On May 5, Monachus Watches will launch a Kickstarter campaign for a watch with a fully custom case pattern. Not the case finish or a choice of PVD coatings, but a customer-provided graphic image wrapped to fit and bonded to the surface.
They achieve this by a process called hydro dipping, in which an image is printed onto a water-soluble film and transferred onto an immersed item, allowing the picture to wrap the surface. The result is highly durable and resistant to extremes of heat and cold, so you often see hydro dipped images applied to car parts and motorcycle helmets. To my knowledge, no one has tried it on watch cases.
Color and detail should be excellent, so the only limit is your imagination. Want blue marble? Sure. Camo? Of course! Red snakeskin? Absolutely. Actual snakes wriggling all over it? Weird, but hey, it’s your watch. If you have the image, they can put it on the case.
The Monachus has a 42mm stainless steel cushion case with scalloped corners that looks attractive enough on its own and should provide ample surface area for illustrations. Under the sapphire crystal is a black or white horizontally textured dial, applied and polished bar markers, and semi-skeletonized hands filled with lume. A Swiss Ronda 763 quartz runs the show. Customers may choose a variety of rubber or leather straps.
I haven’t seen any more than the renders here, but I am intrigued by the concept. Prices will range from about £250 to £400 ($322 – $516 USD). For more information and to sign up for alerts, visit http://monachuswatches.co.uk/
