By Chris Melchior.
Introduction
Welcome to UnconstrainedTime.
This blog post introduces our unusually unique watches, and summarizes:
- what we stand for as a brand,
- how we got to this point,
- how our brand relates to relevant fields,
- what makes us so unique,
- who we are,
- how we plan to develop and launch the brand, sharing that journey with you.
We’ll briefly touch on a lot of different topics in this initial blog post, then go into much greater detail about them in other posts. Let us know which topics you’re most interested in (comment below or on our social media), and we’ll prioritize those.
This blog post is about a 7 minute read. If you’d prefer the quick version (which you can read in less than a minute), see our About Us page.
Before we get into all the details, since our brand is exceptionally aesthetics-focused . . . what do you think our current range of limited-edition watches?
We’d genuinely like to know what you think (comment below or on our social media).
What we stand for as a brand
Our brand breaks free from the main factors that influence the aesthetics of existing watches.
To state that more directly, our brand actually doesn’t even have much of an origin in the traditions that nearly all other watch brands and microbrands are, both by choice and by inevitable sub-conscious influences, evolving from. (Why that is, I’ll detail below).
UnconstrainedTime’s radical innovation, creating a simple, minimal time-display with neutral styling, allows us to focus primarily on chosen aesthetics. (I’ll explain the contexts that relates to, in a later section of this post).
That allows our watches to give our customers the experience of something truly unique, which definitely won’t look like every other watch on the market.
They are visually exceptional, conceptually fascinating, and have an abundance of personality. It will be obvious to anyone who sees you wearing one, that an UnconstrainedTime watch is not mass-produced.
Our initial watches will be available as small limited-edition runs, with each edition applying to a single watch concept at a single size, whatever the bespoke choice of materials the individual buyer chooses. The unlimited runs which are part of the philosophy of mass-production would not fit with the concept of what we’re doing (and how it relates to use of limited-editions in the fine art world etc.). For more on why some limited edition watches are loved, and others are hated, click here for our blog post about limited-editions.
When you order an UnconstrainedTime limited edition watch in your choice of metal, we make that individual bespoke watch according to your specifications, with the serial number on the case as part of the design itself (as well as being engraved on the back-plate), and it is assembled and finished by hand in the UK.
We plan to also invite collaborations with established artists (from fields including conceptual-art-jewelry, fine art, sculpture, ceramics etc.) to have them produce individual one-off UnconstrainedTime watches as part of their exploration of their own personal creative story and/or the concepts they are fascinated by.
We are an open and transparent brand, and encourage you to share and participate in the journey of our development, launch and growth.
We are a British Brand, and will tell you where each individual part of each of our watches is made, which are likely to be mostly in the UK, (with some parts for some of our watches possibly coming from Europe or the US) and the country of origin of any precious stones or exotic woods they incorporate.
Each of our watches has its serial number on the case as part of the construction process, as well as each purchase being protected by a unique secure blockchain certificate of ownership.
Initially you will only be able to purchase our watches via our website (we plan to get some of them exhibited for sale in fine art galleries, later). This allows us to offer our unique, individually made, hand-finished British designed watches at exceptionally competitive prices.
Our brand philosophy and small size allows us to be fully committed to offering excellent customer service.
How we got to this point
Ten years ago, while traveling, I had a dream that showed me the essence of our time-display concept, and an interesting variety of different design ideas. It was one of those dreams which are so fascinating that I woke briefly in a state of wonder and euphoria at the end of it. I remembered the concepts with great excitement when I woke the next morning, and created some design ideas in my head over the following few weeks.
Soon after that I got some 3D renders made by outsource workers, and loved the results. But I didn’t do much more than that, at the time.
The intervening ten years have allowed me to develop dramatically as a person, so . . .
A few months ago I came back to the project, with passionate commitment to getting some of the watch creations developed into physical form and out into the world to be seen and appreciated. As often happens, as soon as I fully committed to that aim, everything fell into place to enable me to move forward with the project (more on that below).
For details on my creative journey as an artist (with some comments about my musical experience as well), see my artist page here.
I had six different watches rendered realistically in 3D, some based on the old designs, some new, to show examples from the range of aesthetics and influences which our brand can relate to, and showing how most of our watches are available as bespoke orders in a variety of different materials. More details here about how our watch brand was founded.
How our brand relates to relevant fields
Almost all of the influences on watch design aesthetics until 1972, were mechanical engineering design and fine jewelry. Most of the jewelry in the world today is fine jewelry (or the fashion/costume jewelry which imitates it with less expensive materials).
To somewhat over-generalize, fine jewelry is designed by committee, based on the mechanical criteria needed for mass-production, and valued because of the materials it uses (and the brand). Even when the piece is marketed (as some watches are, these days) as “being made by an individual, with artistic influences”, the majority of the real (subconscious) influences are still firmly rooted in mechanical design for mass-production.
In 1972 the digital 7-segment LED display was added as a new system of watch functionality, with some degree of space-age aesthetic influence coming along with it.
Even when a watch looks very different to most timepieces, and uses some different methods of functional engineering (like Devon Watches do), the underlying aesthetic influences are still mainly engineering for mass production, with minor influences from fine jewelry or other areas.
Conceptual-art-jewelry.
By stark contrast, what might be called conceptual-art-jewelry (there are various overlapping and somewhat vague terms used in this field), is fundamentally about an individual artist exploring conceptual areas, and their own personal journey, creating unique individual pieces.
Here are some examples of what I call conceptual-art-jewelry:
For lots more conceptual-art-jewelry, see our Pinterest board on the subject.
I’ve also written blog posts going into more detail on the history of watches and their aesthetic influences, and a blog post specifically on art jewelry and watchmaking, here.
You’ll read more about how UnconstrainedTime relates to these areas, below.
Another relevant and rather interesting area is how the concept of uniqueness has changed through history. This now applies in the watch industry a lot more than it did a generation ago, with enthusiasts being very keen on innovation and consciously moving away from the sameness of mass-production. Uniqueness also relates to the fascinating question . . . are watches art?
Which leads us inevitably to the concept of . . .
Microbrands.
For anyone who doesn’t know, “microbrand watches are wristwatches produced by small, independent watch companies.” (Wikipedia).
The small size and independent nature of microbrands allows them to be much more innovative than the mainstream watch brands, as well as to offer unparalleled value for money. Some of their recent successes align with an industry where right now something truly new is what a lot of the enthusiasts are genuinely craving.
People also love having some personal influence on the brand, which is something that doesn’t happen with the big watch brands. If you have an idea for a design, a microbrand might listen to you . . . with UnconstrainedTime one way this can happen is explicit, with our open, ongoing design competition
And we definitely welcome more general feedback on our watches, as well (comment on this post, and/or our social media channels, below).
These areas combine and overlap, and the results are . . .
What makes UnconstrainedTime so unique
When I started creating the small-scale sculptures which became UnconstrainedTime, I didn’t know what a microbrand was, had no training in watch-design, and, to be honest, most conventional-looking watches didn’t appeal to my aesthetic interests.
My training and experience was in fine art, cutting-edge contemporary music, and the concepts they relate to.
It’s unlikely I would have been able to create these watches if I had trained as a watch designer. With such in-depth training, the community which has built up around such a specialism, with all the momentum of it’s long history behind it, comes with a lot of unquestioningly accepted “ways of doing things” (i.e. limitations).
To begin a conventional career in such a space, it’s essential to agree with the way things are, even if those much further along in their career development are allowed to push the boundaries slightly.
Most microbrands have been started by designers who are dedicated enthusiasts of existing watches, and/or trained in watch design. So that’s the basis of their designs (partly subconscious, and all the stronger for it).
Not that we’re saying there’s anything wrong with pushing the envelope of an existing tradition, of course. Some other microbrands produce undeniably beautiful and fascinating watches, and are rightly proud of their obvious relationship to the history of watch design and its functional influences. UnconstrainedTime just happens to have very different origins.
It was only after I’d created UnconstrainedTime watches that I was happy to find out that what I’d manifested has a place in this era, aligning with the independence and creative freedoms of microbrands, the enthusiast’s desire for something unique, and conceptual-art-jewelry as a personal exploration of concepts and chosen aesthetics (which is the fine-art process).
Our brand arguably presents the first timepieces to be fundamentally based on chosen aesthetics rather than originating mainly from the influences of the functionality implicit in mechanical design, fine jewelry or digital time displays. I know that is a controversial statement . . . if you disagree, great . . . let’s talk about it . . . share your views in the comments below, or on our social-media channels.
It’s hugely encouraging to me, in the development of UnonstrainedTime, how excited enthusiasts are to be getting in on the ground floor of something significant, like the watch and jewelry expert Evan Fry (more about him below), who is now a hugely valuable part of the UnconstrainedTime team.
Our watch designs also use very different aesthetic influences from each another, which is also unusual for a watch brand.
Another first from UnconstrainedTime is that we are, as far as we know, making the first ever 3D fractal watch (detail above) available. This will be our launch watch, available around March 2024. There will only be one chance to invest in the first 3D fractal watch in existence, so make sure you subscribe to our Priority List for launch updates as well as getting priority access to behind-the-scenes secrets of our brand.
Who we are
I’m Chris Melchior, the founder of UnconstrainedTime.
As soon as I genuinely decided to go ahead with this project, I got the usual serendipity which happens when you’re fully committed to, and thoroughly passionate about, something . . . the right people come along at the right time . . .
After ten years of not doing anything with this project, as soon as I really started to get into it, suddenly, “out of the blue” I got a message from an old school friend saying that his nephew, Evan Fry (left), a young but very knowledgeable watch enthusiast, wanted to look at my UnconstrainedTime watches.
He loved the brand and its concepts, and is now a hugely valuable part of the UnconstrainedTime team, and for him, being an important part of the development of an interestint new microbrand is, in his words: “a dream come true”.
How we plan to develop and launch the brand, sharing that journey with you
Richard Benc, founder of the Studio Underd0g microbrand, said he took 18 months to bring his products to market.
And here’s a comment by another microbrand founder: “From the first sketch to the final crowdfunding results, it took us one year. This is fast, as we needed to plan everything from scratch.” (Andrea Furlan, founder of the Furlan Marri microbrand), from this blog post:
We’re planning to do the same (starting from scratch, with something that the mechanics of which have no basis in existing watch design), as a British solo-founder startup, in about seven months. See our launch schedule which we will update as our development evolves and clarifies.
We’re launching rapidly mainly because I am so excited about getting our watches manifested in physical form and out into the world!
Like many other microbrands, we will sell directly from our own website, enabling us to set up quickly and give better value to our customers. We are easily reachable on any of our social media platforms or by email. (See near the bottom of this page for details).
Launch preparations
We’ll be updating our brand launch schedule, as things develop.
One of the most important things we need to do is, of course, getting the word out to people who will like our watches, and getting feedback as part of our development . . .
We welcome your input . . .
We need you, whether you’re a microbrand enthusiast, a watch collector, someone who loves conceptual-art-jewelry, or someone who just appreciates cool new stuff without caring why it is the way it is. Whoever you are, if you are reading this, we would love your involvement in developing, launching and growing our brand.
To be successful, a start-up brand needs passionate fans (like Evan, who’s now a vital part of our team). We’re genuinely looking forward to your involvement in our journey . . . add your feedback below or on our social-media channels (links below).
Don’t miss our launch!
. . . make sure you subscribe to our Priority List, so you notifications by email when anything changes as well as getting early access to behinds-the-scenes brand secrets.
And, of course, if you know anyone else who might be interested n our brand, let them know!
So . . . as I asked near the beginning of this blog post . . . what do you think our current range of limited-edition watches? We really would love to know (tell us in the comments below or on our social-media channels).
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