like it’s floating, and I may test that, but for now I’m enjoying the stealth seconds hand on my ‘two hander’ modern vintage watch…
