Through a groundbreaking approach to design and manufacturing, the Gen1.0 is a beautifully crafted yet technologically mind-bending example of just where Apiar will be taking us as they embark on a mission to ‘build the impossible’.
At first glance, the Gen1.0 looks striking. Look closer, and it borders on impossible.
Apiar set out to prove that their design and manufacturing philosophy could create watches unlike anything the world had seen before. For the Gen1.0, they embraced an ambitious challenge: to craft the perfect timepiece for the pioneers of humanity’s most audacious future — the trailblazers who will one day build their homes on the Moon.
In that distant setting, metallurgy will likely mean working with metal powder. Instead of hauling heavy, bulky materials from Earth, components could be 3D-printed on site from metal powder. Watches would be no exception. Even in the most advanced societies, there will always be a desire for beauty — and that is where the Gen1.0 comes in: a sculpture designed for the future.
To bring the Gen1.0 to life, Apiar turned to generative design (GD) — a method that founders Matt Oosthuizen and Sam White knew well as both designers and engineers. GD allows manufacturers to optimise designs for exceptional strength-to-weight ratios, often resulting in unconventional forms and geometries. It’s a technique used by leading R&D and technology companies when peak performance is critical — from SpaceX, which applies it in rocket construction, to hypercar makers like Bugatti, who demand parts that are both ultra-strong and feather-light.
As watch enthusiasts, Matt and Sam were eager to bring GD into the horological world. They saw an opportunity to build lighter, stronger, faster, and better. To that technical foundation, they added the creative vision of Max Resnick — an industry-renowned designer celebrated for his unconventional, innovative watches. The fusion of Max’s artistry with GD’s algorithmic inspiration led to the final Gen1.0 design: a fully organic form, complete with skeletonised lugs and geometry that seems to defy possibility. Its deep, undulating dial — which Apiar calls “the guilloché of the future” — seals its identity as a watch born from both imagination and engineering precision.
“Sam and I both work in advanced engineering. We’ve seen what’s possible – and what’s possible is simply incredible. We wanted the Gen1.0 to pioneer a truly unique approach to watchmaking, showing there are no limits to what we can create, especially when we’re a long way from home! We think the Gen1.0 goes beyond just looking incredible. It’s a watch future explorers can build in their lunar labs, from metallic powder, with almost zero waste. And it’s properly versatile – robust, light, and would look just as great on a video link with Mission Control as it would while you’re dangling from a cable on a spacewalk.”
Matt Oosthuizen, Co-Founder, Apiar
Gen1.0 Dusk has a deep, technical blue-grey dial plate. This is inspired by the precision blueprint drawings and CAD files that form the backbone of every engineering project. Placed beneath the Gen1.0’s three-dimensional titanium dial structure, the plate is deliberately understated: a colour chosen to clarify the case geometry, not compete with it. Just like a blueprint brings focus to what’s being built, Dusk highlights the webbed architecture of the watch without distraction.
Gen1.0 Dawn, in contrast, brings a warm, brushed gold tone to the same titanium dial. It captures a more considered kind of elegance and is grounded in finish, not ornament. The anodised gold surface plays with light across every ridge and recess of the structure, revealing detail without demanding too much attention. It’s modern luxury at its most optimised: high-spec, high-performance, yet quietly confident.
At the heart of both versions is a striking three-dimensional dial: an impossibly thin but strong webbed titanium structure that flows seamlessly into the mid-case. It’s a single printed component, only possible through metal 3D printing. The caseback and lugs extend this vision, drawing on generative design principles to create organic, skeletal forms that would be impossible to machine through traditional means.
Alongside GD, Apiar uses additive manufacturing (AM) to build their watches. Essentially this means ‘printing’ the watches, layer by layer, based on designs from CAD models.
The name comes from the fact that it ‘adds’ material, one layer at a time, making it almost waste-free and inherently sustainable. This is the complete opposite to the traditional ‘subtractive’ approach used in the industry, which starts with a block of raw material and carves, cuts and chips away, discarding anything that isn’t needed.
The Gen1.0 is made from grade 23 titanium, leading to a watch that’s incredibly light yet also strong. Zoom in on the lugs and you see the geometry that makes it possible. Fluid lines and impossible angles blend together to create a natural, organic frame, which acts as a strong cradle for the rest of the case.
Apiar will be launching these two dial colour options, as the first of their core range, in an unlimited fashion. If you want one, you can get one. No waiting lists, no limited drops, British watches manufactured to order using just-in-time manufacturing techniques.
Technical Specifications:
| Case Country of Manufacture: UK | – 39mm case diameter (38mm internal) – 9.2mm thickness – 30m (3 bar) water resistance – Innovative three-part case construction – Midcase and caseback: Grade 23 Titanium Ti6Al4V, using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) Process Note: Grade 23 Titanium has a lower oxygen content than other grades, for increased corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. This is why it’s used in advanced biomedical applications. |
| Bezel Country of Manufacture: UK | – Grade 5 titanium manufactured using CNC turning |
| Crystal Country of Manufacture: Japan (Pad printing conducted in the UK) | – Sapphire crystal, AR-coated crystal with underside pad printed indices |
| Dial Country of Manufacture: UK | – Additively manufactured (L-PBF) integrated with midcase – Circumferentially brushed aluminium colour plate, anodised in either a Deep Black HBL Light or a Gold 4N |
| Movement Country of Manufacture: Switzerland | – La Joux-Perret G101 – 28 000 VPH (4 HZ) – 24 Jewels – 68H Power Reserve |
| Strap Country of Manufacture: UK | – Made by ‘The Strap Tailor’ – Material: Alcantara – 20mm strap tapering to 18mm – Additively manufactured (L-PBF) grade 23 titanium buckle |
| Crown Country of Manufacture: Japan | – Grade 2 Titanium turned waterproof crown |
| Hands Country of Manufacture: India | – Diamond cut and nickel plated |
| Travel Case Country of Manufacture: UK | – Custom nylon PA12 travel case |
| Model Reference | Gen1.0 Dawn or Gen1.0 Dusk |
| Retail Price | £1,875 (£2,250 Including VAT) |
For more information please visit Apiar