We’ve all heard about the so-called Golden Age of watch design and of the few celebrated designers who have drawn the most iconic of timekeeping devices. And we recognized these people as being the best in the domain because what they created was disruptive, unconventional, and avant-garde. Their creations broke off from what was commonplace to find just like enormous sections of an ice cap detach themselves and navigate on their own. Of course, we could each have our own definition and version of what this Golden Age was—was it the roaring 1920s and the art deco creations? The 1940s and the first military pump-pusher chronographs? The 1950s and the immaculate dressy pieces? Or the 1970s and 1980s with the Gerald Genta-like creations which were powered by new manufacturing capabilities? Here we’ll take the latter as the base for this article/argument because the watch we’re about to examine perfectly exemplifies the resurgence of experimental watch design. 

In our niche yet expansive world of micro/independent horology, a majority of what we see everyday isn’t really that special. More often than not, brands repurpose overused designs or classical genres of watches to create their own versions of them—with new dial textures or colors, a new case material, or a new caliber with another patented innovation—which adds noise to the oversaturated market without really adding any value to it. (I don’t diss these brands because I’m a big fan of what they do. But we have to say things as they are.) Thus rare are the brands which are capable of bringing about an entirely new design—a concept—for a watch through which we are given the opportunity to not only rethink how we see time but also how new visual ideas can be matched to wrist-worn machines. Experimental watch design is, I believe, more interesting now since we no longer need watches to live organized and fulfilling lives. 

In other words, designers can be wilder today than they were a few decades ago. And this brings us to the Isotope Flyway Off-White Air. 

Specifications 

I’m not an expert of vintage watches and as such I wouldn’t be able to tell you whether bold visual horological creations born 50 years ago were also technically sound. But what I can tell you is that most unusual watches created today typically wouldn’t win awards for mechanical prowess as more time was spent in the design lab and too little in the manufacturing workshop. What makes them interesting, therefore, is what they look like and not what they are made of. But I wouldn’t be saying all of this should the insides of Isotope not be as interesting to talk about as the curves of the crystal and singularity of the dial are fascinating to look at. Jose Miranda’s Isotope creates fully packaged timekeeping devices which are solidly built and comfortable to wear, two points which cannot often be attributed to “machine” watches a la MB&F, just to name one. And honestly, if this watch was just designed, it wouldn’t be featured on Mainspring. There. 

So first we shall discuss the Flyway Off-White Air’s dimensions and on-wrist comfort: 36mm in diameter, 42mm lug-to-lug, 12.3mm thick and coming with an 18mm lug width. It wears superbly on my modestly-sized 6.50”/16.5cm French wrist thanks to the overall lightness of the watch + bracelet combo (XXg in total sized to my wrist) and of the overly dramatic taper going from 21.5mm at the first link past the end-links to 15.8mm the double-pusher butterfly clasp. I don’t know why or how but the bracelet is endowed with a vintage-like lightness and articulation whilst being deprived of the characteristic yet lovely jingly jangly soundtrack of old-timey metal bracelets. Moreover, the case has such a profile that the bottom sections of the lugs align perfectly with my wrist bones and protrude out past the case-back, meaning that the latter can comfortably lodge itself inside the divot between the bones. The Flyway is airy, a pun which will soon make sense. 

And the good stuff continues with a reference-less Landeron caliber inside (4Hz/48 hours of power reserve) regulated to run at +/- 12 seconds per day, a small and handsome movement with perlage and Côtes de Genève we can admire thanks to a see-through sapphire case-back. The top crystal is also made of sapphire but is of the hyperbolic paraboloid construction, an engineering nomenclature which describes something that is flat east and west but curved north and south, therefore making the crystal entirely free of distortions. Below the unusually-shaped crystal we find a perforated dial underneath of which lives a fully lumed disc made of BGW9 pigment. The hour and minute hands are also lumed and nighttime legibility is something of an unusual yet powerful spectacle as you can see below. Lastly, a conical push/pull crown and screwed-down case-back add 100 meters of water resistance to this superbly spec’ed horological creation. See? I told ya the Flyway Off-White isn’t just a pretty face. 

Design 

I’ve reviewed two Isotope models before and each was created around a theme, an idea if you will, though a different one each time which Jose fully or partially infused into each model. But the Flyway Off-White Air is, according to your humble servant, the one model from the brand’s entire catalog which embraces an idea to its fullest extent possible. And it’s important to note that there are five versions of the Flyway—Blink Air, Terra Maris, Cayana Blue, Purple Air and Off-White Air—so three having perforated dials but with different colors and layouts. And so the idea behind this version is of the flyways birds carve across the skies and of the majestic and deceptively effortless dances these creatures choreograph above our heads. This theme is expressed through the dial, shape of the crystal, profile of the case, and of the absence of the typical markings on the dial. Though Jose did make the Flyway Off-White Air legible and practical. 

Yet again a combination which machine watches are never endowed with. 

So let’s first dissect the case which is a masterpiece in its own right. The main design element of which is the arched mid-case which was designed so to represent the fully extended wings of a bird. The angle at which it curves is no less impressive than the seamless juxtaposition of sublimely polished chamfers and horizontal brushed surfaces which frame and intensify its curvature. And I hope you noticed how the chamfers run all alongside the case and around the rounded lugs. Visually it is superb and technically it is executed to perfection. The case is further made spectacular by the massive polished bezel which is of the same shape as the hyperbolic paraboloid sapphire crystal, whose north and south ends surmount the end-links akin to majestic cliffs. The upper section of the bezel is decorated with three rows of polished CNC-machined clouds-de-paris which strongly contrast with the beadblasted lower sections of the case and of the case-back.   

Clearly and already, the Isotope Flyway Off-White Air isn’t akin to anything we’ve seen before. Technically and mechanically we know it is sound and just looking at the case we already understand that we’re dealing with something rather unique. If you know of Isotope then you know of the teardrop-shaped Lacrima symbol which makes cameos in each of the brand’s collections. And so it does here in multiple places: engraved inside the deployant clasp, in the shape of the first links past the end-links, in the recessed and sandblasted portion of the crown, in the holes in which the screws go to hold the case-back in place, on the customized rotor, and I would even argue in the shape of the lugs. And the Lacrima is also present on the dial as the brand logo shaped to look like a drop of liquid mercury and in the design of the brushed and semi-skeletonized hands. And where it appears it always looks perfectly integrated within the watch’s design. 

The Heart of the Matter

And so we are back to the points made in the introduction and the idea that experimental design  formed in the 1970s-1980s is back in horology at the cusp of the second quarter of the 21st century. Now unlike then, only small and independent brands have the luxury of experimenting with different shapes, ideas, and concepts, given that their nascent legacy gives them full reigns to try new things, whilst mainstream brands are bound to keep their loyal customer base happy. There are a few daring brands in existence today—Horizon is one of the rare ones to come to mind—but they rarely go as far as Isotope does. Jose’s boundless imagination is paired with an aggressive creativity and complemented by an obsessive attention to details the likes of which we have never seen before—or not in a very long time. Everything about the Flyway Off-White Air is new, unusual, bold, and intrepid, and with all of this, the watch's incredible aesthetics is matched by a full spec sheet and a de facto practicality because we can indeed read the time. 

Conclusion 

Where the rare brands like Isotope excel is value. All of what we talked about today will only set you back $1,402 USD which is darn little to pay for what you get. And that’s the magic of small and independent brands which can find the best manufacturing partners anywhere in the world to make it possible to bring their singular vision for horology to life for stupidly low prices. And again, keep in mind that the Isotope Flyway Off-White Air isn’t just a design, but it is a full-fledged daily watch you can do a lot of things with. I would lastly argue that Isotope is a rare animal in the industry as it defies the most conservative of horological conventions for pairing experimental designs with excellent value watches. The giants of Japan or Switzerland could never match that, unfortunately. 

Thanks for reading.