Gospel Watches

The Project

Our assignment was to give meaning or a message through an everyday object. I knew I wanted to do an object that someone wears and had the potential to be pushed further with aesthetic while being functional. I decided on a watch and set the goal of trying to tell a story through its design or have it be a way for people to express their style ever more.

Research

Market: The watch industry is worth about $103B (2024), growing to about $158B by 2033. Luxury makes up roughly $42B of that.
Gap: Luxury watches are now treated as investments, while fashion watches get squeezed by luxury and smartwatches. Few affordable, well-made watches have unusual forms.
Precedent: Swatch (1983) revived the industry with playful, colorful design at an affordable price.
User insight: Buyers like quirky designs (Mr. Jones is 90% 5-star), but they complain about plastic materials (Swatch) and hard-to-read dials (Mr. Jones). Unique should still mean readable and well built.
Meaning: A traditional watch signals wealth and status, not usually personality or creativity.
Target: Aesthetics-focused, middle-class buyers who wear the watch as part of an outfit, at a $150-$500 price point, in non-plastic, durable materials.
Gospel Watches Research Doc

First round of Sketches

I began exploring watch shapes, illustrations, and places it can be worn

My goal began to change a bit

Of the 31 concepts I made, there were two that stood out to me for their uniqueness and message. One was a watch that had a divider in it that prevented the user from seeing the time unless they turn a dial to moved it. The idea came from mechanical coins that artists made. The story I went with for the mechanical watch was the stone rolling away from Jesus resurrection. The other was a illustration of Heaven with God at the center and angels marking the hour, minute, and seconds.

It was around this time that I learned about a clothing brand called Proclamation Coalition. The company focus is to create Gospel centered clothing that spark conversation with the wearer to other people about the Gospel. I thought about how we could achieve the same goal with a watch.

My goal then switched to create a watch that was unique and eye catching while showing a story from the Bible so that people who see would be curious about it and start a conversation with the user.

Second Round of Sketches

I explored two possibilities, one was illustration focused and the other was mechanical focused. For inspiration, I looked at stories in the Gospel for the mechanical watch and famous paintings for the illustration while giving each one a hidden meaning or message to the user to remember.

The Direction

It was time to choose which direction I would pursue and it was an easy decision. The mechanical watch idea, at least to me, was so cool, unique and would definitely be eye catching. So, I began my final round of sketching exploring final looks and messages of the watch before creating a 3D render.