A Stunning Video on Design and Porcelain Watch Face Creation
As I was wrapping things up last night and I had calm travel videos on for ambient background, YouTube offered up something different that I found amazing on many levels.
The video was from the watch brand anOrdain (anOrdain from Glasgow’s Southside), which I had not heard of, but that isn’t a surprise as I’m not a big “watch guy”. I’ve had a few decent watches, my dad’s Rolex when he passed and that was 99% sentimental. And Apple Watch which is largely utilitarian, but designed well.
The anOrdain video was on their YouTube channel and focussed solely on their Model 1 Porcelain watch and the design, craftsmanship, and the process. I found the video incredibly well produced and the story of their process to make the porcelain face, the typography, and the hands. It is a highly designed and crafted watch and the video matches that really well.
The Blue on White Porcelain Video
The video Blue On White | The Model 1 Porcelain - YouTube - anOrdain color hues, pacing, focus on details is a wonderful bit of video craft on its own. But, it matches the watch maker’s esthetic and practice so very well. I’ve watched a couple other videos and they have the same craft and design forward esthetic and feel.
What I Fell For
I don’t know that I’ve really fallen for a watch. I have for things really well designed and crafted, but watches rarely fit that bill as many tilt toward flashy and gaudy not elegant. What struck me with the watch is the face with the white porcelain and the incredible blue that is a Delft Blue. It somewhat reminds me of the Elizabeth Tower Clock / Big Ben - Wikipedia after it had been refurbished and the decades of dirt and grime removed and the hands and markings were blue (Big Ben Elizabeth Tower London 2023 01 Detail - Big Ben - Wikipedia). This combination resonates really well with me and it is calming and beautiful in a way most watch faces aren’t.
That wonderful white and blue combination is often really striking to me. On the anOrdain watch, The Model 1 Porcelain, it is matched with the details of the face with the curved blue rectangle markings, the custom typeface by Kia Tasbihgou (Design Practice of Kia Tasbihgou and Kiatas on Instagram and article about his typeface designs A campaigner for the unconventional, Kia Tasbihgou discusses his latest typefaces ), which is classical and playfully exaggerated like a hand drawn set of numbers. The hands on the watch are distinct and unique from each other, and are a blue from heated steel, which are a different hue and shade, but rhymes really well.
This is well outside my budget. It looks very much like an art piece crafted for one’s wrist.