If the dial is the face of the watch, the hands are the smile. While a stand-alone design themselves, they need to compliment the overall design of the watch. I sketched dozens of hands, some more experimental than others. Finally, I chose a simple and elegant design that perfectly match the dial. Making hands by hand allowed me to give them the exact shape I wanted.
Timeless and Elegant.While thin at the foot, the minute hand heavily arches upwards to create a design inspired by the toe cap of a fine hand-made oxford shoe. The rising and falling shape of the hands perfectly match the two-layered dial with applied hour markers. By making the hands by hand I ensure that each of the hour and minute hand sets have their own subtle characteristics. While the overall design is timeless and elegant, the hands on N1 are relatively thick, enabling a more prominent three-dimensional design.
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Traditional craftmanship.There is no shortage of ready-made hands or high-tech tools for making hands. However, only traditional hand tools such as saw, files and lathe were used to manufacture the hands on the N1 watch. First, the shape of the hands is sawn out of steel plate. Then the hands are carefully shaped with a file. The picture above shows the different types of tiny files use to shape the hands. After polishing, the hands are given their trademark goldish hue by warming them into a specific temperature with a torch.
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