Dezeen Watch Store spoke to designer Samuel Wilkinson about the launch of his first watch collection with Scottish brand Nomad.

Wilkinson‘s unisex Mòltair watch has a dish-shaped face and chunky coloured hands, which were influenced by Constructivist art and were designed to create a “graphic sculpture”.

“Very early on I decided that the hands would be the centrepiece,” said Wilkinson, who launched the watch at this year’s designjunction exhibition during London Design Festival 2015.

Although initially hesitant about creating a watch, the designer took up the opportunity when Nomad contacted him 18 months ago.

“I wanted to make sure I could design something that was unique and had its own signature,” he said. “The watch market is very saturated, so I wanted to make sure the person I worked with would allow me to go in the direction I wanted.”

“I didn’t actually wear a watch before, but I think by going through this process I’ve fallen in love with watches again,” he added.

Wilkinson is perhaps best known for designing the Plumen 001 light bulb, which launched in 2010 and went on to win the 2011 Design of the Year Award. Since then, the designer has also created a rotating LED light for Swedish brand Zero and a collection of lightweight aluminium furniture.

His watch has a circular face and a textured stainless-steel case, which is available in three different finishes: black, silver and gold.

The design also features a numberless dial to emphasise the oversized geometric hands, which are also available in various colour combinations.

“Normally the hands are made of brass, but we’ve had to go with aluminium to achieve the graphic effect that we wanted,” said Wilkinson.

The model takes its name from the Scottish Gaelic word for a cast or mould – mòlltaich – and its shape is intended to mimic a cast-iron pot.

A simple leather strap attaches to the face with a pair of clasps fixed to a stainless-steel backplate, a detail that Wilkinson believes to be unique.
“I think a lot of watches are designed in a 2D fashion,” said Wilkinson. “But for me it was very much designing a full 3D object so every little detail is considered and bespoke. It’s form and function but maybe with a bit more style thrown in.”

Wilkinson is the first designer to collaborate with Nomad, although the brand plans to partner with a different design studio for each new watch release.

Can you tell us about yourself?

I’m an industrial designer, I’ve got a studio in Bethnal Green. We do various different objects from small projects such as this watch, to large public installations and a few things in between. It’s nice to be flexible when we can be.

What watch do you wear?

I wear the Mòltair watch now. I didn’t actually wear a watch before, but I think by going through this process I’ve fallen in love with watches again. You forget about analogue watches but because of the current influx of digital watches, it’s reinvigorated the market of the analogue watch.

People really appreciate the style it can give you. It’s a functionality of telling the time but it’s very much a way of projecting your own style in a small, nice and subtle way.

Do you think that wristwatches are still relevant today?

I think that digital watches are still not quite a necessity. The functionality of not being able to do certain things, such as computer work for example, mean that digital watches are really only second screens for your phone. I think people don’t really want to be on all the time, we are so consumed by being connected and it’s not necessary to be double-connected at all times.

The younger generation tend to just have phones that they use for everything, including telling the time, so the need for looking at a watch for the time is not really there. But now, I think that’s coming back. It’s really a renaissance, and it’s quite exciting.
What led you to design a watch?

Nomad contacted me about a year and half ago. I’d thought about designing a watch before but I’ve been quite hesitant. I wanted to make sure I could design something that was unique and had its own signature. Again maybe like chairs, the watch market is very saturated, so I wanted to make sure the person I worked with would allow me to go in the direction I wanted.

It’s very much been a hand-holding process in a great way. It’s important for me to get involved because it’s the only way I can get the best product. I need control.

How long has it taken from inception to manufacture?

About just over a year and a half. Straight after we agreed to work on the project we got to work designing the concept. A large amount of the time was taken up working back and forth with the manufacturer to make sure all the details are really up to standard.

Doing little tweaks and trying to push them further than their normal remits, even doing certain things like the texture on the watch case, seems very simple. But watch manufacturers have their set way of making watches, so when you’re trying to cross-pollinate from another industry, you say to them “well I know I can make textures like that so you should be able to as well”. You’ll probably see them supplying other watches with the same textures now.

The same with the hands, we wanted to do very large hands so we’ve had to change the material. Normally the hands are made of brass, which is standard, so we’ve had to go with aluminium to achieve the graphic effect that we wanted. Working with suppliers, you have your ideal goal and you don’t compromise for that until you work it out.

What inspired the name Mòltair?

Nomad are from Scotland. They’re not actually Scottish – he’s Northern Irish and she’s from Canada – but they’ve been living in Glasgow for a long time, so they class themselves as Scottish. We wanted to have a little bit about the heritage. We were looking through Scottish Gaelic words and I wanted to find the word for cast, so Mòltair means cast in Scottish Gaelic.
The strap is removable, how does that work?

That was really one of the other things for me, rethinking the mechanics of it all and thinking about how the strap relates to the body. I wanted very much for the body to float off the wrist, so when the dial is taken off we’ve got a lovely pressed leather detail that makes it much smoother. There’s two extruding registrations that pierce through the strap and this clamps the leather on to the back. It’s a really simple mechanical fixing and I’ve not seen it before.

I think a lot of watches are designed in a 2D fashion, from the front, and a lot of them are quite extruded, very simple. But for me it was very much about designing a full 3D object so every little detail is considered and bespoke. It’s form and function but maybe with a bit more style thrown in.

What were your influences when designing the range?

A little bit of Constructivism and looking a little bit at certain artists. When you’re doing any project you start to have your goggles and it limits the things you do. When you’re thinking about a watch and the textures and balance of colours then you really look at the world with that filter so then you get inspired by certain things with that thing in mind. I think that very early on I decided that the hands would be the centrepiece.

Is that why the dial is numberless?

Yes. The full construction of the watch is one thing, and that’s really important, but then the other main feature is obviously the hands. When they move they create a graphic sculpture.

What materials did you use?

We used stainless steel, which is very sustainable. It will last a long time and age very well, and we’ve got a really thick two-millimetre crystal lens. It’s showing an honest materiality. Some things are painted and you don’t know if they’re are plastic or not, but this has the look of metal.

It was very important to get a natural leather. You can quite easily put cheap leather straps on. We looked at a lot of things and we found Tärnsjö Garveri, which is a lovely Swedish leather factory. That was the best quality we could get, they are naturally treated so they will age really perfectly. The patina for use will hopefully give it your own personality.