Watches: history and evolution of design and visual influences, relationships between functionality and aesthetics.

By Chris Melchior.

The image above shows the UnconstrainedTime Techno-circle #1 watch in anodised titanium, on the right.

Introduction

To understand the subject: “watches: history and evolution of design and visual influences”, you first need to look at the history of timepieces, watches and wristwatches, then at relevant areas of social and aesthetic influence . . .

This article investigates the following topics:

• Watches: history and evolution of watch design and aesthetic influences
  • The history of timepieces
  • The history of watches
  • Wristwatches
  • Watches as fashion.
  • Luxury watches
  • Timekeeping and society
• The history of fine jewellery and its aesthetic influences
• Art jewellery: aesthetics before functionality
  • The inevitability of art jewellery watches
• Relationships between functionality and aesthetics in watch design
• The first conceptual art jewellery microbrand?
  • Why ours look different.
  • Unconstrainedtime is a conceptual art jewellery brand because:

This article starts with areas which are relatively well known and agreed upon, continues including some topics which are little known and/or controversial, and ends with a look at a significant area of watch design which is entirely new at the time of writing.

Note . . . I only use watch images with permission from the watchmaker (unless the photos are public domain), so some of the watches I present here might be lacking an image.

Watches: history and evolution of watch design and aesthetic influences

The history of timepieces

The earliest timekeeping devices measured time using continuous processes like water running from one vessel to another, the movement of the sun, or the burning of incense.

The ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians divided the day into twelve periods around 1500 BCE, using their water clocks and sundials to determine when to start religious ceremonies.

By the 13^th Century, artisans were building weight-driven public clocks for cathedrals and churches in France and Italy, used for ringing the bells at the correct times for prayer (and by the 14th century including primitive dials). At this time, clock-keepers were paid significant sums of money to keep clocks accurate, which needed a basic understanding of mathematics in an age when education was rare.

The image below is of the clock in Salisbury Cathedral, made in about 1386. It is said to be the oldest clock in the world which is still working:

One of the most accurate early timepieces was the hour-glass, with a version called the marine sand-glass being the optimum way of measuring time at sea in the 14^th century. The hour-glass visual symbol is still used to represent the passing of time.

By this era, mechanical clocks were also being made. They became a significant status symbol, both for individuals and for towns and cities where clocks were prominent landmarks. An example of this is the beautiful Prague Astronomical Clock (made in 1410), the most famous clock from near the end of the Medieval period, shown below:

Mechanical clocks used oscillating mechanisms, such as the swinging of a pendulum (used from the mid-17^th century), which resulted in increased accuracy, helping facilitate trade, communication and travel. Some clocks made at this time, such as the one below, were highly decorated, showing that they were designed for well-off people.

The electric clock, invented in 1840 by Alexander Bain and developed by various people over the following decades, incorporated the most accurate pendulum available at the time.

It was only in the mid 19^th Century that time started to be standardized between different locations, as was needed for things like railway services and telegraph operation. Before that, time was a more local phenomenon, since it didn’t matter if the time agreed upon in one city was somewhat different from the time agreed upon in another, with differences often being due to differing social, political or religious factors.

Mechanical clocks were the optimum method of measuring time until the first quartz clock was invented by Warren Marrison and J.W. Horton at Bell Telephone Laboratories in October 1927. Quartz clocks were developed over the following decades, and quartz timing was incorporated into wristwatches from 1969 (according to this article on the The birth of the quartz timepiece), using the piezoelectric effect to produce resonance in a quartz crystal resulting in precise oscillations, counted electronically. By the 1980s, this was able to be implemented using solid-state (semiconductor) devices, achieving an accuracy of around 15 seconds per month. A quartz watch movement is shown here:

The history of watches

In the 14^th century luxury portable clocks began being made. By the 16^th century, these became small enough to be worn as pendants or attached to clothing.

The first spring‑driven mechanical pocket watches appeared in German lands by the early 16th century, and various forms of pendant and early pocket watches spread across Europe in the 16th century. The 17th century was a period of refinement and improvement. Peter Henlein (1479–1542) is often credited with creating some of the earliest portable spring‑driven timepieces.

This image shows the movement, including balance spring, of a watch made by Thomas Tompion in about 1677:

As accuracy improved to around ten minutes per day, the minute hand was added to some watches, appearing often by 1680 in England and France. Improvements in manufacturing methods around the same time allowed an increase in the volume of watch production, although finishing and assembling was still done by hand until around a hundred years later.

This image is of an early 18th century watch, made in London:

Accurate timepieces were essential for measuring longitude at sea. In 1714, the British government offered a longitude prize (a homage-style prize of the same name was created recently, although the scope of what qualifies is wider, relating to new scientific challenges) for a method of determining longitude out of sight of land, with the awards offering the equivalent of $2.5 million to $5 million in today’s terms. Here are fascinating details of Origins of the Longitude Prize. This resulted in much more accurate timepieces called marine chronometers, such as this example by John Harrison (between 1761 and 1800. Great Britain.):

17^th and 18^th Century watchmaking was dominated by the British, with most of the production being of high quality items for the elite. Swiss and French centres were also important at the time; with the British especially strong in high‑grade chronometers.

There is some historical evidence that the British Watch Company (founded in 1849) was experimenting with mass-production techniques (if you’re interested, I have a blog article on British Brands (including watches)). An American company (Waltham Watch Company, initially operating under the name the American Horologe Company (and later the Boston Watch Company and Appleton, Tracy & Co.)) was making watches with interchangeable parts by 1851, and is usually cited as the first practical large‑scale industrial watch manufacturer. More about them in this fascinating article: American Waltham Watch Company History.

During this industrial revolution period, it became fashionable to be on time to engagements, since only rich people had accurate watches. The common availability of watches also had a profound impact on transportation.

Most watches were mass-produced after this time, and even now luxury watches typically use mass-produced movements, even if some of the other parts were made by hand.

Watch logos were also developing around this time, from their origins in names and family crests, to being more about marketing and brand identity. See my article “Watch Logos: How They Work: Their History, Evolution, Meaning And Design”

Wristwatches

. . . were initially worn by high class women such as Elizabeth 1 who is said to have received one (described as an “arm watch” by Robert Dudley) in 1571, and were made to be more decorative than functional (their accuracy was poor). During that period of history social conventions often discouraged women from overtly managing time, reinforcing gender divides around practical timekeeping.

By the end of the 19th century, some officers from Europe were using wristwatches to synchronize military actions. Early men’s wristwatches were pocket watches with a leather wrist strap, but by the beginning of the 20^th Century, wristwatches were being designed specifically for use by men, a significant revolution in watch design.

The first world war saw wristwatches used for the timing of manoeuvres such as the “creeping barrage”, some designed specifically for rapid access during trench warfare (which pocket watches didn’t provide). They became common among officers and increasingly among ordinary soldiers during the First World War, accelerating post‑war mainstream adoption.

These images shows a watch with a detachable face guard, made around 1914 in England, issued to Private Percy Broady, 2nd Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment, worn during the war:

Automatic (self-winding) wristwatches were invented in 1923 by John Harwood, who was a British watchmaker working largely in Switzerland (although the mechanism had been available in pocket watches for two hundred years). Electric watches which didn’t need winding appeared from the 1950’s. Watches were also increasingly bought by women at around this time, and used as a symbol of their independence.

Quartz (electronic) watches, around ten times more accurate than most of those using mechanical movements, were introduced, with the first example being the the Seiko Astron 35SQ, released December 25, 1969.

The Pulsar, which was the first LED electronic digital watch launched on 4 April 1972, making it a significant break-through in watch design, but it was expensive at $2,000 (the equivalent of about $15,000 in 2025).

Low cost digital watches appeared three years later. LCD time-displays, which used much less power so were able to display the time continually, were available starting in 1974, and rapidly democratized digital displays.

The 70’s also saw a large increase in the number of limited-edition watches available. For my comments on why some limited-edition watches are loved and others are hated, see my article on limited edition watches.

The Seiko Ruputer, Timex Datalink and similar devices were available in the 1990s, with mass‑market smartwatches becoming common in the 2010s.

Some current luxury watches use mechanical movements, sometimes designed as collectible items, often valued for their aesthetic appeal, as well as emphasizing craftsmanship, heritage, and engineering aesthetics, even though they are much less accurate and more expensive than those with quartz timekeeping. Mechanical watches also continue to be used in professional and enthusiast contexts (diving, aviation, motorsports timing, and scientific/industrial timing niches) where mechanical chronographs and dive watches still see real functional use.

For some additional perspectives see our blog article on how the development of wristwatches relates to society.

Watches as fashion.

While the main purpose of most watches until the 20^th Century was the time-display function, through most of that time the most effective timepieces were expensive, and so only within the reach of rich people.

Gold and silver, as well as ornamental techniques, were often used in making timepieces. Some watches also had “complications” which refers to additional functions, the first being a perpetual calendar, by English watchmaker Thomas Mudge in 1762.

Here is a Perpetual calendar watch by Patek-Philippe, one of the earliest watch brands:

Some timepieces were primarily ornamental rather than highly accurate, such as very early wristwatches which were for women and much less accurate than pocket watches used by men at the time. At the same time high‑end makers (e.g. Patek) pursued the best mechanical quality available.

Some expensive watches are currently designed to exhibit miniature mechanical technology as an achievement. Others incorporate expensive materials or added decoration.

These days, watches are often used to express one’s personal style and aesthetic preferences, as well as being status symbols. A few of them, such as our own watches, can be authentically classified as wearable art.

Luxury watches

The concept of luxury goods can be seen as things which are desirable but not necessary. However, the term only applies to things which have some degree of functionality. By contrast the term is meaningless in fine arts, even though they can have as much of a price differential.

Here is a Perpetual calendar watch by Patek‑Philippe, one of the oldest continuously operating high‑end watch brands, founded in 1839:

Why is there such a strong relationship between watch design and fine jewellery? One of the reasons is that when women began buying more luxury watches in the 20^th Century, it was natural for watchmakers to combine watchmaking with the fine jewellery influences (see below) already known to be popular for women, but not used much in items for men, at that time. Through most of their history, most timepieces could only be purchased by the elite.

Another reason for the strong link between the two is that the Calvinist movement in 16th-century Geneva banned the use of ostentatious jewellery, causing skilled Swiss jewellers and goldsmiths to become watchmakers. More on that, and other interesting aspects of Swiss watchmaking in this article: A colourful history of watchmaking in Switzerland.

Luxury watch brands like Rolex and Omega became more popular during the 1920’s and ’30’s (although they originated earlier, with Rolex being founded 1905 in London; the “Rolex” name and Swiss precision certification evolving over early 20th century, and Louis Brandt in 1848; with the name “Omega” adopted in 1903 after the 19‑ligne calibre). The 1960’s and 70’s saw a shift towards more colourful and adventurous watch designs, as well as experimentation with bold colours and shapes.

The 2000’s saw further innovations including use of materials such as sapphire crystal, and carbon fibre used in the watch below:

In today’s society, luxury watches are often used to show one’s aesthetic choices, in addition to sometimes being desired a status symbol, and are sometimes bought as investments.

Timekeeping and society

Time-telling has been of great significance throughout history, from marine chronometers, through watches used to coordinate military actions, to the necessity of time-keeping accuracy for Global Positioning Satellite systems (initially by the U.S. Department of Defense, in 1973) to function.

In the mid 14^th Century the clock face was developed, adding time-indication to the main function of clocks which was, at that time, to ring bells at set times for prayer, providing regularity as a refuge from a chaotic and challenging world. The face had a single hand, often being a literal carving of a hand pointing at the indications.

Time has been such an important part of society, in many ways. Benjamin Franklin said, in 1748, “Remember that Time is Money.”

Some historians regard timepieces as more important in the origins of the industrial revolution than power looms and telegraph machines. For example, in his 1934 book “Technics and Civilization”, the author, Mumford, explains why, in his opinion “the clock, not the steam-engine, is the key machine of the modern industrial age.”

Different societies (as well as different periods of history) have different attitudes to punctuality. For example in Japan where being on time is a sign of respect, compared to being “fashionably late” for high class social events in some Western societies during specific periods, at the same time that workers were expected to be punctual. I noticed the difference myself around 2009, when I was writing original music live on stage for corporate events: in Bangkok no-one started arriving until well after the announced start time, compared to Beijing where most people were already queuing at the door by the official start time.

Organizing one’s life by time went along with the move from rural to urban environments and most people being employees rather than working for themselves.

An example is an early 20^th century clock used to keep track of employee’s work hours. Each employee would dial the handle to their employee number on the face and push the lever. The device would encode and print the day, time, and employee number onto a paper roll.

Conventional watch/clock dial and hands are a very strong archetype, due to the increasing importance of time as societies developed throughout history.

It could be said that the 7-segment display, first used in the Hamilton Pulsar (1972, shown above) relates to the even stronger archetype of numerals. Its relationship to space age design had some degree of aesthetic influence on watch designs which used it.

These powerful archetypes are strong influences on watch design, and, along with fine jewellery (see below) have acted to maintain the strong relationship between most watch design and horological history, until now (see below for how and why that has changed).

The history of fine jewellery and its aesthetic influences

Copper began being used in jewellery about seven thousand years ago. Before that, shells, stones and bone were used. Metals had spiritual significance in early societies, as can be seen from the term “black smith”, which refers to metalworking as relating to the lower, darker end of spiritual reality.

Fine jewellery is still, today, valued because of the materials it uses (multiplied by the brand value), unlike art jewellery, which is often valued as art (see below). This includes the precious metals and gemstones that are the “fine” in fine jewellery, which can be an investment, as explained in this article: “Good Investment: What Makes Jewellery Rise in Value?“

Some types of jewellery can be interpreted as originating from a mundane functional basis, such as buckles, brooches or hair-pins, while sometimes including expensive materials and workmanship in their design which elevates them beyond their practical origin.

Jewellery was sometimes used for storing personal wealth on the body, and this is still common in some cultures such as the use of gold necklaces in India.

Jewellery is also often used to denote social status, as well as being used to signify affiliation to a group (such as a Christian crucifix), to denote some personal meaning (such as engagement (see the image below) or marriage), as an expression of personal style and aesthetic taste, or as an investment.

Although the first known diamond engagement ring was from 1477, the current common acceptance of diamond engagement rings is largely due to a successful and long-running marketing campaign by the De Beers company, particularly their 1947 slogan “a diamond is forever.” This began with their efforts to revive diamond sales in the 1930s and 1940s, after the great depression. Their public relations efforts from this time, such as getting diamonds shown in art and Hollywood, resulted in today’s association of diamonds with wealth and glamour. More on this subject in the article: “A history of diamond engagement rings and their timeless popularity today.“

Jewellery often has strong cultural significance. For example, some cultures prohibit the use of some types of jewellery for some types of people, such as laws in ancient Rome dictating that only specific classes were allowed to wear some types of jewellery. Some cultures have specific types of jewellery as common displays of affiliation and status, such as “bling bling” in hip hop culture.

Since well-off people were the customers for both jewellery and watches, and some of the artisans and techniques used to make them were common to both, there are strong links between watches and fine jewellery.

The majority of jewellery is now classed as “fine jewellery” to distinguish it from what can be called “art jewellery” which emerged in the late 19th century (relating to Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Bauhaus etc.) and fully developed as a recognised field in the early to mid‑20th century (see below). The “fine” refers to precious metals and gemstones.

Fine jewellery (and fashion/costume jewellery which imitates it with less expensive materials) is mostly based on simple geometric shapes. This partly originates from the contrast between the rough, chaotic, organic nature of the material world and pure, perfect, symbolic shapes often representing spiritual ideals such as a circle representing eternity.

There were also some practical reasons for fine jewellery using smooth shapes, for example, so a pocket watch didn’t catch on clothing.

A sub-category of fine jewellery, called ‘High jewellery’ or ‘Haute Joaillerie’ refers to top quality craftsmanship, finest quality metals and gemstones, (as detailed in this article on “‘Fine’ vs ‘high’ jewellery“) applied to watches such as the example below:

Recent techniques such as 3D printing have made changes to what’s possible in the world of jewellery (and watches, including our own, see below), and creations by artisans, as well as by artists, are increasing in popularity.

Art jewellery: aesthetics before functionality

Different areas of art jewellery include contemporary jewellery individually made by studio craftspeople, and conceptual art jewellery (which our watches are examples of) which is fine art (where concept and aesthetics are primary) rather than craft or design by an artisan.

Art jewellery is usually created by an individual, in contrast to fine jewellery which is typically designed by committee and mass-produced, although there are exceptions including collaborative artworks and single‑author design projects.

The history of the subject begins with the arts and crafts movement originating in the 1860’s, then relates to Art Nouveau from the 1890’s as well as modernist jewellery in 1940’s America (“modernist jewellery” (Calder, Art Smith, etc.) being a particular regional strand within the wider art jewellery movement), followed by the 1950’s experimental work by German goldsmiths. It also relates to the concept of fine art, which can be seen as having its origins in Europe a few hundred years earlier.

Art jewellery can also be seen as a reaction against fine jewellery, with art jewellery sometimes using materials of little value, and exploring things like rough textures and complex, uneven or broken forms which would be unacceptable in the world of fine jewellery with its emphasis on simple, perfect geometric shapes and smooth, highly polished surfaces.

This makes art jewellery part of what is, in my view, arguably, by far the most significant revolution in the thousand year history of Western Art tradition (which few people are aware of). If you’re interested in why I call that such a significant revolution, read that article which explains exactly why.

This revolution is most obvious in music, which can be seen as a progression from very simple mathematical relationships between notes (which are very simple symbols for much more complex sounds), through increasingly complex relationships between notes, to the point where the obvious progression was from notes to continual spectra (ambient music). i.e. from symbols to direct use of the reality of the natural sounds in all their fascinating fractal complexity.

The same revolution in visual arts progresses from a thousand years of representational art (i.e. art about things which function as obviously identifiable symbols, i.e. can be described in a few words), to abstract art which is about its own existence rather than being representing other simply-described things. And also from craftsmanship producing designs which align with the acceptability of the time, to the fine art process as personal exploration valued for innovation and creativity more than fitting in with what’s been done before (although it inevitably has relationships with the past).

This well-known painting, “The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 “ by J. M. W. Turner, is, in my opinion, an example of a painting which can be seen as almost abstract, just retaining a small identifiable object which was still necessary for artworks to be accepted until abstract art was invented just a few years later:

Jewellery, in the same era (see the paragraph below) as abstract art and ambient music, develops from fine jewellery which is based on simple geometric shapes very much within a historically agreed system of narrow acceptable predefined options, to art jewellery which often uses deliberately rough or broken (i.e. fractal) textures and is very much about the personal creative exploration, with the fine art process being used in what is called conceptual art jewellery.

Regarding the simultaneity of this revolution in the different arts, although some sources state that ambient music originated with Brian Eno’s music in the 1970s, it seems to me to have started rather earlier including works such as Erik Satie’s “musique d’ameublement” (furniture music) for background listening in the early 1900s (since an aspect of ambient music is that it doesn’t need to be the focus of attention), making the timing of this significant change very similar across music, visual art and art jewellery.

Here are examples of art jewellery:

For lots more examples, see our Pinterest board on art jewellery.

Art jewellery even sometimes abandons functionality entirely, producing items which cannot be worn on the body, conceptually relating to watches which don’t show the time, which also relates to the fascinating question I explore in this article: “art watches art?“

The inevitability of art jewellery watches

The evolution of watch aesthetic influences seems to me to be inevitably progressing from fine jewellery to art jewellery watches.

Early watch adverts focus on the properties of fine jewellery such as materials (eg. “18 carat gold”), and functional mechanics (eg. “keyless lever” or “extraordinary accuracy”).

Many luxury watches are now being advertised and discussed as if they have the characteristics of art and art jewellery such as being created by an individual focusing on chosen aesthetics, being influenced by art such as by embodying abstract ideals and having a strong focus on story and concept.

For example, an online article talking about a luxury watch brand said that the watch “looks and feels like wearing a piece of art on your wrist.” It seems to me that these watches have little or no influence from anything other than the same aesthetic influences of engineering and fine jewellery that almost all other watch brands have, and that includes most watches known for having creative design, making them, in my view, design rather than actually fitting the definitions of art.

This development can be seen as part of the evolution of the arts in general, with the expansion into art jewellery watches being somewhat later than the move to abstraction in visual arts and the ambient revolution in music, all of which can be seen as aspects of what is, arguably, the biggest revolution in the Western Art Tradition for more than 1000 years. The watch industry has often been slow to change (a well-known example being the quartz crisis).

Societies can be seen as starting from relying on the natural world in prehistory, through periods of becoming civilized and rejecting nature, to more recently returning to an appreciation of nature, seen as “beautiful” and desirable for the first time. This parallels the evolution of the arts, as detailed in my article referenced above.

The limitations due to the major historical influences on watch design being mechanical design for functionality and mass production, and fine jewellery, are no longer the only option, especially in an industry where innovation and creativity is what a lot of customers desire (see below for how our own watches align with this need). Some of what can be considered to be cross-fertilization between the watch industry and art jewellery can already be observed (as detailed below).

Since nearly everyone in the developed world has the exact time on the smart-phone in their pocket these days, as well as other functions such as alarms and timers, it is easier for this significant new direction in watch design to place less emphasis on the time-display function of a watch, allowing much more focus on the watch as an art object, expressing the personal exploration of the creator and the aesthetic choices of the wearer.

Things are starting to evolve in the direction of art jewellery watches already . . . we’re starting to see some recent examples of what can be seen as art-jewellery influences, added to conventional mechanical watch components and shapes. These could be seen as examples of decorative arts (which are often defined as design although sometimes seen as an art‑historical category overlapping art and design), since they use art applied as an addition to a piece with otherwise functional influences.

Examples include those in my infographic on the art and art-jewellery influences on watchmaking, and:

The “khumeia” by Simon Pierre Delord, which has a significant influence from Art Nouveau, with conventional watch hands.

The Cartier Crash Tigrée watch can be seen as using the art-jewellery space to express the influences from a damaged watch after a car crash, as well as some fine jewellery influence, while retaining conventional watch hands:

The Molnár Fábry Architectural Art Piece:

. . . this unique and beautiful watch has an engraved dial inspired by Art Nouveau.

The Piaget Altiplano Rose Watch has a gold dial, engraved with a rose motif, which is some degree of art jewellery influence in a conventional watch-case:

The DB28 XP Météorite by De Bethune:

. . . has a beautiful dial with what can be seen as art-jewellery influence of irregular shapes and marks, with conventional case and hands:

Blancpain The Great Wave is a gorgeous dial which can be seen as art-jewellery, inside a conventional fine jewellery watch case:

The way Holthinrichs watches proudly display the rough 3D printed texture on some parts of their watches can be seen as being within the language accepted by the art jewellery space (rather that fine jewellery or engineering):

Wood watches can be seen as relating to what is acceptable within the art jewellery space, since they use materials with organic textures which are not as valuable as precious metals and which would not be chosen for their mechanical properties. See my article for details of wood watches.

For more detail on how art jewellery relates to watchmaking, and the fascinating background to that subject, see my blog article on art jewellery and watchmaking. I have also written in more detail why it seems to me that art jewellery watches were inevitable.

If you might be interested in watches based on art jewellery (rather than just influenced by it, as in the examples above), see our own range of conceptual-art-jewellery based watches, or read more about them below.

Relationships between functionality and aesthetics in watch design

In this article we’ve seen how watch design, while being mostly based on functionality, has, throughout its history, had significant influences from fine jewellery.

The relationships between functionality and aesthetics in watch design are complex and interwoven, such as early wristwatches being predominantly an ornamentation for women, in between earlier and later watch designs focused on functional timekeeping.

Decorations are sometimes added, whether engraving, decorative gemstones (different from the small gemstones used in mechanical watch movements of “jewelled watches”), or materials specifically chosen for their decorative properties. Here is an example of an engraved table watch from 1530:

As with the art jewellery influenced watches mentioned above, this can be seen as defining them mostly as decorative arts, where artistic elements are added to a piece mainly designed for a function, as distinct from fine art which is primarily about aesthetics and not functionality.

An interesting concept, which can be used in both the functionality and the aesthetic design of watches is algorithmic design, which is sometimes used to create unusual watches.

There are many other interesting examples of unusual watches currently, but most of them seem to me to have little or no influence from anything other than mechanics or fine jewellery, apart from a few examples having what can be seen as some degree of art jewellery influence, like those mentioned above. See some great examples of these unusual watches on my blog article: the evolution of the watch.

As a case study about the ongoing evolution or watch history, I now delve into some details of our own brand and how it relates to the topics outlined in this article . . .

The first conceptual art jewellery microbrand?

We’ve seen in this article why timepieces look the way they do, up to this point in history.

Most of the unusual watches up to now have designs which can be seen as still mostly based on mechanical functionality and/or fine jewellery, with a relatively small number of recent examples having some minor degree of art jewellery influence.

Why ours look different.

Most people who start new watch microbrands are trained as watchmakers and/or starting from a deep love of existing, historically influenced, watch brands.

I am not either of those things . . . my main influences are fine art and contemporary music composition. So I was not approaching the creation of watches from the starting point of being a watchmaker, and the majority of current watches are not a fit with my personal aesthetic preferences.

Other authors have mentioned that the main difference between fine art sculptures and conceptual art jewellery is the scale (although others point out that wearability is also significant). I will explain below why our watches are fundamentally based in the conceptual art jewellery space, as well as using an ancient horological principle.

It was only after I’d created some of my very unique and individual watches, purely for the pleasure of personal creative exploration without any thoughts (or knowledge) of the market, that I happily realized that they fit into concepts which are desirable currently, such as the thirst for innovation from microbrand enthusiasts, and the personal creative exploration of chosen aesthetics which results in conceptual art jewellery (and which is the fine art process).

Unconstrainedtime is a conceptual art jewellery brand because:

The whole of each of our watches (see below) are based on chosen aesthetics.

UnconstrainedTime’s innovation, creating a simple, small-footprint time-display with neutral styling, allows us to be, arguably, the first watch brand to focus primarily on freely chosen aesthetics, freed from the powerful archetypes of watch-hands or numerals.

Each UnconstrainedTime watch is by an individual creator, and is sold as a one-off or small numbered release, with the creator’s signature on the back. The creativity of an UnconstrainedTime watch is also deeply personal (one of the definitions of art), such as our launch watch, Fractal Emergence being part of my own long-term artistic obsession with exploring fractals

The art jewellery used in our watches are not merely decorations added to a mechanical or fine-jewellery basis, they are the fundamental basis of the design of the whole watch, with the 12-hour a day concept of our time-display conceptually rooted in ancient Near Eastern and classical divisions of the day into 12 hours of daylight and 12 of night, working effectively as an integral part of each piece.

Our watches use forms and textures which are not part of the fine jewellery vocabulary, such as rough blackened silver, complex, organic or fractal forms, or grainy 3D printed surfaces. They also use forms which are complex and organic, unlike the simple geometrical basis or symbolized forms and highly polished surfaces used in almost all fine jewellery.

Our watches are not only very individual, they are also very much a personal exploration by the creator (which is one of the main definitions of art).

Some people love our creations, but they are definitely not for everyone. Like the abstract paintings that inspire us, our watches evoke strong reactions. They speak to collectors who think independently, who value genuine artistic expression, who understand that true creativity can’t be mass-produced. Our pieces become more than objects – they’re physical anchors to moments of choice, sparking conversations and marking significant chapters in their owners’ stories.

Our watches have a narrower appeal than those of most brands. We’re not trying to appeal to a wide audience (that’s what mass-produced watches are for), for the same reasons that most contemporary fine art has a narrow appeal.

It is probably clear from looking at them that the aesthetic influences on UnconstrainedTime watches are art and conceptual art jewellery rather than mechanical design or the traditions of fine jewellery. This is also reflected in the brush-strokes used as one of the primary elements of our watch logo (which you can see at the top of this web-page).

All these factors together make it clear that UnconstrainedTime watches are part of the conceptual art jewellery (and fine art) space. Have a look at some of our watches below, or read more about our brand story here.

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Do you think UnconstrainedTime watches are art jewellery? Let us know what you think, in the comments below or on our social media.