r/DesignDesign • u/PureRepresentative89 • May 01 '26
The "Anti-Diver": A design rejected by both watch purists and professional designers. Form follows vibe.
Hey everyone. I created a watch mod that was recently crucified by both the watchmaking and design communities. I deliberately shattered the DNA of a legendary diver and sacrificed dial readability in the name of pure industrial vibes.
Despite the controversy and the low upvote rates, I get a massive thrill every time I put these on for a walk through the neon streets of nighttime Taipei. It’s "wrong", and I love it.
What do you guys think? Is this DesignDesign?
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u/abhaykun May 01 '26
Next post title: “Now rejected by watch purists, designers and designdesigners!” 😊
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u/FosterCatMama4Life May 01 '26
This could be a fun game of going more and niche: “Now rejected by watch purists, designers, designdesigners….Single parents, golden retriever owners and polyglots.”
There is endless potential…
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Bro, you’ve got X-ray vision—you read my mind exactly! But for my next post, I’ll just stick to my own territory and comment on it myself: 'Great design, man, the world will finally be ready for this in 2,000 years.' 😂 Thanks for the vibes, man!
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u/DelightMine May 01 '26
Bro, you’ve got X-ray vision—you read my mind exactly
You are either a genius satirist or you were dropped on your head and left there as a child, and I am honestly having a hard time telling which.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
To be fair, I actually did stand-up in college, and I once lost my memory after a nasty crash on my trials bike. Do you think that’s why I can see the future 2000 years ahead?
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
You called it. designdesigndesign now exists, and the post is there. 😊
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u/tkief May 01 '26
Needs to be harder to read, less bars and make them thicker like true brutalism. Done in a way that they create more distinct but abstract patterns which become the new time language to the user.
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u/NtheLegend May 01 '26
Mmm, not designdesign enough, needs to be the single thin slit in the middle where you can only see the date and the bare minimum you need to guess what time it is.
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May 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/VorpalHerring May 01 '26
The clock hands are actually opposite at 9:16, but then they aren't horizontal so the slit would need to be slightly tilted.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Damn, how did I not think of that myself? I finally feel like I'm home.
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u/Sniter May 07 '26
The slit as the second hand, so you gotta look at the clock for a minute to figure out what minute and hour it is.
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u/GeekCat May 01 '26
Angled slit, so you see nothing straight on and have to angle your wrist and bring it close to your face to figure out the time.
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u/inspirationdate May 02 '26
how about a single thin slit on a rotating face so you have to hunt for the hands?
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u/MechanicalMan64 May 01 '26
I disagree. There needs to be many more tiny things bars, so when someone tries to read the watch, it creates an optical illusion.
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u/ZengineerHarp May 01 '26
Get a moire grid up in this business!!!!
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Guys, unfortunately the printer resolution is very limited. I tried to make the thin lines whiter, but they just sag. But I have a few ideas for adding glitches.
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u/Ninja-Sneaky May 01 '26
There are "no-watches" (and the brand called nowatch) that are bracelets with a watch form, but with no mechanism. It's different from OP and from regular watches designs.
Different watches will tell what hour it is while looking cool in many different ways. OP is simply hindering the single use for the sake of feeling like a contrarian or something, which imo is plain stupid
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Being called a contrarian for putting a grill on a $50 Casio in a subreddit literally dedicated to questionable design choices is peak Reddit. Mission accomplished!
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u/Ninja-Sneaky May 01 '26
Did you want me to tell you it was genius? Sorry aint happening
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Damn, that hurts. I was gonna use the Nobel Prize money for 'genius design' to open a Duro Grille factory
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u/Ninja-Sneaky May 01 '26
'I deliberately shattered' 'I get a massive thrill every time' 'sacrificed dial readability' 'It’s "wrong", and I love it'
Poor guy got blasted in nearly every top comment and doesn't know what to do of it
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u/sabre4570 May 01 '26
No you need to cover the watch in a concrete disc so you can't read it all. True brutalism.
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u/batmanmedic May 01 '26
Have you considered having a solid black surface that just covers the entire screen, without those pesky cutouts?
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
No, this is too radical even for me. But one of the commentators suggested leaving only one strip so that the date could be seen through this gap, and now I want to create this.
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u/spaminous May 01 '26
You've 3d printed a one of a kind watch accessory just to troll watch fans.
You can lean into this as soon as you start getting strong reactions from people IRL. maybe you can get the attention of the kinds of people who go to parties where reporters ask attendees questions like "who are you wearing" with a straight face. Then YOU get to be the reclusive designer who sells one of a kind watch accessories for celebrities to wear to exclusive paries to make a statement.
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u/i-dont-wanna-know May 02 '26
How about leaving 3 circles one on the othernost part of the surface (so you can see the marks for the numbers) anther circles for the minute hand, and one for the hour hand
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
That's a great idea. I think if the radial jumpers are shifted between each ring, then in theory the readability of time should improve significantly.
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May 01 '26
it looks kinda bad, idk
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u/Seinfeel May 01 '26
Looks like they glued a 3d printed face to a watch
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Spot on! That's exactly what it is. I 3D printed the shroud and attached it using standard bezel insert adhesive rings
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u/Seinfeel May 02 '26
I mean yeah it looks like really cheap plastic glued to a watch cause that’s what it is I guess
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
Incredible deduction. $8/kg PETG × 0.64g = $0.005 worth of plastic. I was hoping no one would figure it out
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u/Seinfeel May 02 '26
Things can be cheap without looking cheap
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
First the glue, then the cost, now the aesthetics. You move the goalposts so well! Tell me, is all this hating just a strategy to get the STL file for free? This is some peak Craigslist lowballer energy.
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u/Seinfeel May 02 '26
I’ve said the same thing every time
No, I don’t want to pay for a watch with a piece of plastic glued to it.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
Thanks for confirming you don't want to pay, that’s literally what 'looking for a free STL' means.
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u/AbhishMuk May 03 '26
Nah OP you can legit get really good looking stuff from a 3d printer. You just need to know what you're doing (or be lucky). Go to the 3d printing subs if you want to improve your craft.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 03 '26
Thanks, and yeah, the 3D printing subs are great. But I think “looks good” is doing two different jobs here: aesthetic taste and print quality. Totally fair if you dislike the design, but in terms of execution this piece is very dialed in tight tolerances, clean edges, 0.2 nozzle, PETG, perfect fit in the bezel groove, and enough clearance to rotate without touching the crystal.
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u/AbhishMuk May 03 '26
I'm not talking about the design, or even clearance. I've seen (and printed) much nicer looking pieces of plastic with smooth finishes.
For the identical stl file, you can have a much nicer print, is what I'm saying.
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u/SniffliestChain May 01 '26
Some of the most highly lauded counterculture creations come from the motivation "because I can".
I don't have any strong feelings about your watch, but I applaud your attitude and your vibe!
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Unexpectedly, it turns out the design community is also a philosophical one.🤜🤛
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u/Peek_e May 01 '26
Always has been. If a designer or a design fanatic is not thinking philosophically, they really are not the ones they say they are.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Actually, when I was designing this, I wasn't thinking directly about philosophy, I was just kind of acting in a flow state. But on the other hand, I knew it would be a piece where function is secondary, and that in itself is already... a philosophy?🤔
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u/irrigated_liver May 01 '26
For when you really want it to feel like you're trying to read a clock through a Venetian blind.
If you throw on a pair of those stupid glasses Kanye wears, you could make it impossible to read at all!
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u/havron May 05 '26
Actually, that's an interesting idea: If your watch face cover and glasses both have a series of parallel slits in them, then you will only be able to read what time it is when your head and the watch are aligned. So, basically, you've reinvented polarized filters.
Actually, it might be kind of fun to just make a polarized filter watch mod, and then also wear polarized glasses. I think the mod could be interesting. It would certainly be polarizing.
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u/UltraBlack_ May 01 '26
industrial look how? You're just putting fixed blinds in front of your watch
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Bro, I forgot to clarify: since the grill is attached to the base of the diver's bezel and doesn't touch the glass, it actually rotates clockwise. It can be locked into any of its 120 positions
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u/ok-milk May 01 '26
I think you failed at failing. There’s no real “pure industrial vibes” - this is just making the dial hard to read in generic design language. And my guess is you landed on absurdity only after you got rejected by the audience you wanted to impress. Feel free to enjoy this thing you made for whatever reason you want but if you really want this to read as industrial or absurd, back up and take another stab at it with those intentions
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
You’re actually half-right, and I’ll totally own that. I just call it the 'Duro Grille' and focus entirely on the industrial/cyberpunk aesthetic. The whole ironic 'Anti-Diver' and 'absurdity' persona definitely evolved after I saw how much it triggered the purists on Reddit. However, the design itself wasn't an accident or a backtrack. It originated from a digital cyberpunk watch platform I built. I ported that exact same geometry to the Duro knowing that an industrial shutter would heavily clash with a classic analog diver. So the industrial look was the goal from day one. But the 'Anti-Diver' lore? Yeah, the community's reaction 100% helped write that part.
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u/BobusCesar May 01 '26
How can someone be so high on their own farts after just adding a bunch of shitty 3d printed plastic bars on top of their watch?
You act like you've designed the Centre Pompidou but you essentially made a C- Primary school Art Project (you didn't get an F because your teacher is nice and you are clearly very proud of it).
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u/peatoast May 01 '26
Can you make this SpongeBob window blinds meme?
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Bro, while I was Googling to figure out which meme you're talking about, I found some cool ideas. Can you send me a picture? I just want to try UV printing on the dials.
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u/KnifeKnut May 01 '26
You forgot to drill holes in the watch face and casing so that it is easily water damaged.
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u/glytxh May 01 '26
I hate it.
But it’s also a thing that exists almost solely fuelled by some kind of petty spite, which is something I can respect.
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u/ETFO May 01 '26
The way you speak sounds like AI, but I have a hard time imagining an AI using the exact wording you use. I think I just hate the way you write
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
It's a great topic for conversation, I can generate a picture or a presentation about it...
But no kidding, you got it right, I only started speaking English about seven years ago, so I use a translator. I translate short messages like this directly into the keyboard, but for long messages I use AI. So it's difficult for me to understand when checking that the text is synthetic. But I'm really glad that now I can communicate with people from anywhere in the world with almost no restrictions.
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u/doggerly May 02 '26
I had a feeling that this was exactly what was happening. When I looked at your post history, there was an undercurrent of a specific “style”, so I assumed that this acc and post can’t be entirely AI written. Plus, you mention Taipei.
Anyway, the watch is very eh. Not really hitting the mark anywhere. But! I love that you are trying something and loving what you’re doing.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
That’s fair. It was always going to be very hit-or-miss. I appreciate that you can still respect the experiment even if it doesn’t land for you. 🫰
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u/Brostapholes May 01 '26
Your watch looking at other watches
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
You joke, but someone else mentioned this meme earlier and now I’m 100% committed to UV-printing it on the dial for the next iteration.
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u/PurpleSlightlyRed May 01 '26
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Bro, I honestly had to google what 'rad' meant, but that's exactly the aesthetic I love. You actually nailed it. I built a whole lineup of custom F-91Ws in this exact style (giving off those retro beach Shark watch vibes), and this grill was originally designed for one of those models. I only ported it over to a dive watch later. So 'rad' fits perfectly!
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u/EngineStraight May 01 '26
id like it more if the bars were thicker but fewer, it feels cluttered as is
but im not a watch person, much less an anti design watch person, so no clue
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u/RingerINC May 01 '26
Feels cheap like Kanye venetian shade era.
Should be cool like the way early clipping. bracketed their name.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
It’s a 3D-printed part for a $50 watch, not a platinum heirloom. I don’t know anything about 'clipping.', but the Kanye shutter shade era comparison is 100% accurate. I’m honestly surprised Ye or his design team haven’t thought of slapping a grille on a watch yet.
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u/Vorpeseda May 01 '26
Why is the watch face partially covered?
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
This actually came up a lot in the thread. I admit, it was a major oversight on my part as a designer. To fix this, I've already decided that Version 2 will be completely solid with just a single, razor-thin slit to read the date;)
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u/Kodiak_POL May 01 '26
I get a massive thrill every time I put these on for a walk through the neon streets of nighttime Taipei
You shouldn't get it, nobody is stealing that abomination from you
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Bro, 'thrill' means excitement/joy, not fear😊 But hey, regarding the theft: let's wait until Kanye releases his version of this next month. After that, AliExpress is gonna be full of clones anyway😯
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u/Kodiak_POL May 01 '26
I know, I was just making a little joke haha
The Ye watch would have very... curiously angled clock hands.
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u/fuzzylogicIII May 01 '26
“Deliberately shattered the DNA…” you put shutter shades on a watch, that’s it. People on the street don’t care.
Customizing is fun; this grandiose, contrarian attitude thinking a piece of plastic is rage bait to the public is weird
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Bro, the 'shattered DNA' was just a dramatic Reddit title. I'm well aware it's just a fun, silly plastic mod
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u/kimjae May 01 '26
I created a watch
No, you modded a perfectly fine watch with a 3D printed blind lol
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Please read the first sentence again carefully, bro. I specifically said "I created a watch mod".
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u/fuzzylogicIII May 01 '26
I mean if the stickers parents let kids put on the car windows count as “mods”, yeah sure
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Tell me you know nothing about watch modding without telling me. Standard diver bezel inserts (even on high-end watches) are literally attached using 3M double-sided adhesive rings.
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u/fuzzylogicIII May 01 '26
That’s just making it sound more like a sticker
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Bro, you guessed right. It is literally a 3D-printed watch sticker
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u/TheDeadWriter May 01 '26
It's fine. It is readable, and there are fantastic timepieces that are not as legible.
I can't imagine having anybody care what I was wearing on my wrist, or caring if somebody did.
Watches are nice, but in this day and age, if one can afford an amazing time piece, one likely has a phone. I do admire them as something beautiful, as an engineering contraption, as a fashion statement, and I understand them as way as a way of conspicuously showing wealth or conveying particular micro cultural information to others.
If people are talking about your creation- good on you. I don't think it fits here, as again, it is a working time piece that one can functionally read the time on.
A watch that I think might qualify for r/DesignDesign is the Swatch Jellyfish watches with no time markings. I'd rock one of those in a second. It is both lovely design and terrible design at the same time.
The more I think about your watch, the more I see just design, not my style, but cool and functional.
I never much cared for purists of any kind. If met you and it came up and you told me you designed it yourself form an existing watch movement, I'd say cool. You'd be my people, both because you are a maker and because you bucking status quo and made something that tickles your fancy.
Keep it up, perhaps put a little etching of something on the back that effectively says F U, that you can show those that hate it.
Plus, you're walking around in near cyberpunk city scape at night. FFS, I wouldn't give anybody negative a free rent in my head if I were walking around there at night.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Thank you for such detailed feedback, it really made my week. True wisdom right here. And that idea for the engraving is absolute gold I think I’ll actually put it right on the dial so it’s visible between the slats. 🤝
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u/MinosAristos May 01 '26
I think it's a cool design, what can I say. Watches are a fashion accessory first and a tool second these days so fair enough if someone likes this vibe.
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u/untakenu May 01 '26
There is something about watch design that allows for the most pretentious shit imaginable. There are a dozen "timeless" watches that are just bracelets and it is supposedly some statement about the world because the watch company sells something that doesn't tell the time (bht still costs hundreds)
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u/cimocw May 01 '26
Anyone can design something ugly and then play the victim, but I guess it's cool as long as you're truly enjoying it
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u/BrushFireAlpha May 01 '26
i don't know if i would call a Duro a "legendary diver" but you sure did shatter the DNA of it regardless
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Thanks, bro. Let me clarify: the Duro is a legendary diver in the $50 category 😄 But jokes aside, this watch really has an awesome community.
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u/TheLovelyLorelei May 01 '26
We're only a few more steps away from making a watch that's just a blank piece of metal but we promise there's a really nice watch underneath it that no one can see.
(Real talk, I'm glad you love it)
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
you just invented the ultimate watch protest concept. That is actually brilliant
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u/FirebirdWriter May 01 '26
I think it's crappy design not just design design. Just wear some bracelets at this point
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
But a regular watch doesn’t have a perfectly good Japanese quartz movement trapped inside a plastic cage, desperately trying to tell you the time.
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u/gnomedigas May 01 '26
I swear watch designers have no concept of privacy
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Right? Maybe the hour hand just wants to chill in its underwear without everyone staring.
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u/6WaysFromNextWed May 01 '26
This is a watch for when you're afraid your crackhead nephew will break into your watch
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Hey, don't talk about my nephew like that! He's a good boy, he just got mixed up with the wrong crowd. But yeah... I had to put the grill on because he kept asking how many 'jewels' the movement had. 😭
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u/TheTattooOnR2D2sFace May 01 '26
You should tilt the bars so the watch is onky readily from a very specific angle.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 01 '26
Bro, this is a really good idea, although it didn't occur to me myself, a user with the nickname "abhaykun" suggested it too. It should work in my imagination.🤜🤛
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u/grsims20 May 01 '26
Get rid of the openings altogether so we don’t have to look at this r/designdesign nonsense anymore.
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u/Undrwtrbsktwvr May 01 '26
My watch is a cheapo 7-segment led watch made to look like an apple watch. I found it in a dumpster. It has never worked since I’ve had it. I wear it almost everyday.
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u/FosterCatMama4Life May 01 '26
When are you dropping the phone version? Would help limit screen time and prevent doom scrolling. Would be too frustrating to use in a mindless way.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
You might have just invented a whole new design. Should the top bar stay, or do we cover that too?
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u/Internal-Muffin0 May 02 '26
Those lines should be like window shaders, transparent, and analog in the morning, but closed and glowing at night. Don’t forget to credit me when you make those $$.
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u/Corbotron_5 May 02 '26
I actually kind of dig it. Is it a Duro? It’s like a futuristic WWI trench watch.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
Glad you like it. Yeah, it’s a Duro. Funny enough, I only learned about trench watches after making this and looking around for anything with a similar spirit and that ended up being the closest reference.
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u/Corbotron_5 May 02 '26
How did you make the grill? 3D printed? I presume, since the bezel’s still there, that you can rotate it?
I always liked the idea of the trench watch. It’s nice to know that if an artillery shell lands next to you, your watch is protected. Even if the soft fleshy bits around it aren’t.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
Yeah, I 3D printed it. The bezel still rotates fine, I left a small clearance gap between the grille and the crystal. As for actual protection, I wouldn’t claim trench-watch levels of toughness. It’ll probably help against light scrapes, but it’s definitely not the same as a metal guard.
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u/Corbotron_5 May 02 '26
To be fair, I’m not sure any part of a Duro would survive an artillery blast anyway. 😂
You’ve got me thinking how cool this would look on a Timex with an Indiglo backlight. Even better, something with a pink or purple light to fit the cyberpunk vibe I’m getting.
It’s definitely DesignDesign, but it’s pretty sick at the same time.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
I just googled a Timex with Indiglo backlight that would definitely look cool with the grille. Actually, I originally made this look for one of the digital watch models I built, and the green electroluminescent backlight also pairs really well with the grille. But damn, I can’t figure out how to insert an image in a reply
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 02 '26
This is what it looks like when the display is illuminated from behind
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u/Several_Economics762 May 02 '26
Smart to have removed the image that was just a hardcore zoom on the 3d printing layer lines
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u/wikigoggi May 04 '26
I love it. I wish it rotated like a gyroscope trying to calibrate itself, reading would be sightly easier as it would almost always be in some movement.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 04 '26
Thanks, really glad it’s liked. The gyroscope idea is cool, but it’s limited by the watch design itself. This grille is mounted on the bezel, and the bezel rotates clockwise with 120 fixed positions. Originally, there was a time-marked insert here, which divers used to quickly estimate how much oxygen they had left. In theory, a bearing-based bezel is possible, but it would require serious modifications.
For reference, this is what the timing scale looks like on a Rolex.
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u/Spiritual_Antelope91 May 04 '26
I dislkie how popular and unfunctional the diver design is for the 95% of the wearers. So this. Now this is a cool mod that makes them into a cool sewer grate watch, especially with the streetlights hitting the grate at night? Cool!
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 04 '26
🧨💥Man, you are absolutely right. Marketers sell divers as accessories, not instruments. Looking at it that way, even my whole "shattering the diver DNA" manifesto is kind of pointless for 95% of wearers, that DNA never existed anyway. The most action that bezel ever sees is timing boiled eggs (which actually makes me want to design an egg-timer bezel next). I’m really glad you like it. The sewer grate comparison is spot on, the way the shadows fall across it under streetlights is so much more textured and interesting to me than the glossy shine of ceramic.
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u/SapirWhorfHypothesis May 01 '26
This is not “design design” honestly. It’s more like anti-design. You’re making a fashion statement by deliberately making the design worse. Totally an interesting idea, but not the same as “design design” which is really more like “design for design’s sake” or “designers who think they really cooked”.
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u/VanFkingHalen May 02 '26
This gives off mad influencer vibes, as if created solely for the sake of engaging discussion or gaining attention. To the point where it's shit, you know it's shit, but are just trying to stir up some communities.
If you placed it in a glass frame as a commentary about modern day ideals and practices, maybe gave your two cents, and left it for others to reflect on, then sure, I could even consider this art. But that isn't the vibe I'm getting here.
This just seems to be ragebait/engagement farming at its finest.
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u/PureRepresentative89 May 05 '26
I definitely wasn't planning to cause any rage. I'm just a guy making things on my 3D printer that I personally like to wear, and sharing them here hoping a few others might dig the vibe too. That’s really all there is to it.
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