The Bamford Watch Department x Daniel Arsham Customised Bulgari Solotempo is affectionately known as the Zen Garden because of its artistically designed dial. A mere five of these eye-catching watches are available in the BWD Collection. The exclusive timepiece represents a collaboration between the London watchmaker and artist/designer Daniel Arsham. From the dial to the packaging, it is a nod to one of his signature installations. The black matte case frames a red-colored, rake-patterned sand garden inspired by those traditionally found in rock gardens and Zen Buddhist temples in Japan. The watch face includes a pink recreation of the lines and circles of Arsham’s sand gardens, set within an octagonal border.
Arsham’s sand works stem from his fascination with Japanese Zen gardens and their role in the preservation of culture. The day-to-day ephemerality and relentless recreation of the sand patterns is an age-old practice that has certainly stood the test of time as stewardship of this formal tradition has kept it intact for centuries. Sweeping, contradictory temporal dimensions of the sand garden make the appearance of this dial unmistakable. The Zen Garden comes presented in a box styled after Japanese joinery and incorporates a desk-top Arsham-style sand garden to boot.