Concrete Jungle

"Watchmaking, as I see is more than just a time measuring mechanism. It is the main male jewellery and should reflect the personality and strength of its owner. I chose concrete, a noble, modern, honest and robust material, the stuff our megapolis are made of. My watches tell the story of an alliance of French creativity and Swiss technical performance, innovating in a field that has never been explored in watchmaking before. My designs are sophisticated in their simplicity and plainly contemporary..." -Dzmitry Samal 

 

Well, Dzmitry, thanks for that detailed, if not overly hyperbolic introduction. Ignoring the fact that he just discounted half of the world’s population from his brands reach (I guess women can’t wear a watch that is noble, honest and er… robust), I am still rather impressed by the concept and design that has gone into making this range of concrete watches. According to Samal, the cases involve a patented new process with specially machined and polished concrete that goes over the steel case beneath. Form the pictures you can see just how sharply cut the case shapes are, the precision involved in this process must be quite something. 

It is also very interesting to see a watch, especially one retailing for approximately 1200 Euros, made from such a common material. The juxtaposition of the essentially cheap concrete with the Swiss movement and the sapphire lens makes a real statement about our perception of value.

My favourite feature of these watches is the dials which feature with monochromatic colours with hints of blue, red, yellow, or green. The dial designs look like they have come out of a blue print book, with the hands resembling miniature skyscrapers, like a tiny city has been captured on the dial, hinting at that “megapolis” Samal is referencing. 

His watches are wonderful but maybe in future he should just let his watches do the talking for him and ditch the quotes. With such an interesting aesthetic, Samal should just sit back and let his product sell itself without offending the less “robust” members of society.