The journey is the reward.
In mid-2020, the project didn't start with a finished business plan, but with a simple question: Can a real watch case be printed instead of milled without it looking like a compromise?
Heilbronn, 2019.
In 2019, the move to Heilbronn happened. Another project, an in-house SLA printer, was completed. This made room for something new. 3D printing remained, but the ambition grew: away from plastic, towards metal, precision, and a watch you truly want to wear.
The idea.
Smartwatches were everywhere, mechanical watches became exciting again, and the question lingered: What happens if you don't mill the casing from a solid block, but build it layer by layer? Technical curiosity quickly turned into a goal: a fully functional 3D-printed watch. Waterproof. Wearable. Market-ready.
Autodesk Fusion 360, July 2020. The first lines of a watch that, at the time, was more a question mark than a product.
Early skeleton attempts. Still before the Bitcoin clock, still far from HexaCore.
The watchmaker.
A conversation with a watchmaker brought the first harsh reality. Water resistance is not a detail in a watch. It determines whether an idea can become a real product. The advice was initially underestimated. This was followed by years of tests, detours, and parts that ultimately did not work.
The Archive. Ideas, prototypes, and parts that were important even if they didn't last.
The Bitcoin clock.
An early idea was a watch with a Bitcoin dial. The CT scan of the watch was to be stored on the blockchain as a digital fingerprint. Technically, this worked. But it was still not enough as a watch: not waterproof, too expensive to manufacture, too far away from what fUSIO24 was to become.
UV printing
as a watch dial.
The UV printer offered another approach. Dials could be printed directly: any motif, any color, directly onto the surface. From a distance, this often looked striking. Up close, however, the problem became apparent: print lines, layer buildup, and viewing angles made the result appear uneven. The same motif might work well from the front but suddenly look cheap from the wrong perspective. Bitcoin, Neon City, Ninja, Turtles. Anything was possible, but for fUSIO24, it wasn't precise enough. A few watches from all these experiments remain as a reminder, and the realization that fUSIO24 must be more than just a motif on a dial.
Bitcoin, Neon City, Ninja color, Ninja raw, TMNT. From a distance often strong; up close, print lines and perspective showed why much was deliberately discarded again.
SKX007
and NH35.
The technical basis came via the SKX007 ecosystem. This included the NH35 automatic movement: robust, proven, serviceable, and understandable for watchmakers. Suddenly, there was a foundation of movement, hands, gaskets, and accessories. This very basis made the next step possible.
HexaCore.
HexaCore brings these experiences together: a proven NH35 movement, its own case design, 10 ATM water resistance, and a titanium case whose additive manufacturing is allowed to remain visible. The shape was not created from a single sketch but from many hours of design, prototyping, and failure. From powder. From light. Layer by layer.
Three HexaCore cases in titanium. Raw enough to show the manufacturing. Precise enough to be a watch.
Dark Grey / Yellow, White / Neon Green, Silver Grey / Blue, Pure White, Metallic Silver. Five colour schemes. One shape.