French Watch Enthusiasts Print a 3-D Timepiece

Jan 14, 2019.If 3-D printing can be used to make a gun, why not a watch? So reasoned a collection of creative minds in Besançon, France's watch center The watch, named Specimen 01, has been called France's answer to the Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio, which the Richemont-owned brand Officine Panerai introduced in 2016 as the world's first high-end mechanical watch made by 3-D printing and which carried a six-figure price tag.

Besançon's model, which sells for a more accessible 965 euros, or $1,099, was presented as the first automatic mechanical watch made by 3-D printing in France "Most of the time, 3-D printing is only used to prototype the final piece," said Jean-Baptiste Sepulchre, who, until this month, was the marketing and communications officer for Stainless, one of the businesses involved in the watch's creation In addition to making watches, Mr.

Lebru is known for his large clocks in use at the Besançon Franche-Comté TGV station, Zurich's airport and a store in Tokyo "When Stainless asked me to imagine a watch," Mr Lebru said, "I immediately thought we could build a 3-D printed watch to bind the project with Stainless's job," supplying the metallic powder for 3-D printing.

The watch is available through spring at Utinam Besançon and comes with a blue or brown dial. . Source