The clock, alluding to the succession of moments marked by the hands, has the hours in Roman numerals on the axes of the square, an allusion to the Atocha Station clock with which it shares proportion and shape.
CAUNY watch by Rafael Moneo. Photograph courtesy of Canuy.
Project description by Rafael Moneo
When CAUNY asked me to design a clock I couldn't help but think about the two occasions on which I had drawn one: in the Logroño City Hall and the Atocha Station.
In both, the clock alludes to the meaning of the hours associated with the passing of the day: twelve — noon — as the summit of the day. The hours related to daily activity, distinguishing between morning and afternoon. Not as a succession of moments, something that so clearly happens with the beat of digital clocks. And the hours in Roman numerals and on the axes of the square, a figure that we so often see in the sundials on the walls.
With such a starting point, entering into an experience like this — going from drawing a clock on a building to designing a wristwatch — has been quite a surprise. Working with millimeters and tenths of a millimeter, accustomed to thinking in centimeters and meters, has been a disciplined exercise in which the presence of the texture of the materials was not alien, always making itself felt on our wrist. However, it was no surprise to see, on time and again, that the sense of proportion has always been present and led one to think that both watches came from the same hand.
Madrid, November 23, 2023
