Stowa Wants You To Design Their Next Watch

I’m sure we’ve all at one point dreamt of designing and manufacturing our very own watch. I know I have a few scribbles and sketches stashed away somewhere in my apartment. But for most of us, the thought of having to deal with suppliers and manufacturers is often enough to keep us just dreaming.

Now Stowa, one of our favorite German watchmakers, is about to simplify the entire process with a design contest open to the public, with the winning submission to be realized by the brand. The contest, in collaboration with Watchtime, launched on July 17th and will be open for submissions until the 30th. By mid August, the 10 most popular designs will be put up for a vote on Watchtime.net, with the winning design to be sold through Watchtime.net’s online shop. The winner will receive the watch for free, valued at around EUR 1,000. Runner-ups will get vouchers from the brand.

If you’d like to participate, you can download the case template from Stowa’s contest site. Fret not if you don’t have any design experience. Whether you’re skilled with Adobe Illustrator or you’re a total amateur with nothing more than a paper and pen, Stowa wants you to submit a design. As of this writing, there have been more than 150 submissions, all of which can be viewed here.  The mix is quite eclectic, with some entirely original designs, some that look like they could be pulled right out of Stowa’s archives, and some that are in keeping with Stowa’s increasingly modern trajectory.

In terms of what’s allowed, there are a few limitations. Based on the provided template, it looks the watch will use one of the existing Antea cases (it’s not exactly clear which one), with the dial and hands to be designed by the watch community. Similarly, the movement hasn’t been specified by Stowa, so some submissions have been built around the ETA-2824 and others around the Peseux 7001. (And some hopeful contestants have ignored the template entirely to include chronographs, divers, and fliegers.) It is recommended that each entrant submit no more than five watches. To participate, send your design by e-mail to [email protected] before the July 30th cut-off date.

Below, we’ve picked out some of our favorite designs from the bunch. Let us know which ones you like in the comments section.

Good luck to everyone involved!