Svper 11 Wrist Watch

Press Kit

Unique Properties

SVPER11 watch is a celebration of the NASA Apollo11 mission - one of the most inspiring achievements in our history. The face is a 3D topographic representation of the landing site area - Mare Tranquilitatis. The unique 4-arm seconds hand and sweeping motion movement resembles a radar constantly marking the exact location of the landing. The crown took a shape of oxygen valves from the NASA spacesuit and case back is made out of technical ceramic - a reference to NASA Shuttle ceramic shield.

Dimensions & Packaging

42mm x 42mm x 12mm

Tags

wristwatch, SpaceExploration, Inspirational, Apollo11

Production Technology

Thanks to detailed maps of the Moon I was able to recreate topographic 3D map of the Mare Tranquilitatis - place where the mission crew landed. The face of the watch has multiple 0.1mm steps that are shaped to represent the terrain. A process to achieve such detail replication involves 300 tonnes pressure being applied to brass disc in order to replicate every nano-meter of the form.
The case back made from technical ceramics needed multiple tries to achieve proper thickness of embossed elements taking under consideration the production process and the brittleness of the material.

Design Challenge

The face of the watch required excellent detail reproduction. The final product is made by pressing a brass disc with 300 Tonnes of pressure at least 5 times in order to replicate every nanometer of the form.
The brittle nature of ceramic in combination with finishing procedures created a challenge for caseback element. If the raised letters were too thin they would crack during final polishing stage. This required to prepare few test runs and toolings to get the durability and the looks right.

Project Duration

The project started in 2016, it took quite a few months for it to brew and take a form of 3D file and documentation, that could be taken around the watch factories and selecting one that would be up to the task.
The watch debuted publicly at Watch Fair 2019 in Hong-Kong, right after being published on Kickstarter. The campaign was successful and we were able to proceed with production.

Operation Flow

The watch features a diver-grade submersion properties, that require the crown of the watch to be constructed with double-lock mechanism. For user to change the time one needs to unscrew the crown, then after crown pops-out gently, user needs to pull it out slightly to lock the mechanism for changing the time. The reversed operation closes the crown and ensures, that the watch is water-tight up to 10ATM. The watch is easy to open (8 screws) for maintenance or battery replacement.

Research

The most important part was to properly replicate the area of the Apollo11 Mission landing. The highly detailed, publicly available maps of the Moon were a key to achieve the effect, get the details and scale right.
Another element that required a lot of research was the crown element. It is based on the air valve from the front of the spacesuit. There is quite a lot of reference photography, but only after obtaining the 3D scanned data of the archived spacesuit I was able to recreate the proper dimensions and ratios to achieve the final effect.

Inspiration

The idea came about during Super Moon event in 2016 - when the Moon gets as close to Earth as possible. Just looking at it make you feel how abstract yet amazing and inspiring it is, that NASA have successfully landed humans on Moons surface. I wanted to create an object, that would celebrate that, be available for everyone and allow one to get inspired every time you'd look at it.
The wrist watch became a vehicle for that idea. A piece of the Moon on your wrist.

Image Credits

Video Credits: Rafal Czaniecki

Patents

Copyrights belong to Rafal Czaniecki, 2019.

Colors of Svper 11 Wrist Watch

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