Adesse: A Minimalist Watch Redefining Time Perception

Jansen Che's Award-Winning Design Emphasizes Living in the Present

Adesse's design inspiration stems from the modern world's constant distractions that prevent us from truly appreciating the present. Che's minimalist approach questions the necessity of traditional watch features like numerical indicators, second hand, minute hand, and hour hand. The design concept takes minimalism to the extreme, removing superfluous elements and focusing on what is absolutely necessary to tell the time.

The unique properties of the Adesse watch lie in its minimalist principles. Traditional watch features are subtracted, and a sculptural rotating piece is carved out. The watch only reveals enough to tell the time at any given moment, serving as a memento to live in the present.

Realizing this design required a special watch movement, strong enough to rotate the sculptural piece and relocate the crown to the bottom of the watch. This allows for a perfect circular silhouette watch case. The watch has a 38mm diameter, and its minimalist design is underscored by keywords such as minimalism, minimalist, watch, Adesse, and concept.

Adesse reads like a one-hand watch. From a bird’s eye view, one can only see the hour markers, as they are scored deeper, wider, and taller than the quarter markers in the case interior. The quarter markings (15min, 30min, 45min) between each hour are only revealed from a side-on view. As time progresses throughout the day, most of the quarter markers become hidden by the rotating sculptural face. The only quarter markers that are fully revealed are the ones that are relevant to that hour, further emphasizing the importance of the present.

Designed in Sydney, Australia, and exhibited in Singapore in 2019, Adesse is the result of extensive research into minimalist and non-standard watches with rotating disc hands. The design process was guided by the minimalist principle "Design through subtractions". The form of the watch was created exclusively by carving/subtracting. Ensuring the legibility of the watch was a challenge that was overcome by a delicate balance between manipulation of the form and materials. Adesse is an ultra-minimalist watch that acts as a memento to enjoy the present, a testament to the designer's creativity and innovation.