The beginnings of a collab
Sometimes you need to take a minute away from your primary project. More on the Rittenhouse effort soon, but I recently reconnected with a good friend and we found ourselves deep in conversation about the incredible journey he and his family have been on. With a major milestone on the horizon, we agreed that we should mark it with a bespoke watch. The details will wait for another time but on the watch front, the prototyping is underway.
The Vision
The watch calls for purple, something with real character and I want to achieve a sunburst finish radiating from the center, giving the dial depth and movement. Across the dial, a silhouette of a dancer in motion. And applied indices: precisely positioned batons for the hours with a double baton at 12.
I've been working through the design in lightburn. The dancer reads boldly there, confident and clear against the sunburst. The indices sit exactly where they should. On screen, it's what we discussed.
Purple
I've been testing colors. I've tried several purples, watching how each one responds under different light. Some are too blue. Some lean too red. Purple is tricky. You chase it, you almost have it, and then the light changes and you realize you need to keep chasing.
The Dancer: Subtle to a Fault
In the Lightburn file, the dancer is bold. Clear. Unmissable. But when I shallow engraved it in the dial surface, it is too subtle. On the other hand, I am actually pretty happy with this sunburst pattern. It isn’t as refined as a proper brushed effort but I like it.
Applied Indices and Adhesive Mayhem
Now we get to the real humbling part: the indices.
I approached this with what I thought was reasonable care. Small tweezers, a steady hand, super glue, and the kind of optimism that comes from not having done this before. What I got was a masterclass in humility. The adhesive went everywhere. Not under the indices where it needed to be. Around them. Over them. One index in particular (the 9 o'clock position), got so thoroughly gummed up that I had to scrape it clean just to see find the holes. And when I did, I took the paint with it.
That's the moment you learn something important about super glue: it doesn't forgive. It just sits there, curing, enjoying the pain as you realize you can’t fix it.
Next Time: Dry Fitting and Rodico
I've been thinking about this. Read what I could find. And here's what I'm going to try next:
Dry friction fit first. No adhesive. Get the index seated exactly where it needs to be, held only by tension and fit. Make sure it's perfect.
Hold it in place with Rodico. That putty is going to be my safety net.
Apply adhesive from the back side. Controlled. Precise. The index stays put by friction and Rodico. The adhesive just reinforces what's already there. Minimal exposure. Minimal mess, and worst case, I can always sand down the back of the dial.
Six Months to Figure It Out
This prototype is the first step in something that I hope will be a lot of fun and make an important impact. I have about six months to iterate through these problems. The purple needs refinement. The dancer needs to be bolder, more present, actually readable on the dial. And the indices need to be affixed properly without the kind of adhesive carnage I created on the first try.
Every problem has a solution. Some of them just take more tries than I’d like.
