Four years ago I designed and built a series of watches I called Big Numbers. It was pointed out to me that it looked a bit like the classic Raketa Big Zero. It’s a fun look that is full of presence and I intend to revisit this design soon.
For now though, I have a new design I’m calling Small Zero.
A few nights ago I built a watch which had silver hands over a white marble dial. I wore it all of Monday and decided I needed a high contrast high legibility build instead. If you’ve seen some of my previous work you know I love high legibility designs. So, instead of spending Monday night in front of Netflix I designed and built a prototype.
I wore the prototype on Tuesday and tweaked a few things by the end of the day to end up with a more refined watch. The biggest changes were the twelve being replaced with a zero (where the name eventually came from), subtle changes to the hands which now sported rounded corners to better suit the numbers, and a very small taper.
I momentarily toyed with the idea of adding a white seconds hand but it was never my intention to use one with this watch so I installed a cap instead which is painted in the same matt black as the dial. With the minute hand being so thin, a seconds hand would have been too distracting.
The case is 39mm with a visible 33mm dial and an NH38 automatic movement. This may not be the final version but for now I’m very happy. I usually make a lot more test dials and hands but it felt right as is. I do have an idea for a more tool-like version with a rotating bezel but it would need to be in the right case which I haven’t sourced yet.
The strap was an easy choice, and very comfortable too. It’s a single-length elastic which compliments the simple design of the watch.
