Cyclic Cyborg: The Winner of namokiMODS's Design a Dial Contest

After an intense community voting period and a neck-and-neck face off in the finals, our dial design competition successfully concluded last week with @eduardodacostaesilvaa’s Circuit Board-Inspired design taking first place. The Namoki team agrees with the community that this design deserves the grand prize, as the design truly is striking and would make for very interesting mods.

To recap how we ultimately got our winning dial, our panel of judges consisting of Namoki affiliate partners filtered the dozens of entries for the contest (you can view some of the best ones in our Discord channel), and the top 4 dials were posted on our Instagram for an intense 2 round vote-off.

Now that the contest hype has settled down and the production of the dial is underway, we reached out to Eduardo, the winning designer, to know more about him and how he came up with the semi-transparent, tech-inspired design.

Namoki: Hello Eduardo, I’m sure you’ve heard it many times already but we would like to congratulate you for winning the Design a Dial Contest! May we ask what inspired your entry?

Eduardo: It all started when I discovered Seiko modding. Wanted to make a green mod and saw a Jacob & Co dial. It was stunning to look at the transparent dial and see the movement through. I’m a bit of a maniac for green, love everything that is green and as a tech enthusiast, I wanted to see if it was possible to join a Circuit Board with that type of dial like Jacob & Co. 

In the past, I tried talking to a dial maker / creator to see if it was possible and his reply was “No..” Since then, this idea was stuck in my head and when I saw that contest, I felt that this was the perfect opportunity. Took a chance and who knew that this idea would win the contest!

Most modders have this one (or multiple) design that they can’t easily execute because there’s one vital part that is unavailable on the market. That is why we are quite excited with the new program that will let even more interesting and innovative designs come to life.

Namoki: You mentioned that the transparent dial design was inspired by a Jacob & Co. watch. Can you specify which model it was?

Eduardo: I believe it’s a ladies watch called Jacob & Co. BS431. I mean, it’s not my cup of tea, but I really liked the idea of a transparent dial able to see the movement all the way through. Initially I wanted to submit 4 different color options, but ended up only submitting the “greenish” one. Saw some people asking if it would be available in other colors, but I don’t know, now it’s up to you guys. 😅

The Jacob & Co. BS431 is a crystal-laden part-watch and part-jewelry. Even the crown has jewels - it really is designed to get the attention of everyone in a 5 mile radius. The transparent dial is another design element that adds to this purpose.

Namoki: You mentioned that you were a tech enthusiast - do you have a background in the tech industry? Do you also have an interest in smartwatches?

Eduardo: Always been a bit of a tech nerd. I’m always searching for the latest tech innovation. Had a smartwatch but always went back to my mechanical watches, so ended up only using mechanical watches. 

In the smartphone age, there really is not much reason for mechanical watches, and yet here we are in a mechanical watch-dominated society. There’s just something we can’t let go when it comes to countless gears and springs working together to tell us that we’re late for something.

Namoki: Perhaps you also have quite a bit of experience in design? Because your dial submissions look really polished.

Eduardo: Oh yeah, definitely, I’m a Graphic Designer with a full time job by day and a Watch Modder by night, so this contest was a match made in heaven for me. My dream would be one day to be able to join both and become a Watch/Watch Parts Designer.

Eduardo is one step closer to this dream as a dial he designed will be produced and used by modders around the globe.

Namoki: You submitted 4 dial designs in total - is the Cyclic Cyborg your favorite of the bunch?

Eduardo: It’s tied with the Dawning Dusk. Both are completely different pieces. Two dials for two completely different builds and purposes. I always ask myself before doing any watch purchase or watch modding: “Can I wear only this watch every day for the rest of my life?” and I don’t think the Cyclic Cyborg is a dial for everyday use while the Dawning Dusk might be more suited to it… I don’t know, I’m quite happy with how both turned out!

Asking yourself a heavy question is one way to make sure that the watch turns out perfect. It’s hard to really wear just one watch for the rest of your life though, what with all the fun combinations you can make with watch mods.

Namoki: Can you give a short background on the 3 other dial designs?

Eduardo:

Dawning Dusk: Is my representation of what I think that an everyday watch dial should be. Simple yet not boring; Not too “flashy” but with magnificent details; Not a ton of colors but with an incredible set of textures!

Cataclysmic: The blackness and the pattern has the idea of chaos behind it; while the Yellow markings represents the light that exists within the chaos. I love to see the yellow against black. Never saw a dial with this color combo in the community, thought I should give it a try. Ended up being p-e-r-f-e-c-t for a stealth build!

Gallant Green: Always been quite fascinated with the color green. In most cultures, green is a sign of Wealth and Royalty. What pairs well with Wealth and Royalty? Gold! I think it’s a killer combo, perfect for an all Gold build. Also, it has an Unisex quality to it, which most dials don’t have!

Each of the 4 designs are intriguing and feature unique patterns and choices for the markers and indices. We think all 4 can inspire great mods, but we’re most excited for what the modding community can do with the Cyclic Cyborg dial, and we’re doing our best to bring it out as soon as possible!

Namoki: Do you want to plug anything?

Eduardo: I just want to thank everyone who voted in my dial design and especially, thank you guys for the opportunity you gave us, Modding Community, to create something from scratch and share our ideas. It's not everyday that we get a chance like that.

And that ends the interview.

We hope you’ve enjoyed knowing more about the winner of our Design a Dial contest as well as the reasoning that went behind his green circuit-board inspired creation.

The contest only marks the beginning of a new Namoki Initiative for the modding community, and we hope you’re excited as we are!

For now, happy modding!