DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
The story of the US-based Barrelhand Project 1 begins as it should, with one student’s Swiss-born muse- the ever incredible Urwerk UR-202. Karel Bachand was an 18 year old engineering student, having been seduced by his “holy grail of watchmaking engineering and art” with little money to finance such an acquisition, his disappointment drove him to replicate the UR-202. Using 3D CAD software, Bachand learned, step by step, mistake by mistake, the incredible process which allowed Urwerk’s celebrated “satellite time” to operate. His journey was chronicled by industry blog – ABlogToWatch.
With the Dark Knight on one wrist and the Iron Knight on the other, Urwerk co-founder Martin Frei relaxes in the comfort of his creation.
Urwerk took notice a few weeks later and sent a sponsored ticket to Bachand to visit them at Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva where founders Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei spent 2-3 hours each day to talk watches with the wunderkind. The visions and dreams of independent watchmakers like Baumgartner and Frei can be infectious and soon, Bachand parlayed the knowledge gleaned from the master watchmakers and time spent building the dial-side and time display side elements of the Urwerk UR-202 into his own personal vision for timekeeping – the Barrelhand Project 1.
Hands on with the Prototype Project 1
But first, here’s some context to the article. I first had a chance encounter with Karel at an event in Silicon Valley, and that was when I got to know both the watch and more importantly, the watchmaker. He revealed the plastic cased timepiece, and apologetically reiterated numerous times that it would look way better in metal. But the prototype was more than sufficient to bring out some “wows”.
A prototype of the Barrelhand Project 1, in a 3D printed polymer case. The mechanisms are fully functional, with a linear minutes display and disc hours display.
Barrelhand Project 1: A Threat to Swiss Watchmaking from the USA?
Barrelhand’s mission is to create beautiful and unique time display machines with a retro-futuristic vibe. The Barrelhand Project 1 features a 12 point geneva gear jump hour, and linear cam path minutes developed in-house. The keywords being “developed in house”.
Barrelhand timepieces carry a story far removed from standard watchmaking and will be documenting the entire project publicly from early sketches to production and everything in between. This transparency allows people to see exactly what they are getting and all the work that goes into each piece. Documentation also gives the wearer a deeper understanding of their timepiece and prevents the watch from being subject to unjustified profit mark ups that we are all too familiar with in this industry.
Project 1 is currently on its 23rd prototype iteration and is set to release a small production of full metal examples at the end of 2017. Unique time displays have long been reserved to the six-figure range due to the amount of time and funding required in creating new movements and complications. But through lower cost prototyping and lean research methodologies, costs are kept low and expensive iterations minimized.
These cost savings are passed on to the end […]
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Article from: DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles, by Chester Lau
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