2021

Design Awards Gold Winner - Belchengruppe GmbH

Belchengruppe 1247

Entrant Company

Belchengruppe GmbH

Category

Watches - Three-Hand Watches

Client's Name

Country / Region:

Switzerland

The Swiss watch brand Belchengruppe has created exceptional timepieces for individuals who appreciate quality and are searching for something extra special.

The case is based on classic watch design and is shaped using complex faceting with clear lines to create a unique character. The shapes seems to be cut from a block, curves are reduced to a minimum: the watches appear almost brutal at first glance. Thanks to playing with known basic types, the design is shedding new light on the familiar.

Both watch dials offer a new interpretation of classic display elements and call into question traditional perceptions.
The "120°" dial with its white-orange minute track looks like a variation of sporty chronometer dials. But it separates the hour into three instead of four sections and so represents the times of day: morning, afternoon, and evening. The “Visuren” dial is reminiscent of the sunbeams and the lines of sight found among the Belchen mountains. The hour markers are not placed the usual way, their ring is virtually twisted. This irritates and changes the kind of reading out the time..

The watches are available in three watch case finishes: brushed, bead blasted, and polished.
The brushed finish emphasises the clean lines of the case and has a sporty look; the bead-blasted highlights the technical aspects; the shiny polished is a metallic diamond and elegant companion.

Time, its passing, its individual perception, is the central theme of the brand. Belchengruppe combines this with a fascination for design. The highly-precise Swiss clockwork mechanism at the core of the watches works to display the subjective nature of time. The technical accuracy of the mechanics is broken up by the design and allows the watches to embody the ambiguity of time.

The brand is named after the five Belchen mountains located in the area where the borders of Switzerland, Germany, and France meet. The mountains are an archaic sun calendar: seen from the top of the Alsace Belchen the sunrise over the other Belchen mountains marks the start of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Credits

Christoph Schnee
Jens Neuber
Christoph Ruppli
Simone Schnee
Lukas Schneider
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