You know how they say mechanical watches are things of sheer beauty with their intricate movements and delicate designs? Well, the same holds true for smartwatches too. The folks at GRID are on a mission to capture the beauty that lies beneath our favorite tech products, like this Apple Watch 1st Gen. Disassembled into all its tiny parts, this framed version of the Apple Watch shows how gracefully intricate our tech is (even if it’s mass-produced), and how much thought and consideration went into designing and engineering this technical marvel.
GRID takes our favorite tech devices (from iPhones and Watches to even GameBoys) and turns them into exploded mosaics that feel like looking at an intricate jigsaw puzzle that’s been pulled apart. This particular framed unit explores the insides of the 1st Gen Apple Watch (also colloquially referred to as Series 0). The frame houses all of the Apple Watch parts underneath a glass panel, all mounted and labeled to perfection. Arrows on the canvas even show where each of the parts fit, giving you a more detailed appreciation of the smartwatch we often take for granted on our wrist!
This particular framed edition shows the watch in gold, with its anodized aluminum body. A close look shows the beautifully machined crown on the side, the sensors on top, the strap fixtures, and a machined hole for where the home button would normally sit.
As your eyes move along, you notice all the other parts of the watch that make it whole, from the single-core S1 chip to the touchscreen display, the speakers, battery, taptic engine, and all the ribbon cables that connect these parts together.
There’s definitely a certain beauty to the Apple Watch’s complexity, like looking at a da Vinci painting up close so you can see every single brushstroke, crack in the paint, and the canvas texture. If you’re a tech-lover, futurist, and nerd like me, this is no less than looking at the Mona Lisa! GRID, however, produces a very limited number of these framed units (there are only so many 1st Gen Apple watches you can get your hands on, right? For the most part, all these framed pieces are pre-loved (second hand), to help keep the overall cost of the piece down. This one you’re looking at ships worldwide for $199 in a 13×13-inch frame.
Designer: GRID Studio
