www.3ders.org

Sep 10, 2015 | By Alec

As 3D printing is slowly but certainly invading every aspect of our homes and wardrobes, it has been expected that time itself would become part of it as well. While we’ve already seen a few 3D printed clocks and watches around, few are as beautiful, as stylish and as fashionable as a brand new series from Hong Kong that has just debuted. Making its appearance on Indiegogo just a few days ago, the fantastic Garibaldi Japanese Selvedge Denim Watches – which have been developed with 3D printers – are a perfect addition to any stylish, modern and urban individual.

The Garibaldi team behind these fantastic watches is an international team of fashionable individuals led by Shane McDonnell and is based in Hong Kong. Together, they have been working on these watches for the past two years or so. Their goal? To build a bridge between high-luxury and streetwear. ‘We are a brand for creatives embracing a lifestyle where you pursue your true goals. We are designers, DJs, skydivers, photographers, street artists, chefs, surfers and more,’ McDonnell tells us. And yes, their name is derived from the iconic 19^th century Italian revolutionary who famously did not require uniforms for his troops.

And they are ambitious, as we quickly learn from Garibaldi. ‘Going forward, we plan to work with independent designers as well as household names in the selvedge denim scene to create more unique and off-the-wall timepieces,’ they explain. And indeed, the denim itself a key part of these fantastic watches. As you can see in the photos above, denim – the urban uniform – is the key style component in these watches, and is made of the highest quality. ‘Our watches are the first ever to have premium Japanese selvedge denim on the dial,’ McDonnell says, adding that selvedge Japanese denim is reknowned for being the best in the world. ‘Japanese denim is known for its premium construction and the skilled, artisanal craft required to make it, which is why we have chosen it for our watches.’

All of that denim used for these watches comes from the renowned denim powerhouses in Koijma, Japan, and was hand-picked for their color and weight. ‘Color and texture are what make our watches truly unique. We needed a denim that was light enough to be embossed on a strap while also being able to fit through our deployment clasp. This was not an easy task but we are very happy with the outcome and we know you will be too!’ McDonnell says. This has now been used to create a series of ten different watches (six 42 mm Men’s Watches and four 38 mm unisex models), all with a fantastic double-locking deployment clasp.

So where does 3D printing come in with this watch? Well, as McDonnell explained, it was a core component of conceptualization and iteration throughout the development process. ‘When conceptualising our product we used our two Makerbot Replicator 2 printers and Polymaker materials to print the different cases we were considering,’ he says. ‘I’m aware that the more recent Replicator printers have been receiving a lot of bad press lately but honestly I found our Replicator 2 to be invaluable in the development stage of our process. We used Polymaker’s PolyMax to print the casing and clasp and PolyFlex to print the strap.’

The complete watches were designed by their own team. ‘This is where our 3D printing our prototypes proved invaluable. We were able to minimise costs by 3D printing all our favourite designs before deciding on the winner,’ he adds. ‘We did extensive development in the ergonomics of thee casing to ensure it would be comfortable for both mens and womens wrist sizes. This meant optimizing the weight distribution and wall thickness.’

What’s more, as we’ve been seeing quite a lot recently, it has also helped them to meet the criteria of the Kickstarter updates – which require a clear view on early development and prototyping. For many startups – including Garibaldi – other prototyping technologies are simply far too expensive.

However, the Garibaldi watches aren’t quite ready to go. While they have been very successful through partnerships with a leading watch manufacturer over the past 16 months, the team still needs to raise $10,000 to cover initial manufacturing costs. While they have already gathered more than half (with about two weeks left to go), they could use every help they can get. That’s why they are now offering their watches with a heavy discount (the early-ish bird is $109) to backers. If successful, they will ship just in time for Christmas 2015. Be sure to check them out on Indiegogo.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

 

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