“For the first time, designs on a watch won’t be decided by a few big watch companies, but by any designer who is inspired to have their designs made on a watch. Let creativity blossom!” –Tenvas
In the 1980’s, Swatch wrist watches were all the rage. The style was to wear more than one at a time. It was common to see a black one with a green and yellow polka dotted face, boldly worn with a pink and aqua blue striped version. These bright, colorful, wildly designed watches became the fashion “must have” for every high school girl. Watches, which exist to remind us to be on time, had never been presented before as a fun fashion accessory.
Flash forward to several decades later, and we see the makings of bright, colorful, and even wildly designed, watches with a twist. Recently launched Tenvas allows for fully customizable watch design using 3D print technology.
Launched from the home base of Singapore on November 8th of this year, Tenvas is the first 3D watch design company in the world. According to the company’s Tumblr blog, they got their name by combining the numbers 1 and 0 (representative numbers of the digital world) to make “ten” with “canvas,” which is something allowing self-expression and a sense of style. The name “Tenvas” captures the essence of this company’s mission: to bringing customized, expressive and stylish watches to the public using cutting edge digital design and 3D technology.
Describing themselves as a “marketplace for designers and followers to create their own customized accessories and watches”, one of the company’s most reliable target customer appears to be the young adult who craves expressive accessory features (think backpacks, sneakers, ringtones, smart phone cases and you are on the right track). Tenvas has brilliantly cornered the market on 3D printed watches, but a cursory view of the company’s wide selection (with over 120 designs currently) shows that it won’t be just young people designing and/or purchasing these watches.
Tenvas’ vision to provide a “global web based platform to incubate personal time pieces” has far-reaching potential: think specialized watches to reflect the significance of unique once in a lifetime occasion and you are on the right track . (Your sister would love a watch design featuring her favorite colors and flowers for her 16th birthday!) You are also on the right track when you consider the functional and fungible elements of the Tenvas watch design, which provides customers the option of frequent design changes.
The Singapore made IO watches, which can be seen in a video posted on the company’s website and Facebook page, begin as a band and a face featuring a “thin and light metal casing.” The design piece is snapped on with ease (You can see how this works here). What this means is that you can change designs to fit your mood, or as your pocketbook will allow, with the “world’s first 3d printed, interchangeable fashion watch” selling for $119.00 each.
It is difficult to foresee any glitches in Tenvas’ 3D time piece market niche. In addition to the customization options, customers are able to choose from a large design variety, with designs submitted by people from all over the world–including the Philippines, South Africa and Tennessee. If you click on a specific watch, you see who designed it and the designer’s short biography. Also, until December 7th, you can vote for your favorite watch design on Tenvas’ website in a special designer competition.
As the company’s Tumblr blog explains,the idea of personalized watch design is facilitated by new Internet and computer technology, allowing “designers to create and experiment with new designs. 3D printing allows these designs to be made at a low cost and with no minimum order quantity. Each and every design can be unique”. It looks like Tenvas is a company to watch out for with it’s user-focused philosophy, functional and fungible product line, great designs, and support for individual artistry and technological innovation. Check out the video below showing how Tenvas works.
