I Designed A Watch With Brew Watches

Brew is one of the first watches that comes to my mind and it just made total sense that we want to collaborate on a project together. We wanted something that was almost like a legacy project. We're finally ready to unveil this to the world. Hi everyone, Teddy Baldesar here with Jonathan of Brew Watches and we have something very exciting to share. A year and a half in the making, but also almost 10 years in the making of our careers just like intersecting over this period of time. Today we're gonna go through a project that we've been working on co-designing a wash with one another, but it's great to see you again. >> You, too. >> When we first met, and it's kind of funny how we first met because I loved what you were doing, so I wanted to interview you, but where did we meet each other? It was kind of a weird situation, right? >> So, we met in a park in New York City and you're like, "All right, we're going to do this shoot." And looking in hindsight, you gave me the opportunity to talk about myself because I was new, but you also were. So, we were kind of in parallel. Yes. entering the watch industry. >> So, the reason I wanted to work with you, Jonathan, is because I think you represent a lot of what I love in watchmaking and I think we have the same idea. You're living it out with your brand and saying that I think for getting a great watch, you don't need to spend a crazy amount of money. And I just love how you've been able to uphold that concept with a design that is truly distinct. And I think at under $500, this is in reach for a lot of people. And that brings me a lot of joy because I know that when we think about the long journey of things of watches, you either start somewhere, but you also sometimes don't even ever send past this point. And what I love about Brew is it's not even a idea of price. It's an idea of design. I just wanted to do with this project was to create something with somebody that I respect uh with a design that I think resonates with so many and just create a spin that we can allow other people to come on this journey with us to just basically be a thank you but also just a celebration of our relationship with one another and a design that I think is truly fantastic with the metric. >> Yeah, absolutely. I think it really symbolizes that and what a great way to get started with the metric for under $500 for the finishing the quality of the product. I think it's really exciting for people. >> Where did we go and like what were those steps of design as we started to conceive this idea? >> First, I think we jumped into the mood boards. So, we wanted to get the colors right. We wanted the error to speak to the watch correctly. What we agreed on was the silhouette of the metric case, right? Like we started there. We understood that was going to be the framework that we wanted to build off of and then >> I kind of took a lead on like what were like the color profiles. So what I was looking at, what I liked was we had a mix of different blue shades. I think we went from all the way to midnight blue to almost like these mint color dials. So, we have an A through F uh dial configuration that you kind of worked on together and we were trying to figure out what was the path that we wanted to go down, but I did like the mint. I like the light blue with the accent of the orange. So, we were really conflicted here, but we ultimately decided to go on B. Now, there probably some people at home is like, "Oh, no. C and E are so cool. D is cool. I want that." >> Yeah. And there's a time and place for all these variations. We just wanted something that was like understated formal professional wear where C and E just didn't fit the the look for that. So, we took it down that rabbit hole of going that monochromatic way and diffusing the different tones of blue across the dial. And I remember it was always make the dial darker. How do we make it darker so the contrast of the blue actually comes through? And we even played layouts, right? So, we were thinking, do we want to go for the traditional metric layout? Do we want to play with like different Miyota movements and go for like a by compacts type of layout? >> Yeah. >> But I I don't know about you, but this just didn't feel right for this design. >> It felt too standard. This felt like something that already exists in the world, and we weren't creating anything new and special. >> Yeah. Especially if we're going to go for like a dark blue colorway. I wanted something that if it's not going to pop the same way with color like the traditional metric, how can we at least do it with the orientation that's going to allow it to separate a bit more? But then the next challenge was, okay, the dial. Now, there's a few things and principles that we were talking back and forth about. One of the questions was, do we include a date or do we not include a date? And we ultimately decided no date. Yeah, we wanted it to live clean and fresh and let the dial kind of uh have its own canvas without interrupting it too much, especially because you're putting so much work into the hands and the colors. What's going on in your mind as you're thinking about how can I position the color and the different mood board ideas into this watch design? Like what was going on in your mind? And how do you find balance? Like I'm going to put this color here, this color here. So it's an entire color balance game. So alone when this dial lives just here with no hands, it's very difficult to gauge how the visual balance is going to live on the watch. Um, but of course digitally and then of course in hand, that's when you get to see how the watch truly breathes. And what I mean by that is speaking of color and balance where it's not too stark. It's still wearable for everyday. And you know, you you can actually have visual clarity with it. So we've been working on this for around a year and a half now. Yeah. >> And it's been a fun journey. Multiple prototypes. We have the series of different prototypes in front of us that we designed. But let's start with like the initial concept. We were set on the metric and then the first idea that we came across is like do we want to do anything with the movement? So we started with the VK68 caliber. So that would give us the layout of the small seconds at the 6:00 and then at the 10:00 we'll have uh the running uh chronograph uh counter as well. We like that design, but then the questions came in like some of the details. One was like, what was the profile of colors? You've done some blue in the past. I love blue. So, we're like, why not do something with that color profile? If you look at your metric, there's a few things that are pretty characteristic. You have the the layout of the two registers. There's also just the coloration, what you're seeing there. So, the subtle things that we were looking at first were the handset. So, we went and had more of like pointed tip type of hand for the hour and the minute. We also changed the design of the second hand. So, we went more for like this classic. And if you looked at the mood board, we we pulled some of this like that 1970s design with more of this triangular pointed type of second hand without the counterwe that has the lollipop at the end, which I do like that, but I wanted to at least try to differentiate and bring something a little different to the table. And then we extended out the chronograph hand even further to get to the outer track as well. So that was a whole game that we played around with to try to figure that out. Further we went into the registers and I feel like this is where we spent the most amount of time. All these different changes. I think there was also this level of trust that hey Teddy's handled thousands of watches from all the brands from around the world. If he wants to have pointed hands there must be a reason for it. Um, I have to say even that long extended uh chronograph second hand, I like it so much more. So, that was a good call on your part. Um, but extending that as like this nice pointed chronograph hand, having those pointed hour minute hands just brought it all together as like a cohesive group. Um, which is super important for the hands. To your point, now on that 10:00 sub dial. Yeah, we had so much back and forth on that. It was tough to get the colors right. Right. cuz you want to have this split when you look at your chronograph. You want to have quick, clear legibility, but you don't want it to be so striking and jarring that it's just uncomfortable visually on the wrist. I think having it monochromatic and then split where typically it's just 10minute segments and you say, "Hey, John, you know what? 10 minutes is great, but can we focus on shorter periods of time?" And remember the the reason why we came to this design style was okay, let's let's think about the whole coffee thing because I think that's so authentic to you. And I think the idea was what if we came up with some type of scale that was based off of on that register for the different brewing techniques or the timing techniques that you would require for like Aeropress uh for Turkish coffee. But when we did that, we recognized that all the coloration, it just wasn't giving us enough separation from the different brews that you wouldn't be able to actually see like the different colors. But when doing that, we actually discovered something pretty cool, which was like this split 10minute uh indication with these two different colors in between that scale, which we deviated away from the coffee theme, but we found something in going down that path that I think is pretty cool and unique. You >> kind of got like this gradient ring, which is beautiful on its own right. You have all these other brands, but they're too stark. They're beautiful in their own right, but they were just too stark for what we wanted. We wanted to have something that's a little bit more subtle, but still obvious when you take a closer look at the macro on it. >> So, this was the first prototype. There were there were some things that we liked about it, but then there were some things that we wanted to change. And I think the the main things that we wanted to change was we wanted to test out let's play around with a different dial backdrop. Let's see like changing the color how that could affect. Let's also play around with the coloration of the register here at 10:00. And then we also wanted to play with dropping the believe we got rid of the concentric pattern in the registers as well just to see like hey can we have this be domed and recessed cuz that was something I thought would add a little bit more dimension cuz I was a little afraid because this isn't as colorful and vibrant. We need some more dimensionality to the dial itself to create that cuz you have these white counters on this traditional metric that are very bold and they pop. So, if you're not going to have that contrast, I think you need something that's going to allow it to have that separation. >> Right. Right. >> Now, we arrived at this and I think there were some elements that we weren't fully pleased about, if you remember. >> Yeah. Well, I think the next stage was we need that dial base to be darker, but then along those lines with the subdials, they were just too flat, really said. So there's there's a point of making it look minimal and clean and there's just a point of it just doesn't have that that level of detailed quality because you want to have all these different layers and depths because that that gives a little bit more of uh thoughtful care of the design, but this just felt so flat and punched out and we didn't like that. So we also noticed that the colors on the subdial were getting lost with that base. So that was tough because you're playing with this monochromatic blue. >> So yeah, one of the split of the numeral or one of the split of that 10minute scale match the dial too much. So we're just like we have to move away from that. >> Yeah. >> So we went from these two prototypes, Jonathan, and the next question was how can we make the dial darker and do a couple other adjustments. So the next step was just getting a prototype dial made. This is showing more of this midnight type of blue. So, we really wanted to before we made any other adjustments, just get the standard backdrop right. And I think this was where we were like, "Okay, I think we're moving in the right direction here." And this is I could start to see the final watch starting to come closer. >> Yeah. Cuz you know, the original mood board had all these minty blues from like that 50s era. Yes. >> So, how do we translate that and not lose it? Cuz we're like, "All right, if we want a dark base, keep it blue still, but we need to still have that minty ' 50s blue uh throughout the watch." So, what we liked about this was one the dark blue in the back we felt confident in. Like this was the dial that we wanted. It's more like this midnight blue. It's cool too how the coffee bean at the 3:00 it's there if you want to discover it. And then we loved the sunken 6:00 register. I think we we really enjoyed that. Added some dimension with the contrast of the white. It felt a little more distinct for the design that we were going for. But then the question was, can we do the same thing for the 10:00? It's slightly sunk in here, but can we go another step further? And can we adjust this coloration so that the scale, we had one 5minut scale on that 10:00 that we liked, but let's shift around with some of the blues, get something a little more vibrant, lighter tone, so we have more contrast. And then we finally arrived at prototype number four. Mhm. This watch I have to say you're very specific with all your asks. I think most people would have accepted number two and said, "Ah, the colors are fine. Ah, the depth is fine. You're we saw the concavity on number three." And you're like, "You know what? I see that it's there. I realize it." But Jonathan, I realize we could possibly push a little further. How would that look? And I was like, I'm not even sure if we can cuz there are certain tolerances. I think your typical dial is about 04 mm. >> Mhm. >> I will push. I will ask. Let's see what our manufacturing partners can pull out. And I'm so glad you pushed for it because like the final result, as you said, like that detail makes all the difference. And we were also concerned about for the 10:00 especially because we're printing so much information on that with the slant or the slope that's happening there. Like that was a real manufacturing concern when we when we talked about it. >> Yeah. Cuz these are tight tolerances. And when you're pad printing, of course, you know, the the process is lining it up and and staying consistent throughout every production. Um, but the tolerance was like perfect. It laid so nicely in there and it was very well balanced. And that arrived to our final wash here. So, this was something that I think we were very proud of. Immediately when I saw the sample, I'm like, this is it. We had the contrast. We had the concave nature of the registers. The coloration of blue was amazing. we still were also reflecting what you've done in the past with the metric like the shot timer here from the 25 to the 35 seconds like there there's still all those cool details but this just felt like a perfect fusion of both of our brands and then there was the question of how can we sign the case back and there was a couple different ideas that we were thinking about when trying to design that and there's a few manufacturing process that we were going back and forth so could you explain a little bit about that too >> yeah so with casebacks you're typically thinking about either hydraulically pressing it or laser engraving it. Um, but most importantly is how do you co-brand two people, two brands at the end of the day in a way that's cohesive, clean, and professional that we would want to be kind of uh remembered for in a good way. And it wasn't easy because, you know, your brand, your name, your company is something that that lives in a very static way. Now merging that with another company, you're not just throwing another X in between the two. It's not just a simple uh quick collaboration. This is something very serious. We spent so much time with. Um we wanted to live really well together. And so Teddy and Brew was uh something that we wanted to find the perfect balance of. And when we originally looked at the hydraulic pressed method, we said this looks good, but the tolerances might not work well. meaning uh the design we came up with was so tight to have this pressed down, we might lose some of that text. And so we had it laser engraved and we noticed that we were able to keep it sharp, um distinctive, and still finish it nicely with the the brushing over it so it was nice and pronounced. And we probably spent like 2 weeks on just the positioning of where the logos would go, like what was going to be the way that they could like conjoin together as an idea. And we were going around with like, all right, do we want to add the X? Do we want to have one sit next to another one another like a horizontal like a reading format? Do we want them to be stacked? And then we were thinking about what are the other indications that we want to have. And then we were playing around like lines. And we eventually arrived at stacking them vertically with coffee bean to the left, then a line with the break, and then two of them stacked. It just created perfect symmetry. And also, our logos kind of look pretty good next. >> They do, right? It's like this peaceful balance between the two. They just sit so well together. >> All right, so welcome to the special room. This is where we will do quality control, prepare each watch, uh precisely package them so they're good to send to people from around the world. And I'll give you a lot of credit here. You took the lead on the packaging. I mean, you've built up this skill set over the last 10 years of doing this. I love the way that you've put this together, but could you describe a little bit more about what was going on your in your mind when you were trying to do a code design project like this, but also what have you learned over the years and what came into the final uh creation of this? >> Yeah, definitely. So, first and foremost, we wanted something that's robust and prominently putting our logos right and center proudly. So, little foreshadowing of what's to come. >> And I love what you did with this >> second stage of foreshadowing. Right. So, we have that monochromatic beautiful blue watch. So, this is a little warranty card. Uh, more of an invitation of what's to come. And of course, well, I'll give you the honors, Teddy. All right, here we go. Big reveal. And I love even just the way this opens. And this could be used as like a travel case, too. So, it's not even just this moment where this is going to be useful to you, but also in the years to come. What do you want someone to feel when they like pull this out the first time? Like, what are you trying to create? So, I want them to be proud that this is whether it's a special milestone or whatever significant event that they're purchasing this watch for that it lives up to the expectation. So, I know as a personal watch collector myself, uh there's a certain level of expectation when you open up that product and I hope that this exceeds that expectation. So, not to overpromise, but all of these details have been thoughtfully uh curated by yourself and and me along the way so that when they do receive this watch, it's something that they could be happy with in the moment, but as you said, they're going to keep the box. They're going to keep the watch. Um they can look at it now and in the future and still feel just as proud and happy to have it. >> So, Jonathan, thank you so much for having us in. I mean, this was a really cool way to show off this project and for what's next. Now, we're finally ready to unveil this to the world. And the idea around this was we'd make this available on our site and this would be something that maybe we can continue to collaborate in the future. But this was something we've spent a lot of time on. So, we want to allow as many people to enjoy it as possible. >> Definitely. Well, thank you so much, Teddy. I'm really excited and proud of this project that we put together. Likewise. >> And yeah, I'm excited for people to start enjoying their watches soon. >> Thank you for everything, man. >> Thank you, Teddy.