Some cities have a particular energy to them. Shanghai is one of those places.

It’s difficult to point to any single thing that creates it. Part of it comes from the sheer scale of the city, part from the constant movement of people, and part from the way different cultures, ideas and histories overlap. There is always something happening. Even familiar streets seem to change over time.

This piece was inspired by that feeling. Rather than focusing on a specific building or location, I wanted to capture something of the movement and interaction that characterise the city. Colours, shapes and patterns flow across the dial in the same way that influences flow through Shanghai itself; meeting, diverging and combining into something new.

The project was also unusual because it was designed as a collaboration from the beginning. The artwork was intentionally created to continue beyond the edge of the watch, allowing a leather artist to extend the design across the strap. Together, the watch and strap become a single piece, carrying the artwork beyond the dial and around the wrist.

Like the city that inspired it, the finished piece is made up of many different elements working together. No single part tells the whole story, but together they create something distinctive.