IRUW Watches — Anton Krish Rabindran’s Unique 3D Printed Watches are Stunning

I have a friend named Jason who must own about 30 different watches. He seems to wear a different watch every time we go out. He has casual watches, elegant watches, stop watches, and more. You name it, and he probably has something very similar to it. I personally never wear a watch, but I am still fascinated by the intricate work that goes into the design and fabrication of each and every one.

For one man, named Anton Krish Rabindran, the founder of a company called Human Writes, watches were always something he has had a liking for. I could probably compare him quite closely to my friend Jason.

“I have loved watches, since I was young,” Rabindran tells 3DPrint.com. “I was an avid collector, reaching about 50 in my collection. Then I got bored of the available market — that was within budgetary reach. Then I had a premonition… why not make my own?”

So this is exactly what Rabindran decided to do. He decided to create his very own custom watch called the OP1. To make this watch, he took a Seiko automatic diving watch, and then buried it in an aluminum shell and attached a 4Seven’s Quark Mini 123 flashlight to it. It was really a great way for him to get his feet wet as far as watch design goes. He now sells copies of the OP1 watch in various finishes, including raw aluminum and anodized black, for $425-$475.

After he proved that he could use his design skills to modify an existing watch, Rabindran decided to try his hand at something else.

“I decided to try out 3D printing,” Rabindran tells us. “What an experience! I took two existing automatic watches, took the movements out of the original watch, and designed the new 3D printed bodies using SolidWorks. The dimensions during design were inflated slightly due to the precision quality of the printer. The end result was a successful fit of the movement into the shell, and the glass into the frame. Albeit we went a little too thin on some cosmetic elements (fins on the rear), which did not print perfectly.”

The parts, which were 3D printed on a Viper SLA 3D printer, using ClearVue resin, came out extremely detailed. The Viper is capable of making parts as tiny as .1mm. Each cross section height of the printed parts were between .1mm and .05mm. After the parts were printed, a UV light was used to completely cure them.

The watch came out better than expected and Rabindran calls it the IRUW watch. It also comes in two versions; the M1 and the M2.

“The M2 has the added feature of the extended crown, which was modeled after a Gattling Gun,” Rabindran tells us. “It is also bigger in size [when compared to the M1]. The movement used for each is different. Both movements came from my father; taken from two of his old watches that he handed down to me. Hence the letters ‘IR’ which are his initials.”

As for what the “UW” stands for, Rabindran tells us it stands for Urwerk, which is one of his favorite watch companies. In fact, the M1 and M2 are modeled after the Urwerk 110 watch.

As you can see in the photos, Rabindran’s watches all came out with quite the unique look. The IRUW M1 can be purchased from his website for just $195 with the M2 being priced slightly higher at $235.

What do you think about these unique 3D printed watches? Would you consider purchasing one? What changes would you consider making if you were to redesign them? Discuss in the 3D Printed IRUW watches forum thread on 3DPB.com.