The creation process
After having created the pentagonal Mina and FIVE models under the YvanMonneT brand, I wanted to make a new unisex city watch case with a more marked pentagon than on the Mina while keeping its elegance and timeless classic style.
To design this new pentagon, I got on my computer and with my CAD (Computer Aided Design) software I played with the pentagon and the star that is drawn by connecting its five vertices. Then I placed five circles centred on the points of the star with a radius passing through the intersection of the star’s branches, then I placed radii tangent to the circles, looking for harmonious proportions based on the ratios of the golden ratio and the many tips I received from friends and former designer colleagues. After a few iterations, I obtained a harmonious rounded pentagon which served as a basis for the construction of the case.
The next step consisted in choosing the movement which will be used for this watch, my choice fell on a “Landeron 24” movement following the meeting with Sergio Da Paola who proposed me a qualitative alternative with beautiful terminations whose regulating organs come directly from the house of ETA and different from the usual clones of 2824 more or less Chinese that one finds on the market at an affordable price.
From then on, I concentrated on the construction of the case according to the specifications that I had imposed on myself, an elegant city watch with a diameter of 40mm which is suitable for women and men. The first step in the construction was to design the bezel and find the right balance between the outer dimensions, the height and the thickness. Then I designed the case middle to which the strap is attached. The main challenge was to harmoniously integrate the horns, which are different at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock, and to find a way for the strap at 12 o’clock to remain close to the case in order to keep a harmonious shape to the whole. The experience gained from the creation of my first pentagonal watches was invaluable.
Enfin, j’ai du définir les diverses terminaisons de la boîte pour faire ressortir le pentagone de la lunette et d’en faire une montre raffinée. Dans un premier temps, j’ai travaillé sur des rendus réalistes pour valider mes choix puis je les ai affinés avec les premiers prototypes.
Le choix du design du cadrans, des aiguilles et de la couronne fera l’objet d’une future newsletter.
Bien à vous.
Yvan Monnet