Hi, I’m Kourosh, from Los Angeles California! I’m new to the forum/community, but not new to Facer. I have an older Samsung Galaxy Watch that right now is running one of my favorite vintage recreations.
I’m a fan of the beauty and simplicity of vintage/antique watches, and as a majorly fun hobby I’ve been recreating many pocket-watch and wrist-watch designs, mostly from watchmakers of yesteryear who are no longer in business-- such as Elgin, Gruen, and Waltham, even some that go back to the late 1800s.
Some of these recreations I do for the technical challenge involved: such as faithfully recreating the “mechanical transition” of the hour disk and the retrograde minute hand of the Courvoisier Frères Modernista jump hour pocket watch from 1905. I have nothing published yet, but see my Courvoisier example below. It was recreated completely from scratch in Photoshop. Took many long nights to figure out the proper math behind the mechanical transitions! Watch it closely just before the top of the hour, there’s a 1 second transition of the hour disk and minute hand from xx:59:59 to xx:00:00.
(it does have modern features, tap center spindle to toggle the cheat/info panel)
Hopefully I will soon add a few unique designs of my own, and eventually publish the 35+ recreated antique/vintage designs I’ve been tinkering with so far.
Gosh Welcome @kourosh. You have been hiding you light under a Bushel. The two faces you have shown here are Stunning I would say. You Modesty Precedes you. Get them out here Share your craft with the Planet .
I will say do not release them all in one go. When you publish one you will see it slip down the Fresh Faces page in about 18 hours. Keep them going out at that pace and you will have faces on the page for a month. Publish the ones you are least proud of first. You will build a following and your watches will then reach a wider Audiance. I myself are very excited to see what you have in your Watch Box. I have had a little go at retro but my PS skills are lacking.
I see you have a Trading Name on the Lower Face.
These may get taken down for Copyright reasons.
Please Please Please Duplicate your Draft Designs Before you Publish one of them. At that stage I make a modification to the watch name so there is no confusion in Watch Box or the like.
Thanks Russell! But I’ve always been an amateur when it comes to being “artistically” creative (which is why recreating vintage designs is easy!), as well as with Photoshop.
You mentioned tradename/copyright, would that still be an issue with companies that no longer exist?
Aside from that situation, I do have a couple recreated vintage faces where the original companies ceased to exist decades ago, but their name/IP were taken over by other Swiss companies who are not necessarily producing under those names. I’ve actually written them explaining what I’m doing and asking permission-- It’s likely they’ll turn me down, but I’m still waiting to hear back from them (3 of them, so far). In this situation, if I have their written permission, do you know where Facer might stand?
Ironically, there’s a 4th one (albeit, a contemporary US brand) with a $100K watch I wanted to recreate/publish, whose name/IP is currently owned by a US-based investor. I know him from a past employment, he is the only one to have replied so far!
I am a Technician myself and Ideas do not come that easy. I make Faces for myself. Completely selfish. Sharing it gives me a little Buzz. I do not have many Syncs or followers but it is great to know some like what I do.
You are doing your work correctly contacting the owners of the Brands. The worst that can happen is your design will be taken Down. The have a Bot Running that looks through the Title and Description that takes stuff down automatically if it read Rollex, Zenith, Ladybird Etc. I hVe a Topic running with a list. There are Teams from various Manufacturers who look through the Faces to check for Infringements. I do not Envey them.
As a Designer of Free Faces. Without a Premium Subscription. You are covered by an Educational Lisence. I think Facer Excludes you from becoming a Partner if you have had a few Take Downs. At this stage in the game there is a Slim chance of becoming a partner.
Get one out there I cannot Wait.
