AÃRK Collective – Designing Beautiful Timepieces

Melbourne-based AÃRK Collective is a team of four related creatives who share a love for design. Driven by a desire to create objects that are both long-lasting and unique, AÃRK designs unisex timepieces inspired by simple shape, geometric form and graphic elements. Balancing function and beauty in wearable design, the collective’s watches are highly considered and organic.

Geometry and playful detail inform their design aesthetic, but each AÃRK design is underpinned by an uncomplicated love of minimalism. Following the launch of their first range of unisex timepieces back in 2013, AÃRK continue to release beautiful watches which stand out for its originality, simplicity, quality and refined detail.

Committed to combining traditional values of craftsmanship and the best modern manufacturing techniques, the collective meticulously scope and refine each detail; eight different manufacturers are used in the production of each watch. “We believe it’s this attention to the details that sets our timepieces apart – from precise form-cut shapes and acid-etching on dials to the unique function of each movement, each watch has a character as individual as its wearer.”

SHELL
A homage to classic watch design, the Shell combines AÃRK’s signature minimalism with a crafted finish and playful charm. Available in white and brown, the unique patterning of each hand-moulded acetate case ensures that no two Shells are the same. Traditional design is referenced in the elongated indexes and Italian calfskin leather band, while geometric details and a wave-form steel keeper carry the graphic signature of AÃRK’s 002 collection.

MULTI
Following AÃRK’s first collaborative effort with multidisciplinary design studio Daniel Emma, the two teams have partnered once again to create their second unisex series, Multi - AÃRK’s most recent release. Taking a playful approach to design through the use of colour, Multi challenges classic timepiece aesthetics by rethinking conventional finishings and pairings. Inspired by moments in time, the Multi is available in three different colour moods: Morning, Noon and Midnight.

NORMAL – Japanese Minimalist Watches

In 2006, American designer Ross McBride founded the Japanese watch brand Normal Timepieces as a space to express his personal thoughts on design. Experiencing both US and Japanese culture throughout his childhood and adulthood respectively, Ross has been greatly influenced by pioneering mid-century American design as well as the Japanese sense of minimalism and craftsmanship – elements that become evident in the brand’s approach to design.

“That which is normal can be assumed as self-evident, or open to an exhaustive debate. In truth, there are as many points of view as there are people. Where we find consensus, we find community.”

In our opinion, it’s not only the brand’s approach to considered functional and minimalist design; but it’s first and foremost the sensibility and subtlety that one can find in its timepieces.
Since the launch of its first range – which consisted of the models ‘Extra Normal’, ‘Time Zone’ and ‘Time = Money’ - Normal Timepieces has expanded its selection of timepieces to now include the Fuji Range, the Extra Normal Range as well as the Digital Grande Range.