Watch 4 — Spec (concept stage)

Status: future — open for refinement after Watch 3 ships Concept: The signature watch — building what isn't sold New skill this build introduces: Personal aesthetic. Commissioning custom work. Building something that has never been on someone else's wrist.

Aesthetic

• Up to Rob entirely. The point of this build is taste, not kit. By Watch 4, three previous builds have established what works on the wrist; Watch 4 goes beyond what works generally into what works for Rob specifically.
• Possibilities — pick one or combine:
  • Custom-printed dial commissioned from an artist or small print shop (logo, artwork, color story Rob defines)
  • Unusual case shape — cushion, tonneau, asymmetric — possibly from a small CNC shop run from Rob's drawings
  • Vintage movement in modern case — a period-correct movement (Vostok, Poljot 3133 chronograph, vintage Seiko 6309) refurbished and put into a contemporary case
  • Material story — Damascus steel case, wood inlay dial, ceramic bezel, brass case that develops patina

Constraints — early thinking

• Budget: explicit non-issue. Pay for excellence.
• Lead time: explicit budget here is calendar months, not weeks. Custom dial commissions take 2–4 months. CNC case runs take 8–12 weeks. Vintage movement sourcing takes as long as it takes.
• Reversibility: custom work is one-shot. There's no return-to-vendor for a wrong commissioned dial. The proof process matters.

Skills to demonstrate (acceptance criteria for "Watch 4 done")

• A specific aesthetic point of view defined and executed (write it down in this spec before commissioning anything)
• Custom commissioning done with a working proof / sample process
• Reverse-engineering: if using a vintage movement, identify and source service parts (mainspring, balance staff, etc.) before committing
• The watch reads as Rob's, not as a kit assembly. Explicitly: someone seeing it should not be able to identify the case+dial+hands as off-the-shelf parts.

Sourcing strategy — early thinking

If pursuing custom dial path

• Artist/print shop: Etsy has dial artists; Watch and Style sells dial-printing services; some forum builders take commissions. The relationship is the deliverable — interview multiple artists before commissioning.
• Proof process: request a printer's proof or a sample on a non-final dial blank before committing to the final print.
• Dial blank source: order a blank dial in the right diameter and thickness from DSWatch or NamokiMODS; ship it to the printing artist for the print application.
• Failure recovery: order TWO dial blanks. If the first proof goes wrong, the second is already with the artist.

If pursuing custom CNC case path

• CNC shop: local machine shops, or specialized watch CNC shops (Pretium, Magrette historically). Quote shops with a sample case sent as the dimensional reference (not just numeric specs — many CNC shops don't intuit watch tolerances).
• Material: 316L is standard; titanium is harder to machine; Damascus is specialty (limited shop list).
• Proof: insist on a 3D-printed plastic prototype of the case before metal CNC; verify movement seat, dial seat, crystal seat, lug width, crown position visually.
• Surface finishing: specify finish in writing — fully brushed, brushed-and-polished bevels, fully polished. Most CNC shops deliver as-machined; finishing is a separate (sometimes specialty) step.

If pursuing vintage movement path

• Sourcing: eBay vintage watch lots are the conventional path. No AliExpress / unverified sellers per project rule. Cousins UK sells some vintage parts. Watchmaker forums (Watch-U-Seek, Reddit r/watchmaking) are where to find dealers.
• Service before assembly: a vintage movement always needs service before going into a new case. Either Rob services it (high-skill — not a Build 4 path) or sends it to a Seiko/Vostok specialist watchmaker (more conventional).
• Donor watch source: sometimes the cheapest path to a clean vintage movement is buying a complete vintage watch on the cheap and harvesting just the movement. Verify the movement runs first.

Risk register

• Custom dial print quality: colors don't match the proof, registration shifts, lume application is uneven. Mitigation: proof process; order two blanks.
• CNC case dimensions wrong: crystal seat ID off by 0.2mm; movement seat too tight; lug width drifted. Mitigation: 3D-print prototype first; verify with calipers before metal.
• Vintage movement issues: runs poorly after long storage; service required; service changes timing characteristics. Mitigation: bench-run for a week before installation.
• Schedule slip: custom commissions blow through estimates. Mitigation: don't start any other build during Watch 4's commission phase.

Open questions (these are the work for Rob, not for me)

• What aesthetic point of view does Rob want to express? (write it down in 3–5 bullet points before any commissioning)
• Custom dial vs custom case vs vintage movement — pick one as primary
• If custom dial: what's the artwork? typography? color story?
• If custom case: what shape? finishing? material story?
• If vintage movement: which era and which movement? what's the case strategy around it?

Open items

• Define the aesthetic POV in writing
• Pick primary path (custom dial / custom case / vintage movement)
• If custom dial: line up 2–3 candidate artists; review portfolios; pick one
• If custom case: line up 2–3 candidate CNC shops; get sample work; pick one
• If vintage movement: identify 2–3 candidate movements; price and source each

Watch 4 — Parts List

Source of truth for order status. Update rows in place — do not append duplicates.

Status values: proposed → ordered → shipped → received → installed

Spares / consumables

(empty until parts list firms up)

Watch 4 — Build Log

Append-only chronological journal. New entries go at the bottom under a dated header.

Format: ## YYYY-MM-DD — short title

(empty until Watch 3 ships and Watch 4 commissioning begins)

Watch 4 — Notes

Free-form observations, mistakes, things to remember for future builds. Items here that generalize beyond watch_004 should be promoted to sourcing/compatibility_notes.md or sourcing/parts_database.md.

Pre-build observations (2026-05-10)

• This is the build where Rob stops asking "what's good?" and starts asking "what's mine?". The aesthetic POV statement that goes in spec.md is the most important sentence in the project. Don't commission anything until it's written.
• Custom work has fundamentally different risk than off-the-shelf sourcing. The "buy two of everything" rule applies harder here — specifically dial blanks, since they're cheap and the printing is irreversible.
• A vintage movement in a modern case is a thoughtful path that compounds the lessons from Watches 1–3 (sourcing, finishing inspection, hand setting on a smaller, more delicate movement) without requiring entirely new vendor relationships.
• Off-ramp option: if Watch 4 starts feeling overwhelming, do a "Watch 3.5" — a refined three-hand build using premium components from established suppliers (Lucius Atelier regulated movement, hand-finished case, premium dial) that compounds bench experience without the commission process.