“Time, Naturally”
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Most Watches Follow Stale, Old Conventions
Big brand watches have become way too predictable and boring. They seem to follow every old convention, whether it makes sense or not. It seems their main concern is to not “rock the boat” rather than to make fresh and unique designs. And there’s another convention that might have seemed logical a hundred years ago but no longer is today:
Why Do Most Watches Show Only Half The Day?
Thousands of years ago, humans decided to divide the day into 12 hours. Back then there was no need to consider the nighttime, as in the days before artificial lighting there was little (work) to do during the night. The day started at sunrise and ended at sunset.
Then the Egyptians decided to also count nighttime and it made sense to divide the night into 12 hours also. Early mechanical clocks in fact showed the full 24 hours of the day, often with the day starting at sunrise. The Hebrew calendar even counts the day from sunset to sunset today.
When watches were first made, their dials were however too small to show the whole day, so the convention became to show only half the day instead. That was perhaps a good decision back then when watches were half the size they are today, but the AM/PM structure can be quite confusing.
For instance, what time exactly is noon?
It is defined as 12:00PM (but it used to be 12:00AM just a couple of decades ago!)
Does this make sense? This is in fact so confusing to a lot of people that it’s common for public timetables to not use 12:00PM (nor 12:00AM for midnight) at all, but rather use 12:01PM or 11:59AM.
There is a better, more natural way of showing the time. In the 24 hour system there is no confusion about what time of the day you are looking at and it is undeniably more natural to see the full day on the dial and not just half of it.
Northern Watches show the whole day at a glance, with midnight (0) at the bottom of the dial and 12 o’clock noon at the top of the dial, matching the positions of the sun.
For those accustomed to AM/PM it is still simple: AM is on the left side of the dial, PM is on the right side of the dial.
The date window is at 6 o’clock, in the area where your eyes will seek in the morning when you wake up. If you find yourself thinking that the date window should be on the right side of the dial; ask yourself why you think so. Is there any actual logic behind that thinking or is it just convention? You probably already know the answer! 🙂
But Isn’t It Hard To Read A 24 Hour Watch?
No, it’s in fact entirely straight forward. You simply look at where the hour hand points to and then where the minute hand points to.
Everyone has learnt that the “four poles” on the dial are 15 minutes apart and that’s still the same. The main difference from 12 hour watches is that on a 24 hour watch, there are 2.5 minutes between each hour marker. If you are used to telling time in five minute intervals, look at every second hour marker when reading the minutes. A couple of examples:
Below on the left we see the hour hand pointing to around 05:00 / 5AM and the minute hand pointing to just before the second hour marker after noon. Given that every hour marker is 2.5 minutes, the minute hand thus indicates about 4 minutes past the hour.
On the right above we see the hour hand pointing to a bit past 18:00 / 6PM and the minute hand pointing to the second hour marker after the quarter. Remembering that every hour marker is 2.5 minutes, the minute hand thus points to about 20 minutes past the hour.
Will you immediately get used to reading time in this more natural way after having been used to the AM/PM system? Perhaps not. But after having read your watch ten times or so you will start to feel comfortable with it.
Don’t underestimate yourself!
A Design You Will Never Get Tired Of
We set out to make the most beautiful lugs ever found on a watch and we think we succeeded. The lugs are sequentially mirror polished and satin brushed, creating a luxurious contrast and completing the exquisite case design.
Each lug is machined from a single piece of metal and then screwed into the case. The cases have horizontally brushed sides, a radially brushed back, and a mirror polished bezel.
The dials are cut from natural stone, making each dial as unique as your fingerprint. Thus even if your friend or your colleague has the same Northern Watches model as you, your watches will not be identical.
We use quick-change straps made from thick, luxurious leather to give the lugs and cases the attention they deserve and also to avoid making marks when changing straps.
How Do The Watches Show 24 Hours?
Northern Watches are Swiss Made, powered by the high quality Sellita SW330-2 GMT movement, beautifully decorated to match the quality and beauty of the case and the dials.
There are no high quality 24 hour automatic movements commercially available, so we thought of a different way to have our watches show the full day on the dial: we put the hour hand on the GMT wheel, thereby making the hour hand go around the dial just once a day.
The added benefit of using a GMT movement is that it allows you to individually set the hour hand when travelling without disturbing the timekeeping nor the date mechanism.
Which Model Speaks To You The Most?
NW1 – “Bronze Age” emulates the sensation of a late summer’s night up north, where the low sun creates a warm dark glow on the mountains. The bronze case will acquire a unique patina over time, adding to the individuality of the watch.
NW2 – “Northerner” is designed to invoke the feeling of a wintery landscape, where the snow creaks under your boots in a cold and quiet winter’s night, the moon shining bright on the white landscape.
The Perfect Size For Your Wrist
A case diameter excluding the crown of 38-39mm is considered the “Goldilocks” size for most wrists – not too big and not too small.
The “Bronze Age” and the “Northerner” share the same design and size. The case is 38mm wide excluding the crown. The watch wears a bit bigger given the long lugs extending to a distance of 48mm lug to lug. The total thickness including the top and bottom sapphire crystals is 10.6mm.
The watches look great on both men and women and the thick leather straps make the watches very comfortable to wear.
Great Design Deserves Great Specs
Our first two models share the same design and specifications, the difference between them is in the materials they use. The top sapphire crystal is doubled domed – both on the inside and the outside – allowing for a slimmer profile as the hands follow the inside curve.
The double Anti-Reflective coating ensures high legibility and a great view of the dial in most lighting situations and the 5 ATM water resistance ensures you never have to worry about getting your watch wet. The watches come with a 2 year worldwide warranty.
