Layered hands turn the watch dial into a kinetic composition
STELLAR is a watch designed through a collaboration between The Trio of Time by Anicorn Watches and Raw Color, the Eindhoven-based design studio founded by Christoph Brach and Daniera ter Haar. The project approaches timekeeping through color, movement, and graphic composition, using layered hands to generate a continuously changing visual arrangement across the watch dial.
Rather than emphasizing mechanical complexity or conventional time displays, the design interprets the dial as a kinetic graphic surface. Three rotating time layers, each carrying six hands, form a star-shaped composition that gradually changes throughout the day. As the layers move independently, new relationships between color, overlap, and geometry emerge, allowing the dial to function as both a timepiece and a dynamic visual composition.
Time is indicated through a small dot positioned within the layered arrangement, replacing traditional numerals and reducing the graphic language to its essential elements. This restrained approach maintains legibility while allowing color and movement to define the character of the watch. The changing configuration of the hands transforms the passage of time into a sequence of shifting graphic compositions rather than a fixed display.
all images courtesy of The Trio of Time and Raw Color
Graphic system shapes an alternative approach to timekeeping
The collaboration reflects the shared interest of Dutch design studio Raw Color and watchmaker The Trio of Time in alternative approaches to time representation. Known for its research into color, material, and visual systems, Raw Color applies its graphic methodology to the scale of a wearable object, while The Trio of Time continues its platform of designer collaborations that explore different interpretations of the watch as a design object.
Positioned between product design and graphic composition, STELLAR proposes an alternative reading of the wristwatch. Through layered color, geometric organization, and continuous movement, the design treats time as an evolving visual system in which function and graphic expression operate simultaneously.
three time layers, each with six hands, create a shifting star-like expression across the dial
STELLAR transforms time into a playful graphic composition
the watch features six arms on each layer, creating evolving star-like forms throughout the day