Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

https://www.instructables.com/Mechanical-Apple-Watch-From-Real-E-Waste-Apple-Wat/

by zdw • 3 years ago

570 173 3 years ago

instructables.com

WWLink• 3 years ago

That's really cool :D

smitty1e• 3 years ago

Want! #TakeMyMoneyGifGoesHere

Gigachad• 3 years ago

Epic meme sir. Updoots.

dylan604• 3 years ago

"One of them even worked in the end, it just took a couple hours to update!"

To the annoyance of every watch owner out there.

the__alchemist• 3 years ago

It makes me wonder why mechanical over something with a XO, given it wouldn't have the status-symbol associated with mech watches. (Or maybe it would?)

throwanem• 3 years ago

On the other hand, if you're gonna do it at all, why not go whole hog?

timw4mail• 3 years ago

But mechanical watches are so much more fun to...watch

stevekemp• 3 years ago

They really are. I wear a watch daily, and have been collecting them for some years.

Originally I had a bunch of themed-watches "This is the watch for swimming", "this is the watch for going to sauna with", "this is the watch for posh events", "this is the watch for photography", etc.

Nowadays I have too many, so it's more a case of choosing which watch I feel like wearing in the morning. Sometimes I swap every day, sometimes I wear the same one for 3-4 days, but no longer than that really.

My collection includes a lot of vintage (read "bought second-hand for peanuts") Soviet watches, high end Swiss pieces, and a single Casio F-91-W-1 for when I'm feeling like a kid from the 80s.

NanoRobotGeek11• 3 years ago

It wouldn't have been anywhere near as funny to me or enjoyable for me to wear. Literally the only reasons. Mechanical movements are strictly worse

interroboink• 3 years ago

Obligatory link to this wonderful interactive site explaining the inner workings of mechanical watches: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/

danparsonson• 3 years ago

That is superb, thank you!

shazar• 3 years ago

Unrelated to the article, but hijacking the history and making it impossible to navigate back is the new cancer in the internet I guess.

bombcar• 3 years ago

It’s been common for ages and stupidly built single sign on sites have made it even worse.

kazinator2• 3 years ago

I seem to recall that hijacking the back button goes back to the 1990's. I suspect some of the ways in which it was done (like with naive redirects) probably don't work today, but the annoying effect has been there for eons.

reaperman• 3 years ago

I remember browsers stopped it for awhile. Maybe I’m misremembering?

tkgally• 3 years ago

Here’s the direct link to the video:

https://youtu.be/B2h5WwrkJFg

I enjoyed it immensely.

NanoRobotGeek11• 3 years ago

I thought people would find it really boring, hence the 800% speed up on most clips. Very glad to hear at least some people enjoyed it

numpad0• 3 years ago

This is an abuse. And it’s one of obligations of web browsers to protect users from abuse.

ge96• 3 years ago

The other thing I've seen is they scroll you to the bottom where those weird article embeds are.

alwayslikethis• 3 years ago

That's why I just middle click to open everything on a new tab nowadays. Back button still works 90% of the times, but when it's hijacked it's incredibly annoying, and I have plenty of monitor width for the tabs.

ben_w2• 3 years ago

That's why I still prefer laptop to mobile or tablet: there is a middle click.

alpaca128• 3 years ago

Too bad some modern sites even somehow block middle clicks.

codazoda• 3 years ago

I'm surprised to see this from Instructables (Autodesk). If you right-click the back button you'll see that it did four redirects and you can click the 5th to get back.

I highly doubt this is effective at anything.

flangola7• 3 years ago

Why do browsers even allow this behavior? The back button should automatically skip any blind redirects.

RobotToaster• 3 years ago

Instructables went down the pan years ago when they tried to paywall the allsteps view.

Autodesk as a company are known for shitty behaviour, so it doesn't surprise me they made it worse.

rjh29• 3 years ago

Another dark pattern is hijacking back to move you to the 'front page' of the site. Like twitter, get linked to a tweet and then the back button takes you to your feed, which absolutely nobody requested.

the_arun• 3 years ago

This is really cool. Great gift for grand parents who struggle to use Smart watch.

dhosek2• 3 years ago

Hey, my 81-year-old mother actually absolutely loves her Apple Watch (although I had to show her the setting so she could have the crown on the opposite side because she wears it on her right wrist).

batch12• 3 years ago

Is it tacky that I want to do this with the guts of a Casio F91W or the CA-53W? Perhaps.

https://www.casio.com/us/watches/casio/product.CA-53W-1/

jansan5• 3 years ago

The world is still waiting for a CA-53W backlight mod. Some rdditor seems to be working on it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/casio/comments/12qplk8/ca53w_leds_m...

nehal3m• 3 years ago

I had an F91W strap break on me. I replaced it with an A168 and printed a handlebar mount for my motorcycle (which didn't come with a clock in the dash):

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2935032

prxtl• 3 years ago

A few years ago, H. Moser & Cie made a mechanical watch with their superb levels of craftsmanship that kinda/sorta parodied the Apple Watch: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/moser-swiss-alp-watch-s-in...

pinko• 3 years ago

This is mentioned in the OP's link.

NanoRobotGeek11• 3 years ago

Through posting on Reddit I learnt that Moser wasn't the only one either. Apparently Ciga Designs did some similar watches and even Casio has one, the MTP-M305

FabHK• 3 years ago

I find this version (also from H. Moser & Cie) more appealing:

https://www.ablogtowatch.com/h-moser-cie-swiss-alp-watch-fin...

ask_b123• 3 years ago

Could you perhaps explain this paragraph?

Alert readers will notice that Moser managed, in one paragraph, to dismiss the efforts of all three major luxury watch groups – Richemont, Swatch, and LVMH – as somewhat lacking in intestinal fortitude

kingkongjaffa• 3 years ago

The paragraph they are referring to is the press release further up the page.

They are basically saying none of the major manufacturers had done anything serious in the realm of smart watches.

The reason it’s a “dangerous game” is because the watch industry was disrupted once before by the quartz crisis (cheap quartz watches flooding the market) and many manufacturers went out of business or had to merge with others to form larger groups to survive. So the danger is that smart watches will do the same.

Watches had a rough time for a while after quartz became a thing in the 80’s.

Now they are seen a jewellery more because every has a smart phone for time telling. But watch collecting as a hobby is making a comeback in the 2010’s to now with the internet and hype generating content like YouTube, instagram, Hodinkee, and consumers are keeping a multi billion dollar market afloat with products from million dollar Patek phillipe to 5 dollar casios.

Hippocrates• 3 years ago

I can never get tired of this sort of juxtaposition of old/new tech. Really cool project.

fdye2• 3 years ago

Wish this was for sale... shut up and take my money!

dhosek2• 3 years ago

If you have more money than you know what to do with, there’s always this: https://www.exquisitetimepieces.com/watch-brands/h-moser/swi...

fdye2• 3 years ago

Good lord, $26.4K. Yeah not quite car-level worth it to me, although I'm sure they are very nice. Was thinking like $250-300, for a sort of anti-tech punk thing at tech parties.

NanoRobotGeek11• 3 years ago

I've had a lot of people asking...

screye• 3 years ago

Cool, but ugly. I won't wear it, but I'm glad it exists.

alexjplant• 3 years ago

This is incredible... hats off to the maker. That being said I really wish that the Chinese ETA 2824-2 clone that is the PT5000 would see more action in place of Seiko movements. It's more accurate, runs at 4Hz, and isn't too far off in terms of cost (last I checked - I could be wrong as regards bulk orders). Then again I don't know whether it can be modded to be "open heart" a la the NH38 so it might not have been appropriate for this project in particular.

sdrothrock• 3 years ago

I was thinking that about the movement too -- or you could go for a Miyota/Citizen, the high-beat (28800) movements were around $70-80 on ebay the last time I checked.

ghostganz2• 3 years ago

The Miyota 90S5 would work, it is cheap and “open heart”.

NanoRobotGeek11• 3 years ago

Damn yeah, you guys are all on the money. I was thinking of an ETA clone or Sellita. As well as the Miyota 90S5 which was a really odd pick from ghostganz because I don't think its that popular of a movement. But I was looking at it as I had 0.5mm less height than Seiko's recommended minimum height within the case, and the 90S5 was much thinner. Ended up with the NH38 anyway because I was really REALLY unsure if I could even get this to work so it was a lower monetary investment. And, the stem shape worked for the weirdo linkages I made, because the linkage I made is technically within the footprint of all those movements.

ghostganz2• 3 years ago

The 90S5 is basically the very popular 9015 but with a big hole in it. :)

NanoRobotGeek11• 3 years ago

And had to be open heart 1. because I liked how the mockup I did looked with an open heart and 2. because any more stem positions for different complication settings would have made my life a lot harder with getting the button/crown to work

ericzawo• 3 years ago

I love watches but don't think I'll ever wear an Apple Watch. It just doesn't feel like a Watch. It's very much a wrist computer. I would love if they made an Apple Watchband, as in a computer-powered wristband of some kind that does all the great things Apple Watch does (pedometer, heart monitoring, gps, notifs) but replaces the watch band of my Actual Watch. Now that'd be something I would wear.

gorbypark3• 3 years ago

That would be amazing (especially if it was an Apple product).

growt• 3 years ago

I also love mechanical watches and own a handful. But I also love the convenience to pay with my apple watch. The way I solved it: I wear my apple watch on the right arm and a "real" watch on the left.

_thisdot2• 3 years ago

I do this at times when working from home. Never had the guts to actually do this in public. Maybe a fitness band with a real watch

I even tried wearing the Apple Watch upside down on my dominant hand, but very easy to damage the watch that way

kalleboo• 3 years ago

There's the Sony Wena which is basically a smart watchband with NFC payment, which seems like the concept that you and GP wants.

hbn• 3 years ago

I'd hazard to guess watch enthusiasts would be less likely to like smart watches because they don't really provide the same value/draw. I have an Apple Watch because it's basically just an excuse to touch my phone less. I don't need to take it out when I get a notification, or when I'm listening to music and want to skip a track. I don't wear it as a fashion statement or with hopes I can pass it down for generations. It's just a phone accessory.

93po• 3 years ago

I'm a "watch person" and I wear watches 95% for fashion reasons. It's occasionally convenient for actually telling the time when I wear one, but it's not my default action because I only wear one 1/3 of the time when I leave the house and never at home.

I have no interest in wearing a smart watch because I'd never have it without also having my phone, and my phone has maybe a few notifications per day at most when not actively using it - I massively filter my email via aliases, my work notifications go only to my work laptop, and texting with friends usually happens on my laptop. I don't care about the health features.

stephencanon• 3 years ago

I wear a nice mechanical watch every day, but I do own an Apple Watch to use if I have to be reachable while doing something where getting at a phone would be inconvenient. It's pretty great for that purpose.

jansan5• 3 years ago

If you only want the casing and wristband of an Apple Watch there are cheap knockoffs on Aliexpress that have a quite solid hardware (and a crappy software).

sschueller• 3 years ago

The Tag Heuer Connected first generation offered a "connected to eternity" program where after the guarantee (2 years?) you where able to convert the watch to an analog movement but it was another $1500... I am not sure if they still do it, they seem to offer a trade in program to get the newest version instead now.

[1] https://forum.watchlounge.com/index.php?thread/240000-was-wu...

JohnBooty8• 3 years ago

I absolutely love this.

I think a lot of techie types might not realize what an engineering marvel a mechanical watch movement is. I'm sure you all realize there are a lot of teeny tiny gears.

But does the HN crowd realize there are 24 precious gems (lab-grown rubies and sapphires!!!!) inside the NH38 movement, serving as bearings and such?

While the Apple Watch is in some ways orders of magnitude more advanced than a mechanical watch movement, in some ways the mechanical watch movement is more impressive. It could be argued that while the Apple Watch is the sum of roughly 100 years of electrical engineering, the mechanical watch is the sum of several thousands of years of mechanical engineering. It took mankind an incredible number of years to really master timekeeping to that level.

(Not that the two are mutually exclusive. I find that the more I understand electronic timekeeping, the more I appreciate mechanical timekeeping, and vice-versa)

thom• 3 years ago

I grew to appreciate this watching the excellent videos on Wristwatch Revival:

https://youtube.com/@WristwatchRevival

Which I only knew about through Marshall’s Magic: the Gathering links, but the watch stuff is surprisingly soothing.

Ecstatify• 3 years ago

Sundials emphasize our reliance on the sun as a source of light and energy. They remind us of the fundamental role the sun plays in sustaining life on Earth and providing us with light and warmth. This dependency gives sundials a sense of harmony with the natural world and instills a sense of wonder and appreciation for the celestial bodies.

Mechanical watches are diamonds for men.

reaperducer3• 3 years ago

Mechanical watches work at night.

JoeJonathan• 3 years ago

Cannot tell if this is satire

teddyh• 3 years ago

The gods confound the man who first found out how to distinguish hours! Confound him, too, who in this place set up a sundial, to cut and hack my days so wretchedly into small portions!

— Plautus (c.254-184 BC)

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30047352>

fellerts4• 3 years ago

Excellent points! I'd like to add that while your Apple watch might last you 5-10 years, a mechanical watch well looked-after can last several lifetimes. I'm currently daily-driving an automatic watch from the mid-60s that still somehow looks pristine and keeps excellent time (for a mechanical, that is). I expect this watch to outlive me.

subhro2• 3 years ago

5-10 years... wishful thinking, that's all I am going to say.

NanoRobotGeek11• 3 years ago

I kinda screwed it up taking it apart. Didnt have any oil to add back and rusted one of the gears a bit. Goal is still longer than 5 years and probably an easy 10-20

lm28469• 3 years ago

Apple watch might last you 5-10 years

Tiny ass battery + daily full charge discharge = toast well before 10 years

If they actually cared about sustainability the screen and battery would be user replaceable

yourusername• 3 years ago

Did that watch survive from the 60s without service? If you need to have a vintage watch like that serviced it would cost about the same as buying a new apple watch. Some of these old watches can also become a bit of a ship of theseus. It's a 60's watch with a new crystal,mainspring and rotor.

subhro2• 3 years ago

I wear an automatic Tag Heuer. I have been asked by many people why I still wear a mechanical watch. My answer is, battery powered watches (including smart watches and quartz movements) might have a life, but a mechanical watch ticking incessantly has a soul.

amelius• 3 years ago

Also: an Apple watch lacks elegance and is literally sexless.

JohnBooty8• 3 years ago

Yeah. A mechanical watch is almost like a companion.

It only "lives" when you wear or wind it. It's only a few seconds of active "work" on your part per day but I find myself feeling kind of paternal toward them, or like I'm caring for a little mechanical pet buddy or something.

Quartz watches and computers in general are also miracles to me, as well!

But mechanical watches are their own special sort of miracle that I really appreciate.

tvrg• 3 years ago

I think a lot of techie types might not realize what an engineering marvel a mechanical watch movement is. I'm sure you all realize there are a lot of teeny tiny gears.

For those who want to learn more about it, this is an awesome interactive explanation of the functioning of mechanical watches: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/

wjnc• 3 years ago

It is a tiny loss to my life that my mechanical watch lies in a cupboard while a Garmin brandishes my skin, but entertains my need for self-data. A measurement only ankle bracelet would be a perfect solution. Who cares about exact time when you have thousands of gears giving you a few seconds drift per day.

hollander• 3 years ago

Yeah I want the monitor, not the screen. Apple, Polar, Garmin, I don't care.

JohnBooty8• 3 years ago

    A measurement only ankle bracelet would be a perfect solution

Has anybody ever tried that? Would it work, if you had a big enough strap to fit an ankle?

rrrrrrrrrrrryan• 3 years ago

Well, you've got two wrists: https://www.theverge.com/23522956/double-wristwatch-apple-wa...

jansan5• 3 years ago

I actually think that a digital watch with solar cell, multiband receiver and led backlight is a greater engineering marvel.

mhandley• 3 years ago

I really like my Casio LCW-M100TSE [1]. It's a (mostly) analog watch with a solar cell, radio receiver and led backlight. Keeps perfect time (radio sync), never needs charging, battery changing or winding, has a titanium case and titanium band so is incredible light but nearly indestructable, and looks good without being overly pretentious or a statement of wealth. And most importantly, doesn't interrupt me with notifications when I'm trying to concentrate. As watches go, I think it's as close to perfect as any watch I've had. Never would have thought that as I got older and wealthier, I'd end up back with Casio 40 years after having Casio watches as a teenager, but there you are.

[1] https://www.casio-europe.com/euro/products/watches/radio-con...

JohnBooty8• 3 years ago

Yeah! I've got a few of those as well.

They are different kinds of marvels to me, and I deeply appreciate them! I'm a big G-Shock fan in particular.

I am (among many other things!) a computing enthusiast, a quartz watch enthusiast, and a mechanical watch enthusiast. I find that appreciating each one of those things enhances my appreciation for the others.

WillAdams• 3 years ago

Yeah, for folks who want to know more about watchmaking we had a customer make a complete watch, including movement:

https://community.carbide3d.com/t/watchmaking-on-the-nomad/4...

and I found an animated overview:

https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/

botverse• 3 years ago

Many maybe don’t, but also many of the techie types I know tinker with mechanical watches, bicycles, combustion engines, etc. And I think more than the average!

gorbypark3• 3 years ago

I always have had somewhat of an unrealistic dream of taking an Apple Watch, removing the screen completely and installing a super thin mechanical movement on top (or putting the guts into a more tranditional looking case). I think it would be possible to use a smaller battery once the screen isn't there, to make more room for the movement as well. I'd love to have the health tracking features, and while I don't have an Apple Watch, I think that it would work without a screen and I'd just be able to use a phone to see the data.

gregoriol3• 3 years ago

What you describe is the Withings ScanWatch: less screen, more battery duration, smartphone for data, ...

rob74• 3 years ago

But that's not a mechanical movement, as far as I can see? Actually it can't be, because it needs to move the watch hands out of the way so you can see what's on the display...

Another (slightly less pricey) "smartwatch with hands" alternative is the Garmin vivomove range: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/698394

gorbypark3• 3 years ago

I’m looking for an actual Apple Watch, though. I’m all in on the Apple ecosystem so doesn’t really make sense otherwise.

bombolo• 3 years ago

Casio has some watches that pair with the phone for step counter. I think the ones with heart beat monitor have a screen.

BadOakOx• 3 years ago

I think several watch makers started to do something similar, but not sure if I would trust their software. However, Garmin has good health tracking features and they offer them in an analogue way with their vivomove line: https://www.garmin.com/en-IE/p/742133/pn/010-02566-00

wiseowise• 3 years ago

Combining worst of both worlds, nice.

rcarmo• 3 years ago

Very, very nice. I have been trying to figure out how to replace the battery on my Apple Watch in a country with limited hardware support options, and although this won’t help, it is another reminder that Apple these days designs for disposability rather than long-term ownership…

plewd• 3 years ago

I have been constructing a fully functional mechanical Apple Watch! A dumb watch if you will! chuckles at own joke

Can someone... explain the joke? I don't know if it's a pun I'm missing :l

grk• 3 years ago

As in opposite to smartwatch

jacquesm2• 3 years ago

Fantastic hack, I love repurposing junked stuff. Question (which I don't doubt has crossed your mind but I can't figure it out): why not rotate the movement, rotate the dial back (it has no complications so that shouldn't be a real issue) and then use a flex shaft for the crown?

ciroduran• 3 years ago

If you don't know how mechanical watches work, this is a very good article that has been posted before in HN :D https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/

hengheng• 3 years ago

I think the correct candidate for a pocket watch would be an old school iPod.

NanoRobotGeek11• 3 years ago

Oh damn, people are actually reading to the end of the write-up? My first thought was actually an iPod touch because that's what I grew up with. I think an iPod is definitely the right call

randomcarbloke• 3 years ago

H. Moser et Cie do a decent mechanical "Apple Watch"

TomK32• 3 years ago

Not to be confused with the OG, the 1995 Apple watch https://www.cnet.com/culture/original-90s-apple-watch-sellin...

jansan5• 3 years ago

Imagine you find this atrocity of a watch in an old box on the attic and someone is willing to pay $2500 for it.

wdb• 3 years ago

Love to send this person my Apple Watch to convert it in a mechanical watch. so much better and cheaper than a H.Moser

boopmaster• 3 years ago

the energy used to salvage the e-waste may have been a bit excessive relative to the e-waste. really cool project! Also incredibly impractical while the barrier to entry isn't exactly low.

throwaway14356• 3 years ago

i wonder what the list of functions that can be done mechanicaly would look like. Can one say measure heart rate or say log something, can it do radio? etc

usrusr• 3 years ago

Heh, I was expecting also the movement made from discarded Apple watch materials, and now I feel bad about my disappointment because this project, while being orders of magnitude less insane, is still cool.

DonHopkins• 3 years ago

MacBook cases make great notebook covers too.

subsubzero• 3 years ago

Really cool! Fun fact - the apple watch was designed based on inspiration from a mechanical watch brand, ikepod. Jonathan Ive recruited Marc Newsom who created ikepod(with another watch maker) and Newsom took alot of the design elements from ikepod watches to come up with the apple watches unique look. So I guess its going full circle again.

https://www.design-drivel.com/articles1/ikepod-applewatch

stuff4ben• 3 years ago

This is actually a pretty nifty business idea. All of these unsupported watches just going to landfills could be recycled into analogue movements. I have a series 3 that Apple no longer supports just sitting around. I don't have the time or patience to do what the OP did, but I'd gladly pay $50 to not chuck it in the trash.

6510• 3 years ago

You cant polish a turd... Hold my beer.

Mechanical Apple Watch from real e-waste Apple Watch

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