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Press Release

DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Makina Andras I Watch by Danilo Villanueva Is Granted the Silver A' Design Award in Watch Design

Danilo Villanueva of Makina Watches acknowledged for watch design by the international grand jury of the 2023 - 2024 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 15, 2024 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Makina Andras I Watch by Danilo Villanueva of Makina Watches has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Watch Design category. The result belongs to the 2023 - 2024 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

The Silver A' Design Award Explained

The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.

About Makina Andras I Watch

Makina Watches wanted to design a black sheep in the rectangular watch category that's already full of art deco inspired dress watches. That's why Andras I was born as a sports watch with a bolder and more modern approach. Coated in stealth black, its stainless steel case is composed of slopes and angular shapes that make up its multifaceted design. Its octagonal case is designed to taper around a larger movement for less volume and increased wearability. Its dial is multi-layered and 3 dimensional and its strap is muscular and shapely to look more imposing from every angle.

About Danilo Villanueva

Danilo has been in the advertising industry for 15+ years now working in multinational agencies like Saatchi, TBWA Chiat Day, Leo Burnett, BBDO and MRM/Mccann. He's gained global experience working in Los Angeles, Dubai, Beijing/Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York. He has built local and global integrated campaigns for major brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Visa, Emirates Airlines, Sony, General Motors and Tencent.

About Makina Watches

Makina means machine - derived from the Spanish word maquina. Makina is born in the Philippines. As a filipino watch brand, we are committed to putting out only eccentric and unconventional designs providing the watch industry bold alternatives since 2017

Award Record

Danilo Villanueva of Makina Watches is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.

About the A' Watch Design Award

The A' Watch Design Award is an international watch design competition recognizing good watch designs by leading watch designers and manufacturers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to watch designers, luxury goods manufacturers, industrial designers and product designers from all countries. Entries typically include chronographs, dive watches, dress watches, quartz watches, automatic watches and smartwatches. Awarded watch designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/watch

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Makina Andras I Watch
Function
Watch
Category
Watch Design
Discipline
Industrial Design
Industry
Luxury and Fashion
Colors
White Smoke, Black, Dark Slate Gray and Gainsboro
Images
5

The Recognition

Laureate
Danilo Villanueva
Country
United States of America
Brand
Makina Watches
Recognition
Silver A' Design Award
Edition
2023 - 2024
Design ID
#154989

Credits

Image Credits
Photographer, Danilo Villanueva, Andras_I, 2023.

Design Details

Unique Properties
The idea was to design a black sheep in the rectangular watch category full of art deco inspired dress watches. That's why our first rectangular watch is as a sports watch designed to be bolder, more modern and striking from every angle. Coated in stealth black, its 316L stainless steel case is composed of angular shapes that make up its multifaceted design. Its dial is 3 dimensional with a sand blasted finish. Its strap is muscular and shapely, echoing its chiseled case and layered dial.
Inspiration
Since most watches in the rectangular watch category are flat art deco inspired watches, we wanted to create a watch that is more modern and photogenic from all angles. Hence, one of our sources for inspiration when designing Andras I was origami. We fell in love with the art’s crisp lines and the geometric shapes that form 3 dimensional, multifaceted surfaces. While the case’s robustness comes from its solid, quality materials and finish, its elegant design is originally born from origami.
Research
As with all our models, we needed to make sure that our case design for Andras I will bring something new to the industry. Our origami inspired case was the clear winner after several design explorations. We looked at both traditional and abstract forms of the art and explored origami inspired architecture to see how we can incorporate our findings into Andras I in a way that is minimal, modern, and will not alienate watch purists who are often conventional and very difficult to please.
Challenge
Customers have been asking for size variety and models with smaller dimensions. We kept this in mind when designing Andras I. The challenge was designing a rectangular watch around only a few reputable movements that were available in the market and that we’re willing to use. This is why we gave the case an octagonal shape so that it could taper around a fairly large 25.6mm movement, giving it less volume, less surface area and a thickness of only 10.5mm for higher wearability.
Realization and Technology
It has a PVD coated surgical grade 316L stainless steel case sculpted by CNC machinery with hand-polished and-hand brushed textures for a more robust and premium finish. The dial is layered, made of brass with a sand blasted finish and is hand-assembled. The scratch resistant sapphire crystal glass is coated with 3x Anti-reflective coating. It’s powered by a movement found in many luxury timepieces, SW 260, marrying thoughtful design and premium components at an affordable price of USD 725.
Operation and Interaction
Andras I was meant to be simple in functionality (hours, minutes and seconds only) because our intent was to give the three-handed rectangular segment something different. The minutes and seconds markers are crisp and painted white and the hands are painted blue, all of which are decisions that contribute to high legibility under all lighting environments. The crown is consistent with crowns in our other models and is ownable to the brand; it is simple and yet it has grip and is easy to use.
Project Duration and Location
Andras I took one year to complete from conceptualization in September 2022. A prototype that we were happy with was marketed for pre-orders in May 2023. And the production model was released in September 2023.
Specifications
Its octagonal shape is purposefully designed to taper around a larger circular movement lowering its overall volume and keeping the case size down to wearable dimensions at 33mm wide, 44mm lug to lug, and only 10.5mm thick. The strap is made of silicone rubber and has air pockets on the backside providing higher comfort when worn during intense sports activities and warmer conditions measuring at 22mm (lugs) tapering to 20mm (buckle). The movement is Sellita SW260 with a 38 hr power reserve.
Keywords
Makina watches, filipino watch brand, timepiece, microbrand, rectangular watch, Philippines watch brand,

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