Apiar, the British pioneer of advanced watchmaking techniques, has announced its first core range, the Gen1.0, which they’ll be showcasing at British Watchmakers’ Day 2025. Through a groundbreaking approach to design and manufacturing, the Gen1.0 is a beautifully crafted yet technologically mind-bending example of just where Apiar will be taking us as they embark on a mission to ‘build the impossible’.

At first glance, the Gen1.0 looks cool. Look closer and it seems impossible. Apiar set out to show how their approach to design and build gives us the chance to create watches that look unlike anything we’ve seen before. In the case of the Gen1.0, they set themselves the challenge of creating the perfect partner for the pioneers of the ultimate feat of human endeavour and ingenuity: the trailblazers who will one day build their homes on the Moon.

But what kind of watch would they need? It would need to be robust and resilient, to cope in extreme environments. Versatile enough to work in any situation. All with a design that feels fitting for the bold, inventive and unconventional people who will be wearing it.

Best of all, Apiar’s approach to building and manufacturing means that they’d be able to build it themselves, when they get to their new home – useful when the nearest ADs are a quarter of a million miles away!

What happens when you ask yourself, “Why not?”

To create the Gen 1.0, Apiar turned to generative design (GD), an approach that founders Matt Oosthuizen and Sam White were experienced in as designers and engineers. GD enables manufacturers to optimise their designs, particularly for an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, often leading to unconventional structures and geometries. It’s the kind of approach that Matt and Sam had seen used by many of the world’s leading R&D and tech companies, particularly when extreme performance is necessary. This includes companies like SpaceX, who use these kinds of techniques for rocket construction, and hypercar manufacturers like Bugatti, who demand immensely strong yet lightweight components.

As watch enthusiasts, Matt and Sam were itching to bring this approach to the watch industry. They saw the potential to build lighter, build stronger, build faster and build better. So they combined their technical expertise with the flair and imagination of industry designer Max Resnick, renowned for his unconventional and innovative watches. By combining Max’s imagination with inspiration and suggestions from GD software, they landed on the final design for the Gen1.0 – a completely organic form, with skeletonised lugs and seemingly impossible geometry. They also developed a deep, undulating dial that Apiar describes as “the guilloché of the future”.

Matt Oosthuizen, co-founder of Apiar, explained the thinking behind the design: “Sam and I both work in advanced engineering. We’ve seen what’s possible – and what’s possible is simply incredible. We wanted the Gen1.0 to pioneer a truly unique approach to watchmaking, showing there are no limits to what we can create – especially when we’re a long way from home! We think the Gen1.0 goes beyond just looking incredible. It’s a watch future explorers can build in their lunar labs, from metallic powder, with almost zero waste.

And it’s properly versatile – robust, light, and would look just as great on a video link with Mission Control as it would while you’re dangling from a cable on a spacewalk.”

Built better

Alongside GD, Apiar uses additive manufacturing (AM) to build their watches. Essentially this means ‘printing’ the watches, layer by layer, based on designs from CAD models.

The name comes from the fact that it ‘adds’ material, one layer at a time, making it almost

waste-free and inherently sustainable. This is the complete opposite to the traditional ‘subtractive’ approach used in the industry, which starts with a block of raw material and carves, cuts and chips away, discarding anything that isn’t needed.

The Gen1.0 is made from grade 23 titanium, leading to a watch that’s incredibly light yet also strong. Zoom in on the lugs and you see the geometry that makes it possible. Fluid lines and impossible angles blend together to create a natural, organic frame, which acts as a strong cradle for the rest of the case.

Built without compromise

One huge advantage of Apiar’s approach is that it allowed Resnick to create a watch that didn’t compromise on the integrity of his designs, allowing him to push the boundaries even further than he usually does. Standard manufacturing approaches can be a source of frustration for designers, with restrictions and limitations that mean certain creations just wouldn’t be possible. In this case, nothing stood in the way of Max achieving his vision.

Max Resnick, designer of the Gen1.0, commented:

“My focus has always been disruptive design. When it came to the Gen1.0, I wanted to create something that felt totally new, unique and challenging – like it’s just arrived from the near future – yet also somehow familiar and comfortable to wear. My vision for the Gen1.0 would have been impossible with traditional manufacturing. From the organic geometry of the lugs to the curves and multiple levels of the dial, we would have had to make trade-offs. Apiar’s approach gave me total creative freedom and flexibility, so that what we see in real life is exactly what I saw in my head. No compromises.”

Availability and pricing

Apiar will be launching a limited run of five specially designed Gen1.B watches for British Watchmakers’ Day, with a unique red dial. Attendees will be able to try the watch on the day and buy one of the five for delivery by summer 2025.

Apiar will follow up with a core, non-limited range in the summer of 2025.

Prices are yet to be announced, but are expected to be comfortably under £2,000 (Including VAT).

To find out more about the Gen1.0, go to www.apiar.co.uk.