Dezeen Watch Store: Scottish design studio INSTRMNT has launched its debut collection of timepieces exclusively at Dezeen Watch Store, following a successful crowfunding campaign on Kickstarter (+interview).
INSTRMNT 01 watches were developed by Glasgow-based designers Pete Sunderland, 22, and Ross Baynham, 24, who met while studying at Glasgow Caledonian University.
The collection was financed through a campaign on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, which saw the duo beat their initial £20,000 goal by more than £73,000.
“We both love watches. INSTRMNT 01 really did come from us saying “I love this watch but I hate X about it”, so it was almost selfish,” Baynham told Dezeen Watch Store in an interview.
“We thought, ‘we’re designers, we love watches, why don’t we make the watch that we want to wear?’ Why don’t we make the watch that is perfect for us?'”
INSTRMNT 01 in gunmetal/tan
“Personally, I thought Kickstarter would detract from the value of the brand, but actually it’s totally been the opposite,” Sunderland said. “It has added so much value. It was amazing, we were completely wrong about it.”
INSTRMNT 01 watch features a 3 o’clock date window, sapphire crystal lens and is available in three colour combinations: gunmetal/tan, rose gold/brown and brushed/black.
INSTRMNT 01 in rose gold/brown with 3 o’clock date window
Its stripped-back aesthetic is influence by industrial equipment from the 1950s, and the stark white face features a gauge-like index.
INSTRMNT 01 comes in separate parts and a tool that can be used to assemble it
“I just love the sparseness of them, the white space and numbers that start 00, 01, 02,” said Sunderland.
“It comes from amp meters, volt meters and their dials. We love them and collect them,” added Baynham. “The watch comes ‘exploded’ so you get pins, the casing, strap parts and a tool, which are nicely laid out. It’s like an instrument that you put together.”
INSTRMNT 01 features a Swiss-made Rhonda 585 movement
The case is built from PVD-coated steel and is connected to a premium Spanish leather strap by smoothly curved lugs.
“If you look at the watch head-on, the lug looks straight, but as you turn it to the side, you see a Bézier curve that’s at a very exact degree we decided on over a long period of time,” Baynham explained. “We liked that idea of doing it in a way that was almost mathematical and we think it turned out nicely weighted.”
INSTRMNT 01 is made to suit men and women
Read the full interview with Pete Sunderland and Ross Baynham on the Dezeen Watch Store blog »
Find out more about INSTRMNT 01 »
