The Inspiration Machine
The 718 Tribute build was created to celebrate this lovely, daily-driver Porsche 718 S, incorporating houndstooth elements and a sweeping second hand reminiscent of the tachometer needle. The hand-masked, hand-painted dial is enclosed in a tool case with diver's bezel and ceramic inlay. The design is rounded-out with a fitted, two-tone rally strap making the whole piece as sporty and elegant as the machine that inspired it.
The Concept
The origins of this idea were simple: I wanted to create something I could enjoy while driving my project 718S that would pair with the custom interior of the car. I also figured it could be a fun conversation starter at car meet-ups, providing a perfect prompt to show-off the lovely houndstooth interior created by my friend and SoCal uphulstory badass, Ricardo (of Ricardo's Uphulstery in Newhall, CA). It was important that it be an exceptionally high-quality, one-of-a-kind creative expression worthy of association with this exquisite machine from Porsche.
Getting Started
I hunted for the right combination of parts to complete the look around the vision for the dial. The Seiko NH35 automatic movement was chosen for the heart of the project, given it's high quality and great reliability. Also, since there is a vibrant Seiko modding community, and I was not yet tooled to create my own dial blanks, it was also quite straightforward to find blanks and other parts to work with my design.
Crafting the Dial
This dial began as a concept sketch, then a production design and separations created in Adobe Illustrator. I printed the mask shapes out on vellum, then hand-cut vinyl masks using the prints as a template. The I cleaned and masked the pre-primed dial blank. Color passes were done using airbrush in a white base coat, followed by grey and black accent. The silver numbering, pips and logo were pre-pressed in Illustrator and produced by a third-party vendor using an electroforming process. They were then carefully registered and applied after a final matte UV clear top coat.
The Next Level
This project came out great. It's gotten quite a lot of attention at car meets, with several new projects in the works. As proud as I am of this finished project, it has inspired me to re-evaluate and redesign all of my production processes so that the next generation will reach an even higher quality level. The next projects in the queue will feature an end-to-end, in-house dial process using laser deep-engraving and cutting, finished with a custom, 16-step painting process designed in collaboration with CreateX colors.