Lunar Iwotshi by Dabi Robert is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Ibhaso Legolide le-A' Design Award in Uyilo loBucwebe Competition Category.

IgolideUbucwebe· 2021

Lunar Iwotshi

by Dabi Robert

Client: Ziiiro

Ibhaso Legolide le-A' Design Award Winner in Ubucwebe Category

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Colors

The Design

About Lunar Iwotshi

ILunar yiprojekthi kaRobert yenkampani yexesha iZIIIRO. Le wotshi idala iqhina phakathi koyilo kunye nobume bento. Ukuba ibingeyo'ta iwotshi eshukumayo ngokwendalo ngelanga, bekungazukwazi ukuyifunda. Imiphetho yezangqa ezimbini eziziisiqingatha ezihamba kwicala elingasekunene zibonisa iiyure nemizuzu, zombini zibekwe kumphakamo ofanayo odala umphezulu othe tyaba. Ngeemilo ezinxibelelanayo, izandla kunye nobuso bewotshi baba yinto enye yokudala umzobo oguqukayo rhoqo.

The Recognition

About the Ibhaso Legolide le-A' Design Award

Lunar Iwotshi ngumphumeleli weIbhaso Legolide le-A' Design Award, ukuqatshelwa okuhlonitshwayo kakhulu okunikwa imiyilo yeklasi yokuqala, ephawulekayo nentle. Abaphumeleleyo beGolide ziimveliso ezintsha kakhulu, ezinombono ongaphaya nezikhazimlayo ezibonisa ubuchule, ubulumko nobuchule babayili bazo. Lunar Iwotshi iyathenjwa ukuba ibe yimveliso edunyiswe kakhulu, ebeka umkhwa nekumgangatho wesikhumbuzo enikela ixabiso elingazange libonwe. Lo myilo uphumeleleyo weIbhaso Legolide le-A' Design Award yiprojekthi emangalisayo nehlonelwayo eluncedo kakhulu kwaye inyusa imida yobugcisa, inzululwazi, uyilo kunye nobuchwephesha. Lunar Iwotshi idala iimvakalelo ezinzulu zonqweno, ivusa umdla, ikhuthaza ukuyila kwaye iyasikhwebela.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Lunar is a wrist watch that uses an unconventional way of displaying time. It is shown by two interlocking half circles. The correct side of the semi-circle that shows the current time is determined by the fact that it naturally rotates clock-wise. The inner minute disc is embedded into the outer hour disc, allowing both discs to be aligned at the same level of height. The brand ZIIIRO emphasises unique and fun ways of telling the time over absolute precision.
Dimensions & Packaging: Casing Material: 316L stainless steel, brushed
Case Size Thickness: 9.8 mm, Width: 41 mm
Case Back: 316L Stainless steel, matte, twist case back
Hands: Aluminium, anodised and printed in various colours
Watch dial: Hidden behind hands, printed black
Crown: at 3 Hour Position
Strap: Width 20 mm, 316L stainless steel Milanese mesh
Movement: Japanese MIYOTA Quartz movement
Glass: Hardened Mineral Crystal
Battery: SR 616 SW
Water Resistant: 5 ATM
Tags: watch, wrist watch, ziiiro, time, lunar, disc
Production Technology: The Lunar design was developed to create a watch face where the whole surface is a changing pattern, but in the most minimal way. In order to for the final result to be usable and readable, it is necessary for the owner to know clockwise direction. Of course, this should go without saying. Even the word "clockwise" refers to watches, so what makes this design special is that the graphical design of the watch face is tied to a watch without any alternative – It wouldn't work in a world where some watches go clockwise and some counter-clockwise. The design is tied to the product in the most intimate way.
Design Challenge: In order for being able to embed the inner disc into to outer one, it was necessary to use brass discs. This way, the bigger disc can be bent, and the smaller disc be placed inside this deepening. Compared to plastic, metallic discs come with the disadvantage of being heavier, which can be a problem for the torque and the fixation on the stem. We tackled the torque issue by removing non-visible material from the underlying disc. The fixation issue, we tried to resolve by using another miniature disc that is being applied from the top. With such a small clearance of a wrist watch, tiny misalignments can make a visual difference, that's why quality control is even more important with a construction like this. The first version of this model was finished in 2016, but after some technical complications, we had to re-release it in 2020.
Research: ZIIIRO is all about unique ways of telling the time. We are aware that the purpose of a traditional wrist watch has evolved from time teller into a status symbol or accessory for expressing one's personality and fashion style. In order to figure out the fashion part, we exhibited at the Berlin fashion week 4 times, where we could get feedback from all over the world. After additional market research by making polls and looking at our customer base, we discovered that a large portion of our fans is affiliated to the creative industry. Since being creative is our credo, it shows that we are doing something right.
Inspiration: The goal of this project was to develop a flat graphical way of displaying time, while the whole watch face serves as a constantly changing canvas without making compromises to readability. By using these flat coloured semi-circles on solid metal discs, we touched the limits of graphical minimalism. Since it became redundant for a watch to only tell time, the brand's mission is to design quality pieces, that emphasise on the fun part of watches.
Project Duration: The project started in 2016 in Germany & Hong Kong. It took about a year until we could finalise the product. However, due to technical complications we re-released a revised version in 2020.
Operation Flow: Time can be set by pulling out and turning the crown. Time is indicated by two discs, the outer one shows hour, the inner one minutes. To keep the visual appearance minimal, there are no markers. When setting the time, the light semi-circle tip have to be moved into the correct position in relation to the watch orientation. Since the semi-circles have two side, the correct one is the one moving towards clockwise direction.
Team Members: Robert Dabi, Derick Ip, Sing-Hei Chong
Image Credits: Image #1,2,4,5: Robert Dabi
Image #3: Xcountry Inc. Japan