Product Spotlight: The Bird Repeater by Jaquet Droz

Now this, ladies and gentleman, is what I call a watch. Seriously, this is one of the most amazing little piece of mechanics that I have ever seen.

Back in the 1700s, Pierre Jaquet Droz was one of the finest makers of automatons (little mechanical robots) around. He also made watches and this watch brand still exists today. They make some of the most beautiful and intricate pieces on the market.

This watch uses the most popular type of automaton, the mechanical bird, to help bring time to life. Priced at a mere $493,500, this watch is sadly a little out of my current price range, but if there are any wealthy readers of this blog out there, it's nearly Christmas, just sayin'...

Product Spotlight: Oldies Ring by Ewelina Bocian

I am such a huge fan of these 'Oldies' rings by Belgian Ewelina Bocian. In her version, inside the brass frames are little paper maps showcasing specific streets, which is lovely, but there is so much scope as to what could be done. I would love to see a story, or a poem perhaps, written by the giver of the ring to the receiver, or is that too mushy?

You can see more work by Ewelina here. 

Product Spotlight : Concrete Watches by Dzmitry Samal

Take a look at this series of watches by Product Designer Dzmitry Samal. The cases are made out of concrete and the movements are Swiss Quartz.

I really like how different they are to other watches on the market and I LOVE the pop of colour on the dial, but it would take a special kind of person to actually get away with wearing one. 

"It is the main male jewellery and should reflect the personality and strength of its owner. I chose concrete, a noble, modern, honest and robust material, the stuff our megapolis are made of."

You can see more of Dzmitry's work here.

Product Spotlight : Bad Passion Jewellery

Bad Passion is a quirky jewellery brand from the UK that offers an eclectic range of pieces from giraffe bangles to crow skull pendants.

I have to say I am especially fond of the bird claw pendants, which by the way is bloody huge.

You can visit their website here.

Product Spotlight : HYT H1 Hydraulic Watch

I ran through the archive of my blog the other day and realised that for a product designer, I don't really post about products very much. So I've decided that the Love/Hate posts that I normally do on Wednesday's are going to be replaced by a product design post, where each week I will highlight either a designer, a brand or a great new product that I think you will enjoy.

For the first of this new series, I want to share with you a ridiculously crazy watch. I saw this watch back in March at Baselworld (a huge watch and jewellery trade show in Switzerland), but chances are that if you don't work in the watch world then you haven't heard about it yet.

Swiss watch brand HYT (Hydro Mechanical Horologists) have created the H1, a watch that features a tube of florescent liquid that is pumped by bellows attached to miniature pistons that subsequently indicates the hour. I won't talk about the technical details too much, they have all the information on their website if you want to find out more. I just think that it's a fascinating watch, the concept is different enough to be interesting, and yet they have managed to keep a very clear, clean layout that means you don't have to spend hours learning how to read the watch before understanding it.

And you will be happy to know that it is a bargain, with a retail price starting at around a measly $50,000 US. I'll take two. 

Love/Hate : Leap Year

So today is the 29th February, traditionally the one day a year when women can propose to men. Although the tradition doesn't make as much sense as it once did, it's still a fun idea to reverse the more stereotypical approach of men asking women.

With practically the whole engagement ring market being geared towards women, I can't help but wonder what these women pick to give to their men in lieu of a giant diamond ring.

So here is a round-up of some rings that could fit the bill, and quite a few that couldn't but that just really made me laugh.

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