Entry No. 2 - The Impossible Dials We Tried to Create Anyway

THE IMPOSSIBLE DIALS WE TRIED TO MAKE ANYWAY

(And Why Our Factories Now Avoid Eye Contact With Us)

You know that moment when a designer hands you a sketch that looks like it was drawn during an existential crisis at 3am, on a piece of paper that already survived a tea accident, a coffee incident, and possibly a small fire?

Most brands would say:
“Great concept. Let’s clean it up and make a proper dial.”

We said:
“What if we don’t clean it up? What if the crumpled, stained, chaotic sketch is the dial?”

And that, dear reader, is how we entered the ninth circle of manufacturing hell.

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Why These Dials Should Not Exist (Yet Here We Are)

Making one dial that looks like crumpled paper is surprisingly doable.
Making hundreds that look handcrafted, unique, and defective-but-in-a-good-way?
That’s where things get… crunchy.

Issue #1: Embossing the Dial = Dial Death

We started with a brass dial blank. The plan: emboss it with a faint crumple pattern.

The result:
The paint cracked.
The lume cracked.
The factory cracked.

Embossing metal is great for clean shapes.
Less great for “Oops, I sat on this document.”

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Issue #2: UV Z-Axis Topographical Printing

This magical printer can build up texture layer by layer.

Except…
Our texture was too fine.
It smoothed out the tiny crumple details like it was putting moisturiser on the dial.

Everything came out gently lumpy instead of sharply crumpled.

A wrinkly potato, not a ruined sketch.

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Issue #3: Laser Etching:

Lasers are precise.
Our crumple pattern is chaotic.
They don’t mix.

Instead of crisp paper texture, we got something that looked like the aftermath of a cat fight.

Then Came the “Sensible Suggestions”…

Every watch house we spoke to eventually said the same thing:

“Just pour a thin clear enamel layer on top so you have a flat surface to print on.”

Yes, it would solve the printing issues.
Yes, everything would be wonderfully legible.
Yes, the dial would stop exploding under factory lighting.

But it would also remove the entire 3D crumpled relief that makes this dial ours.

We could have gone safer.
We could have chosen:

– Grand feu enamel, but it cracks if you breathe too enthusiastically.
– Frosted metal, but it shows fingerprints like it’s auditioning for CSI.
– Heat bluing, but you lose half the batch because they turned purple instead.
– Meteorite, but then we’d have to price the watch like a small hatchback.

But no.
We chose chaos.
We chose paper texture.
We chose suffering.

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So… How Are We Solving It?

This is the part where sane brands would say: We gave up.

We didn’t.

We think we’ve found a viable process that keeps:

✔ the 3D relief
✔ the shading
✔ the “drawn at 2am” authenticity
✔ the imperfections
✔ the soul

What we need now is a factory brave enough to do it at scale without invoicing us their emotional damages.

That hunt continues.

What We Need From You

Before we commit to unleashing this monster onto the world:

Do you want the proper 3D crumpled texture?
Or would you accept a smoother dial that only looks textured?

This determines our entire production path.

Comment below, email us, or send a carrier pigeon.
Your vote matters.

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And Lastly… A Small Plea From Your Favourite Delinquents

Developing this dial has cost:

– a lot of money
– several machines’ dignity
– one designer’s will to live

If you want to support the chaos, the art, and the suffering:

buy the cufflinks.

They directly fund the creation of this stupidly difficult watch.

We’ve also been forced (at gunpoint by capitalism) into doing a Black Friday discount, so if you want something genuinely unique for Christmas, this is your last chance before prices go back up (USE THE CODE BLKFRI AT CHECKOUT FOR 30% OFF).

Thank you for being the kind of people who cheer us on when we say,
“What if we made a watch dial that looks like it survived a divorce?”

You make this madness worth it.

—Creamy Patina