Tag Archives: Automatic watch

The Panthevm Roma Watch pays tribute to the Roman Architecture of the Pantheon Dome

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If you aren’t one of the many American men on TikTok who think about the Roman Empire on a daily basis, the Panthevm Roma definitely will get you there. Inspired by the timeless design of the Pantheon dome, the Roma watch comes with a gorgeous 3D dial featuring the radial design seen on the underside of the dome that was constructed back in 125 AD.

Designer: Panthevm

The Pantheon in Rome, Italy has a dome that is 142 feet (43.30 meters) in diameter and 71 feet (22 meters) high. It was the world’s largest dome for 1,300 years and still remains the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. The trick lies in the fact that it was made in a staggered manner, with heavier materials like travertine used at the base of the dome, and lighter ones like porous volcanic rock on the top. A signature element of the dome remains its oculus, a 27-foot-wide hole on the top that lets a shaft of light in, illuminating the entire chamber naturally, along with the different pockets in the dome’s radial inner concavity. It’s these pockets that find themselves on the Panthevm Roma’s dial, with the oculus being where the watch hands emanate from.

The Roma collection features a classic design that goes well with the timeless nature of the Italian aesthetic. In short, it’s got a bit of history and modern times imbued in it, much like how Italian architecture and automobiles co-exist and complement each other on the streets of the bustling city of Rome.

The Roma watch comes with a body crafted from 316L Stainless Steel, with that 3D dial in the middle surrounded by linear markings lined with Superluminova (along with the hour and minute hands). There’s a date window at the 3 o’clock position that unfortunately doesn’t line up with the 3D Pantheon dome design on the dial and it’s making my eyelid twitch but that might be the only glaring OCD-triggering part of this otherwise elegant timepiece. Finally, a sapphire crystal sits on the top of the watch, offering a clear view of the dial while also rendering the Roma 20ATM water-resistant.

Although the watch is rather unapologetically Roman, with the Pantheon detail, Roman numerals around the bezel, and the word Panthevm written in the Latin style, its heart is Japanese. Underneath the surface lies the Panthevm Roma’s Seiko Automatic movement, a 24-jewel movement with a 41-hour power reserve.

The watch debuted on Kickstarter and Indiegogo back in 2020, unveiled in 5 different colored variants. Patrons can also choose between metal, leather, or rubber straps to customize their timepiece.

Early editions of the watch were marked with a serial number counting down from 753 B.C. – the year Rome was founded.

The post The Panthevm Roma Watch pays tribute to the Roman Architecture of the Pantheon Dome first appeared on Yanko Design.

“World’s Lightest Mechanical Watch” clocks in at a Stunning 8.8 Grams in Weight

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Billed as the world’s lightest mechanical watch, the MING LW.01 boasts an impressive weight of just 8.8 grams (0.31 ounces) for the manual variant and 10 grams (0.35 ounces) for the automatic variant. For reference, that’s lighter than one AirTag… or about as much as two AirPods WITHOUT the case.

The LW.01 takes the idea of minimalism a little bit further by going beyond just the visual sense of the word. “We wanted to push the envelope further than we – or any other brand – has ever done,” the folks at MING said. This includes some brilliant design hacks, the use of novel materials, and basically removing everything non-essential. In short, the folks at MING Marie Kondo-ed the hell out of this watch… and the result definitely sparks joy.

Designer: MING

The watch itself is a work of art, featuring a dial that’s as minimal to look at as its bill of materials. In fact, there isn’t a dial at all. The LW.01’s minute hand sits on a disc that obscures the movement, while the central portion comes with a gradient print that hides the skeletal view of the watch, while also having the watch’s minimal markings on its periphery. Every part of the watch is art and engineering combined to its nth degree, creating something that really stands at the intersection of great design and immaculate engineering.

“We set ourselves some ‘conventional’ constraints, though: the watch had to be a wearable size, and retain certain tactile qualities such as the texture and thermal transfer of metal,” MING’s team mentioned. “More importantly, it would have to be practically wearable and not technically compromised purely for the sake of lightness. As it turns out, it would take us a couple of years longer than expected and an exhaustive amount of metallurgy and testing.”

Those constraints, however, don’t in any way diminish the end product. The watch has a spectacular body that’s crafted from a special metal alloy that’s lighter than carbon but has the premium feel of metal. The lugs are turned into bars that allow the strap to through without any additional elements (which would add to its weight), and the face isn’t layered with sapphire crystal. Instead, it opts for equally resistant Corning Gorilla Glass – similar to the slim glass sheet found in smartphones, but with a separate hardening treatment done by UK-based Knight Optical.

“We explored a wide range of ultralight materials including carbon fiber derivatives and hollow-core 3D printing, but ultimately found that AZ31 Magnesium-Aluminium-Zinc-Manganese alloy from Smiths High Performance was both lighter than carbon (1.77g/cc, vs ~2g/cc density), more consistent to produce than hollow 3D printing, and more importantly retained the feel of metal,” MING mentioned. “It is further surface treated by plasmaelectrolytic oxidation by Keronite for corrosion resistance and biocompatibility, with a further composite protective layer.”

Every element of the watch, including the screws made of PEEK composite, the hollowed bezel, and the angled case buttressing, was meticulously optimized to achieve the perfect balance between durability and weight. The crown, crafted from anodized aluminum, ensures durability and smooth threading. To ensure overall torsional rigidity, finite element simulation was employed to assess the watch case. The fixed integral bars, machined from the same billet as the case, not only enhance rigidity but also weigh less than traditional steel spring bars.

As a result, the watch boasts an impressively lightweight head, weighing just 8.8 grams with manual winding, 10.8 grams with automatic winding, along with an additional 0.6 grams for the matching AZ31 buckle and 1.2 grams for the ‘record’ spec Alcantara strap. This translates to a total weight of 10.6 grams or 12.6 grams for a fully assembled, ready-to-wear timepiece… but don’t expect all that innovation to come cheap. The “World’s Lightest Watch” may be lighter than an AirTag, but it’s half the cost of a Tesla Model Y. With a brain-imploding asking price of 19500 Swiss Francs ($21,623 USD), you’re kind of better off buying a Patek Philippe instead.

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