Bethan Gray is an award winning British furniture designer, I was invited by her to make a film to capture The collaboration with master craftsman Mohammad Reza Shamsian and his Muscat-based workshop of highly skilled artisans using ancient techniques, such as 16th-century marquetry, combined with cutting-edge technology and the finest natural materials including marble, hand-stained maple and brass.
The Shamsian collection is inspired by Bethan’s family heritage and her extensive travels throughout the Middle East. It references carefully observed details from the way the sunlight falls across the castellations of the fort at Nizwa to the billowing sails of traditional Omani boats.
The collection is characterised by intricate yet harmonious patterns that capture cultural stories in collaboration with local artisans in a way that resonates with both the people to whom those stories belong and audiences all over the world.
The design, inspired by hand-crafted furniture, had to executed at a tiny scale with tolerances of just 0.1 millimetres. The watch face references Bethan Gray Design’s Masirah Table, the surface of which is made using ancient marquetry techniques. The 12 segments of birds-eye maple catch the light echoing a sundial, an effect, which is replicated in the face of the watch using a master mould was hand-cut from metal just 0.4mm thick. Finally, the studs reference the brass details in the studio’s Stud collection.