5 ms·

I'm disappointed to see this merger of art and engineering received so poorly here. This pushes the envelope of the possible, something I consider beautiful. I

I'm disappointed to see this merger of art and engineering received so poorly here. This pushes the envelope of the possible, something I consider beautiful. It's roughly as impractical, expensive, and awkward looking, as a human-propelled airplane. I don't think any of the many commenters here who panned this watch would have anything bad to say about a human-propelled airplane. It's a pity that they can't appreciate this object in that spirit.

sedatk 4y ago
If we'd started to replace airplanes with affordable $200 flying saucers, and somebody came up with a $1.8M human-propelled airplane as "innovation", I bet it wouldn't have been liked as much.
- samatman 4y ago
  Why compare with flying saucers, why not bikes? It's the bike industry existing which makes enormous gossamer human-powered craft possible, after all. Most art has little reason to exist, kind of by definition, and is seriously expensive at the high end. This is engineering art, where most expensive wristwatches are just art, specifically jewelry. I wouldn't expect the latest Hublot limited to end up on the front page of HN, but a 1.75mm mechanical wristwatch? Gratified my intellectual curiousity!
  - sedatk 4y ago
    Because that's just a lightweight version of an old technology. No new value is being added here. Had this watch provided, say, some smartwatch features mechanically (such as an analog heart monitor, or an analog altimeter etc) I might have found it interesting despite the technology still being old. This feels like just a flex on contemporary manufacturing capabilities. They just spent more money than everyone else.
    - adhesive_wombat 4y ago
      Indeed, it's a bit like finding it hard to get all that hyped up about the latest Intel i9 whatever-K. Sure it's objectively a monstrous amount of processing on a sliver of matter (just like the one before it), but it's "just" throwing more transistors and fab at the same thing as the [whatever-1]-K. And then this is basically just an "if you know, you know" flex for a rich person. At least the incremental CPU "tick" or "tock" was somewhat useful, even if the -K variant is not especially useful in the general case.
    - lgvld 4y ago
      Maybe we shouldn’t be pushig that hard towards reducing the size of processors/transistors?
      - sedatk 4y ago
        If we're doing it for aesthetics, I agree, we shouldn't.
nimbius 4y ago
the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, or so its said. I'm thrilled to see the envelope pushed but I find seventeen jewel Chinese movements and old soviet designs so much more enriching. they tell a story that isn't just a bourgeois expression of the craft. luch, Vostok, sturmanskie, sugess and shanghai diamond all paint a rich tapestry that bridges history and modern craft, and are refreshingly approachable.
- samatman 4y ago
  If I had 1.8mm to spend on watches I'd have to figure out what to do with the other 1.7 million, I'm happy to appreciate them on their own terms and from a safe distance.
TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
It's a flat watch - no doubt mechanically clever, but it also happens to be jarringly ugly. There's an entire economy dedicated to pandering to the pretensions of the vulgar rich, and it certainly fits in there. But as a design classic - no.
- adamdusty 4y ago
  I think it looks pretty cool, and I agree with gp that it's sad people are so caught up in some weird hatred for watch enthusiasts that they can't appreciate the engineering.
- ansgri 4y ago
  This, especially compared to the Octo Finissimo they “out-done”.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
dirtyid 4y ago
>envelope of the possible Maybe limits of human hand craft which I assume is the allure of these bespoke time pieces. That said I don't actually see the description mention hand crafting other than polishing and drawing a few surfaces. Otherwise I don't see why this is pushing any envelopes when we can make micrometer MEMS machinery. Which would be pretty slick - theoretical minimum micrometer thick watch mechanism encased in sub millimeter baseplate.
- samatman 4y ago
  I'm sure you're correct and making a thinner mechanical wristwatch that doesn't just fold in half is really easy! I look forward to your Show HN on a wristwatch < 1.75mm in thickness. How long do you figure it will take you? three months? six? should I send an email to remind you?
  - dirtyid 4y ago
    I don't need to design a thinner mechanical watch to correctly point out that they are far from the envelops of possible with respect to modern mechanics. Like this is a neat object but let's not pretend modern watch making is pushing envelopes outside it's niche domain.
drewm1980 4y ago
These things have become symbols of wealth inequality, and sports cars in particular have become symbols of wilful environmental degradation. Many commenters would hate on a non-technical piece of art that symbolized/promoted the same things.

sedatk 4y ago

If we'd started to replace airplanes with affordable $200 flying saucers, and somebody came up with a $1.8M human-propelled airplane as "innovation", I bet it wouldn't have been liked as much.

samatman 4y ago
Why compare with flying saucers, why not bikes? It's the bike industry existing which makes enormous gossamer human-powered craft possible, after all. Most art has little reason to exist, kind of by definition, and is seriously expensive at the high end. This is engineering art, where most expensive wristwatches are just art, specifically jewelry. I wouldn't expect the latest Hublot limited to end up on the front page of HN, but a 1.75mm mechanical wristwatch? Gratified my intellectual curiousity!
- sedatk 4y ago
  Because that's just a lightweight version of an old technology. No new value is being added here. Had this watch provided, say, some smartwatch features mechanically (such as an analog heart monitor, or an analog altimeter etc) I might have found it interesting despite the technology still being old. This feels like just a flex on contemporary manufacturing capabilities. They just spent more money than everyone else.
  - adhesive_wombat 4y ago
    Indeed, it's a bit like finding it hard to get all that hyped up about the latest Intel i9 whatever-K. Sure it's objectively a monstrous amount of processing on a sliver of matter (just like the one before it), but it's "just" throwing more transistors and fab at the same thing as the [whatever-1]-K. And then this is basically just an "if you know, you know" flex for a rich person. At least the incremental CPU "tick" or "tock" was somewhat useful, even if the -K variant is not especially useful in the general case.
  - lgvld 4y ago
    Maybe we shouldn’t be pushig that hard towards reducing the size of processors/transistors?
    - sedatk 4y ago
      If we're doing it for aesthetics, I agree, we shouldn't.

nimbius 4y ago

the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, or so its said. I'm thrilled to see the envelope pushed but I find seventeen jewel Chinese movements and old soviet designs so much more enriching. they tell a story that isn't just a bourgeois expression of the craft. luch, Vostok, sturmanskie, sugess and shanghai diamond all paint a rich tapestry that bridges history and modern craft, and are refreshingly approachable.

samatman 4y ago
If I had 1.8mm to spend on watches I'd have to figure out what to do with the other 1.7 million, I'm happy to appreciate them on their own terms and from a safe distance.

TheOtherHobbes 4y ago

It's a flat watch - no doubt mechanically clever, but it also happens to be jarringly ugly. There's an entire economy dedicated to pandering to the pretensions of the vulgar rich, and it certainly fits in there. But as a design classic - no.

adamdusty 4y ago
I think it looks pretty cool, and I agree with gp that it's sad people are so caught up in some weird hatred for watch enthusiasts that they can't appreciate the engineering.
ansgri 4y ago
This, especially compared to the Octo Finissimo they “out-done”.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

dirtyid 4y ago

>envelope of the possible Maybe limits of human hand craft which I assume is the allure of these bespoke time pieces. That said I don't actually see the description mention hand crafting other than polishing and drawing a few surfaces. Otherwise I don't see why this is pushing any envelopes when we can make micrometer MEMS machinery. Which would be pretty slick - theoretical minimum micrometer thick watch mechanism encased in sub millimeter baseplate.

samatman 4y ago
I'm sure you're correct and making a thinner mechanical wristwatch that doesn't just fold in half is really easy! I look forward to your Show HN on a wristwatch < 1.75mm in thickness. How long do you figure it will take you? three months? six? should I send an email to remind you?
- dirtyid 4y ago
  I don't need to design a thinner mechanical watch to correctly point out that they are far from the envelops of possible with respect to modern mechanics. Like this is a neat object but let's not pretend modern watch making is pushing envelopes outside it's niche domain.

drewm1980 4y ago

These things have become symbols of wealth inequality, and sports cars in particular have become symbols of wilful environmental degradation. Many commenters would hate on a non-technical piece of art that symbolized/promoted the same things.