Though easily overlooked, the clasp plays a critical role in how the watch feels on the wrist.
Made from rigid materials for secure attachment, allowing the watch freedom to move makes clasp design very complex.
Like most things in life, it is necessary to balance what you want to achieve with it. A stronger clasp might get rigid and bulky, yet a smaller flexible one might open when we are not expecting.
Luckily, some unique choices made on this project, brought new possibilities to solve this problem. The steel used here—which, after heat treatment, becomes ferromagnetic—makes it possible to use magnets as an alternative solution.
This approach enables a small, slim clasp to securely hold the watch on wrist using magnetic force. However, it introduces unique challenges. Magnetic fields can be very dangerous to watch mechanisms and protection is crucial.
Achieving this was in no way straightforward, so I decided to divide this post in 2 parts, and dedicate part 2 to dive deeper on the solutions applied here.
RA.Gracioli