Heritage is important in watchmaking. Where European watchmakers mirror their centuries- old traditional factories, the design duo of Toledano and Chan have created a watch that touches even more ancient history. Their new watch, the B/ 1M, is made from a piece of a meteorite that hit Earth approximately 1 million years ago.
This watch is made from a fragment of the Muonionalusta meteorite. The remains of this meteorite were first found in 1906 in the village of Kitkiöjärvi, Sweden. Subsequently, several fragments of this meteorite have been found in northern Scandinavia.
Use of meteorites: a fantastic idea:-
Small pieces of meteorites have been used in luxury watches before, but artist Philip Toledano and watchmaker Alfred Chan decided to go further. One of the key factors behind the creation of this watch is the price. Toledano did not disclose the exact price of the meteorite fragment used for this watch. But he noted that meteorite raw materials are even more expensive than gold.
The watch will be presented at Philips Watches’ Time for Art auction, with an estimated price between $8,000 and $16,000 (about Rs. 6.5 lakh to Rs. 13 lakh). “Meteorite is in limited supply, so it’s expensive. Also, the rest of it, like gold, can’t be reused,” says Toledano.
Unique characteristics of meteorites:-
The Muonionalusta meteorite is mainly made of iron, so the watch needed an anti- rust coating. In addition, this material has a unique design called “Widmanstätten patterns”, which gives it an “other- worldly” appearance. According to Toledano, these patterns are bright and unique.
A gray ostrich leather strap has been added to the watch’s design to complement the rugged look of the Meteorite. Each watch will have a different design due to the natural characteristics of the material.
Inspiration from Brutalism:-
Toledano and Chan formed their band in 2021 and bonded over a love of the Brutalism genre. The design of the B/ 1M was inspired by the windows of the Breuer Building in New York. The architecture was designed by modernist architect Marcel Breuer in the 1960s.
“The building’s trapezoidal windows shaped the asymmetric design of our clock,” says Toledano. “In addition, just as the Breuer Building lacks any decorative elements, our clock dial has no numerals or symbols.”
Market changes:-
According to Toledano, there is a growing demand for watches with different shapes than traditional watch designs. Their earlier steel B/ 1 model was sold for $4,000 (roughly Rs. 3.3 lakh) in just one hour.
“Right now people, especially men, are more attracted to watches with different shapes,” says Toledano. The ingenious design of the B/ 1M with the uniqueness of the meteorite has given a new dimension to watchmaking.