Cases are made from a single block of brass. Metals are distressed and oxidized to give the watches their "buried treasure look. Each watch is water resistant; they are not designed to swim or shower with. The various metals are not sealed, so each timepiece changes depending on the user and the weather. Watchcraft® timepieces suggest the reality of constant change and evolution.
Each individual watch is signed and numbered by Milieris. Now, 1000 timepieces are handcrafted of each style, making each watch part of a limited edition collection. Milieris hand paints each individual watchface, giving every Watchcraft® a distinctly different appearance.
Milieris' watches draw devoted fans and have graced the wrists of actors on the TV shows Sex and the City and Third Watch. Currently, Watchcraft® is exhibited in more than 400 museum stores and galleries throughout the world.
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, the now New York City-based artist cites long time influences as Calder, Pollock, Miro, Kandinsky, as well as the circular stories of Jorge Luis Borges. These modern masters have served as an inspiration since his first viewing of Calder's work at age 10. Immediately upon returning home after the exhibit, Eduardo Milieris set to work painting the face of his first watch. Though the markers have long since worn off the top of the glass, the seed was sown, and the original photo book accompanying the Calder exhibit sits on his studio bookshelf to this day.
When he's not working on watches, Milieris scours the banks of New York City's East River and nearby warehouse lots for beams of wood, old metal tools and weather-worn containers to incorporate into future sculptures.
"I'm always experimenting to create certain finishes, to help me discover what's next," says Milieris.
He and his wife and daughter also love to spend time in their one-room cottage in Cabo Polonio on the Uruguayan coast.