Citizen Brooklyn

Photo © Valerii Danevych

These intricate watches are crafted entirely from wood to create exquisite time-keeping devices that are totally functional. Ukrainian-born Valerii Danevych creates the wooden accessories using a variety of wood, including birch, juniper, and bamboo. He only makes an exception to incorporate a necessary metal spring into the mechanism. But otherwise the designs are formed inside-out using only specific wood for each minuscule detail. Such elaborate labor certainly pays off as the watches look like works of art.

Photo © Valerii Danevych

Danevych’s amazing idea took time to take shape. The carpenter – who comes from a family of craftsmen – had no watchmaking training at all, but after studying the mechanical aspects of watches for around three years, his first fully-functioning watch began to come to life.

Photo © Valerii Danevych

Each of these unique pieces present a different type of beauty, using exotic types of wood like juniper and bamboo to create the detail. But functionality is also a key principle to his designs: he uses birch for strength and resistance. The watches are traditional, and some have power reserves of around 20 hours.

Photo © Valerii Danevych

To celebrate his success in the watchmaking world of design, Danevych was welcomed by the Horological Academy of Independent Creators last year.