Anoma Introduces the A1 Optical, Inspired by the Optical Art Movement
Anoma has quickly emerged as one of our favorite small independents making truly interesting, design forward watches. Few watches point more toward the enormous pendulum swing away from straightforward vintage inspired sports watches than the brand’s A1, introduced in the summer of last year. It’s more than just a watch with a uniquely shaped case – it’s a deliberate design exercise by brand founder Matteo Violet Vianello, and illustrates that rather than taking design inspiration from other watches, you can find shapes and textures to emulate in furniture, art, and the natural world. It’s also just an extremely well made object at a price point that feels fair for the originality of the design, and watch enthusiasts seem to agree. Vinaello says his waitlist is currently ten times longer than the number of watches available.
Anoma’s latest is the A1 Optical, which takes the same, vaguely triangular case shape and adds an engraved dial inspired Optical Art. Also known as Op Art, this was an art movement that has its origins in the 1960s and can be characterized by the use of abstract geometric patterns formed to create optical illusions. Optical Art will often play with the viewer’s perception of depth and movement to create the kinds of objects and imagery that have us questioning our senses.
The engraved dial on the new A1 is created with a sharp and very fine tool that is used to carve into the dial’s metal base. A total of fifty slightly offset triangles are created with this tool that follow the lines of the case. After the engravings are made, the dials are sandblasted and polished by hand to achieve a reflective finish.
The end result is a dial that Anoma says appears to bend and redirect light as it moves across the dial. It’s hard to know, of course, how successful Anoma has been in this endeavor without holding one of these watches in your hand (that whole point of these optical illusions is that they require some “movement” in a physical space to fully absorb) but it’s relatively easy to imagine what they’re going for here. The idea of distortion played a lead role in developing this idea, according to the brand, and we’re probably all familiar with how these kinds of images create strange optical effects. Anoma cites the work of Bridget Riley as an influence here, and looking at her art you can get a feel for the impact Anoma is after with these dials.
There will be two dial variants of the A1 Optical, in copper and silver (150 pieces of each will be numbered and make up the first batch). The specs for this release follow those of previous Anoma releases. The case measures 39mm by 38mm (the brand notes that it wears like a 37mm due to the shape, and having handled the original I can attest to that). It runs on the Sellita SW100 automatic movement and is water resistant to 50 meters.
Orders for the A1 Optical open on August 7th at 14:00 GMT, and deliveries are expected to begin in October. Also of note: to mark the release, Anoma has commissioned artwork by optical artist Adam Fuhrer based on the dial pattern in these watches (pictured above), and the first batch (the first 300 pieces) will include one of Fuhrer’s pieces. The retail price is £2,200. Anoma
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