Bold, Brutal, Beautiful

As the first winner of the Dubai Watch Week x Grail Watch Design Competition, the American-made Alterum Worldtimer epitomises the adage that less is much, much more.

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

GROWING UP, Kansas City native Justin Walters was as far removed from the world of Swiss luxury watchmaking as he was from his skateboarding obsession.

After designing skateboards and graphics during his youth, he moved on to furniture and industrial design and even dabbled in architecture.

He eventually stepped out of his comfort zone when a chance job offering brought him to the watchmaking factory floor of an American company called Honeywell. He worked 17 hours a day and slept in the workshop, but it was a profoundly formative experience, which inspired him to accomplish things his way.

After two and a half years at Honeywell, he began formulating the brand codes that would define Alterum. "Having gone to design school, my immediate reaction was to design my own," he recalls.