Opening a boutique within the coronary heart of Edinburgh felt like a pure alternative for Swiss watch model IWC, who share a give attention to tradition and heritage with the historic city. The brand new house, on Edinburgh’s buzzy Princes Avenue, is designed in collaboration with long-standing accomplice Chisholm Hunter, staying devoted to the elegant and pared-back design codes IWC boutiques are identified for.
Inside, watches unique to the boutique – from the Ingenieur assortment and the brand new Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 High Gun Miramar – sit subsequent to a buyer lounge and customisation studio.
To mark the brand new house, the model has partnered with Boston-based textile artist David Nott, who has created a bespoke set up impressed by the sculptural type of the Ingenieur Computerized 42 in Black Ceramic. We converse to the designer about what impressed the design, and why IWC felt like a pure collaborator.
David Nott on his art work for IWC Edinburgh
David Nott together with his design for IWC
(Picture credit score: IWC)
Are you able to inform us a bit concerning the inspiration behind your design?
David Nott: The design was deeply impressed by the enduring construction of the IWC Ingenieur. I’ve at all times been fascinated by objects that strike a stability between utility and class, and the Ingenieur does that flawlessly. It has this highly effective, industrial presence – nearly architectural in the way in which it’s constructed – but there’s a quiet refinement to it as nicely. I used to be drawn to its visible rhythm: the symmetry, the sturdy geometry, and the way in which it carries its weight. That duality of energy and subtlety actually resonated with me. I needed to seize that vitality in a totally totally different medium, reinterpreting the timepiece’s type and feeling in a method that felt recent, tactile, and surprising.
How do the architectural components of the IWC Ingenieur resonate with your personal work?
There’s an actual alignment between the watch’s design language and the way in which I take into consideration type and building. The IWC Ingenieur is a masterclass in precision, from the uncovered screws on the bezel to the intricately layered casing and the tactile high quality of the brushed metallic bracelet. Nothing feels unintended; each ingredient is purposeful. That sort of rigor is one thing I attempt to deliver to my very own apply. My work typically revolves round how small selections accumulate to create an object that feels alive and deliberate. With the Ingenieur, I discovered a framework that mirrored my very own strategy, the place element isn’t simply embellishment, however the essence of the design itself.
What was vital to you to convey within the design?
I actually needed the piece to really feel engineered – like one thing that had been carved or machined moderately than tufted from delicate supplies. There’s an enchanting pressure in that concept, and I leaned into it. Texture turned my major language. Each bevel, each floor shift, each solid shadow was studied and regarded. I needed to echo the integrity and craft that go into making an IWC watch, whereas additionally difficult the standard boundaries of textile artwork. For me, it wasn’t nearly visible resemblance – it was about honouring the design’s spirit, the load it carries, and the story it tells by type and end.
(Picture credit score: IWC)
How does it really feel to have your work showcased in IWC’s first standalone Edinburgh boutique?
It’s actually an enormous honour. To be included in a second like this, the place a model as storied as IWC opens its first standalone boutique in Edinburgh, feels extremely significant. Seeing the work exterior of the studio, in an area that celebrates precision, innovation, and legacy, is actually particular. It validates the numerous hours of experimentation and refinement that went into this piece. IWC’s dedication to design excellence set the tone for your complete challenge, so to now see the ultimate work residing in that very same world feels full circle in one of the best ways.
What have you ever loved most concerning the course of?
Surely, essentially the most rewarding half was decoding the watch’s dimensionality in yarn – translating arduous, technical surfaces into one thing delicate and expressive. That course of challenged me in all the proper methods. Each line, each edge wanted to be thought by from a sculptural perspective, not only a visible one. I additionally cherished the distinction inherent within the challenge: taking a chilly, engineered object and reimagining it by a heat, tactile medium. That interaction between precision and softness is one thing I’m at all times chasing in my work, and this collaboration actually gave me the house to discover it totally.
iwc.com
Supply: Wallpaper
