Design on the edge
It is both a daunting and an exciting challenge to design for a watch brand like Movado, which is both universally recognized as a modern pioneer and at the same time accessible. Current trends have made analogue watch dials highly detailed 2-dimensional graphic exercises, making each watch company identifiable by brand signatures. For the Movado Edge collection, we wanted to explore a 3-dimensional watch face that would immediately draw in the viewer’s eye.
The machined subtle 3-dimensional ridges arranged in a circular pattern, reflect the light in patterns that constantly change. Like the movement of the sun throughout the day reveals the topography of the earth from desert sand dunes to mountains, the Edge dial relief plays with light and transforms.
The resulting watch collection delicately balances the line between minimalism and intricacy; sixty textured ridges outline the circumference, with a thin bezel to emphasize the aluminum-textured negative space. The museum dial, symbolic of the sun at high noon, has been elevated in a volcano-like shape to cast shadows over the ridges below, using the light to transform the dial’s appearance throughout the day. The effect is so strong, and the brand new yet recognizable – to a point where we didn’t even need to put the Movado logo on the watch front.
The final collection – “Edge” – is just that: while the edges of the dial inspire visual fascination, the design holistically pushes the brand to a new edge, a ‘Future Heritage;’ a ridge of its own making.
