Amateur Craftsman Creates Professional Looking Watch

Have you ever had an idea of a very particular product you needed or wanted and scoured the earth in vain for it? This will leave you with two options: settle for something comparable or make it yourself.

The latter was the case when Reddit user 8PumpkinDonuts decided to build his own wristwatch completely from scratch, and the results are phenomenal. His motivation behind the build is profound in its simplicity: “I figured that since I like to make things and I also like watches, why not make a watch?”

Even without reading through the technical process of fabricating it, the aesthetic style alone of this watch is striking enough to turn heads. The symbol for Mercury sits prominently on the top of the watch face. Among other things, the sign represents open-mindedness, contemplation, and manifestation — the perfect symbol for a well planned and well executed build like this. And, maybe it’s just the lighting on his build photos, but the lume seems to add an extra ethereal aspect to this super sweet timepiece.

This build is especially spectacular considering that 8PumpkinDonuts says that this is the first watch he’s ever built, “but probably not the last.” He spent about $150 on the parts since he was unable to buy raw materials in sufficiently small quantities. The time for design, research, and fabrication combined clocked in at about 30 hours.

Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that he also made a CNC machine and rotary tumbler on which he fabricated the pieces and then later sanded and deburred them.

Once the parts for the housing were completely machined, he installed the movement, spring bars, and crown, fitting them all snugly under the case back with the tiniest screws I’ve ever seen (000-120). The finished watch is only 10mm thick and is finished off with a nicely textured band.

If you’d like to see more detailed pictures of his build, be sure to check out his imgur album.