I know. You’ve heard it countless times, but part of the reason I started OraOrea was to create the watches that I would want to buy. It’s a cliché, for sure, but what it means is that OraOrea isn’t a brand that was created to emulate a style or time period, fill some “hole” in the market, redefine “luxury,” or any other such business plan jargon. Nor is it a brand that is locked into any genre or price point. Instead, it’s about discovering, through design, watches that move me, and infusing them with the qualities I’ve learned to seek for my own collection.
The best watches, the keepers, have an undefinable quality that is greater than the sum of their parts. A “je ne sais quoi,” if you will. Being indefinable is tricky enough to design for, but to make matters worse, this quality varies from person to person. It’s subjective, based on a person's tastes and experiences. So the best way I can tackle this goal is to design watches that have that quality for me. Not just watches I like, but watches that stir me. Watches I want to look at constantly, without taking them off.
Luckily, there are some common threads among these watches I’ve found over the years. First, a watch must be designed from every angle, not just above. A low view of the dial, or from the side of the case, must still intrigue. For the Coriolis, an example of this is in the mid-case construction, which allows for fine finishing between the lugs, an area often left untouched.
Second, though elements can be familiar, the watch as a whole must be novel. I haven’t set out to redefine the wheel, nor do I want to, but the goal isn’t to make another x, y, or z either. Traditional and mid-century watch design inspires me, so it often shapes my aesthetics, but unless the design feels distinct, it’s not meant to be. As a collector, I’ve found that when two watches compete because they are too similar in style or theme, one ends up being let go. The watches I can’t replace are unmatched.
Third, there are details to get lost in. Yes, watches tell the time, but they are also aesthetic and intellectual experiences. My favorite watches are ones I can stare at, on or off the wrist, without even bothering to read the time. They have moments throughout that are worth taking in. Maybe that's how something reflects, an interaction of curves, the depth of a color, the tension created by negative space, or something else entirely. These moments vary by watch, so during the design process, they must be discovered and developed.
There are more pillars guiding OraOrea, but the last I want to mention is not letting the budget constrain the design or execution. Though there was an upper limit on what I could fund for an initial release, I didn’t come in with a predetermined price point I wanted to achieve. What mattered most to me was executing the design to the fullest and going the extra mile where it counted.
The hands of the Coriolis are a good example of this. They are very complicated to make: some are machined rather than stamped, and they require hand finishing, forming, and assembly (the hour hand, for example, is made of multiple parts), making them expensive. My manufacturer, used to a more budget-conscious approach, suggested more affordable alternatives, which I quickly dismissed. Yes, this raised the cost and the watch's eventual price, but the hands, along with several other similarly complicated details, are what bring the design to life.
In the future, there might be complications I want to work with that are only available in expensive third-party or even semi-bespoke movements, which would lead to higher-priced watches. But the inverse is true as well. The point is that OraOrea is taking a price-agnostic approach, letting the requirements of the designs and the needs for proper execution guide the pricing of each watch.
Ultimately, this is the only way I know how to do it. I can’t design for everyone, and I wouldn’t want to. What I can do is follow the instinct that has guided my own collecting for years, pursue the details that feel essential, and create watches I would struggle to take off. Watches that hold my attention long after the novelty fades. If a design moves me in that way, I trust it will resonate with others as well. OraOrea is simply the vehicle for that pursuit.
