Behind the scenes: The Golden Hour

Inspired by children’s book The Secret Garden and quintessential English landscapes, The Golden Hour was designed by Andy Wilx - the man behind our The Silent Thief watch.

It was brilliant to work with Andy again to bring his inspiration to life. 

The final design includes a shimmering golden bee in the centre of the watch face, a sundial (which indicates the hours and minutes) and a lush carpet of flora and foliage which move with the seconds. 

That means that the illustrated landscape is constantly shifting - much like Mother Nature herself! 

 

Here’s what Andy had to say about his design: 

“White Jasmine scrambles around a golden sundial while a Bumble Bee buzzes about, regal and majestic yet wild. 

“The formal English garden has always been a source of inspiration: with its symmetrical borders, manicured lawns and avenues of topiary; statues, fountains and sundials entangled in ivy and rose; butterflies and bees busying themselves; rabbits and birds popping in and out of secret hiding places.

“In this design I tried to capture the balance between the geometric and the organic in a landscaped garden and the magical allure of The Secret Garden. 

“The bee is one of my favourite motifs. ‘The Worker Bee’ is the emblem for communities as varied as the city of Manchester and the nation of France. The honeybee characterises craftsmanship and honest toil, while the Queen bee symbolises royalty and nobility. I love this watch and I hope you do too - it’s the bee’s knees!”

Once the design was agreed upon, we got to work with production, printing and assembling. 

To create a shimmering effect and showcase the regality of the queen bee, our team used two types of gold leaf in both the bee, the dial and the foliage. 

The Swiss-made automatic mechanical movement in this watch means that each tick is super smooth - like how a bumble bee gracefully floating in a garden scene would be. 

We also used a seconds disc which features the crown and the ring of flowers and leaves. 

As with all of our designs, each colour was mixed individually and printed one-by-one. Then the team hand assembled each of the 100 watches for the limited edition release. 

Did you manage to bag yourself The Golden Hour? If you missed out this time, you can sign up to our waiting list here.