For anyone fed up with smart watches, renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando has designed a beautiful analog alternative that can be described as an “apple watch.”
The double entendre is a cheeky play on the world’s most popular smartwatch, but the form is also a nod to the fruit that has inspired Ando throughout his career.
Ando is the newest contributor to Swiss watchmaker Cauny’s The Architects of Time series, which celebrates the art of balancing structural integrity and aesthetic beauty.
Architects and watch designers have many overlapping skills and tastes, demonstrated by a long history between the two creative mediums.
The Cauny Ando has a curved case with no lugs, a convex dial and a domed sapphire crystal to emulate the shape of an apple. Ando’s signature use of uniform texture is exhibited in the two color choices of solid green and brushed steel.
An elliptical hour hand and a rectangular minute hand suggest the stem and leaf of an apple, driving home the theme with minimal detail.
