A01 Ellipse · first series
40.5 × 36.5 mm. Four millimetres of difference. The entire architecture of the A01 grows out of that tension.
At arm's length, the watch looks perfectly round. On the wrist, the eye catches the ellipse.
In developmentCase frozen100 pieces
Images: renders of the actual CAD model, revision 17. The prototype does not exist yet.
APHEL
APHEL designs recognisable watches, without chasing eccentricity.
Each model starts from one precise decision about shape. Everything else follows: proportions, finishing, dial, colour.
The A01 begins with an ellipse that is almost a circle.
The shape
Start with a 36.5 mm circle. Stretch it by 4 mm horizontally and it becomes a 40.5 mm ellipse. The crystal opening, however, stays perfectly round.
So the steel band is not a constant width. Slim at 12 and 6 o'clock, it widens towards 3 and 9. That is where the brushing catches the light and the polished chamfer sends it back.
The case
Case middle, bezel and lugs are cut from the same block of 316L steel. No added plates. The lines run from one lug to the other in a single, fluid sweep.
Contrast does the work: the top is circular-brushed, the flanks are brushed lengthwise, separated by mirror-polished chamfers. The boundary is sharp. The light stops exactly where the shape changes.
9.7 mm including the crystal: that is the target thickness, to be confirmed on the prototype. The lugs curve down so the watch rests on the wrist instead of sitting on top of it.
This case comes from no catalogue. Drawn in CAD by the founder for the A01, it was reworked until it became a monobloc construction fit for manufacturing.
Its final version is frozen: it is the one that went to the manufacturer.
The making
Ø 36.5 mm
The dial
The strap
Fine-grain midnight-blue leather, tone-on-tone stitching. The lining picks up the orange of the seconds hand: you glimpse it along the edge, and discover it when you take the watch off.
A blue FKM strap is planned as an alternative, on the same 20 mm lug width. So you can fit your own straps too.
Specifications
| Case | Monobloc 316L steel · 40.5 × 36.5 mm · lug to lug 45.5 mm · lug width 20 mm | Decided |
|---|---|---|
| Finishing | Circular brushing on top, lengthwise brushing on the bands · mirror-polished chamfers | On sample |
| Thickness | 9.7 mm, crystal included | Target |
| Water resistance | 100 m, screw-down crown | Target |
| Crystal | Flat sapphire, anti-reflective coating | Decided |
| Movement | Miyota 9039 · automatic · 28,800 vph · 42 h power reserve · three hands, no date | Decided |
| Dial | Blue with elliptical scales, lighter at the centre · flange with minute track · tapered applied indices · discreet lume · orange seconds hand | On sample |
| Strap | Midnight-blue leather, orange lining · blue FKM as an alternative | On sample |
| Series | 100 pieces | Decided |
A target is not a promise: it will be confirmed or corrected on the prototype, and the result published in the journal.
The name
APHEL comes from aphelion, the point of an orbit farthest from the Sun. On a circle, that point does not exist. The ellipse is necessary.
Our first watch starts exactly there: almost a circle, but not quite.
Where the watch stands
The founder
“I would rather show you where the watch stands than promise you what I have not yet measured.”
Fodé Oularé · founder, case designer
APHEL is an independent brand, founded and designed in the Paris region. It claims no watchmaking heritage: it documents what it builds.
The prototype is self-funded. The first series will number 100 pieces.
Launch list
The A01 Ellipse will be funded through pre-orders, and priority will be strictly reserved for this list. No payment today. Leave your address to:
An address is enough. An email will ask you to confirm your sign-up. Unsubscribe in one click. Your address is only used to write to you about APHEL: privacy.
The watch images are non-contractual renders of the actual CAD model, revision 17.
The brand
APHEL designs recognisable watches, without chasing eccentricity. Each model starts from one precise decision about shape; everything else follows.
For the A01 Ellipse: 4 mm of difference between the width and the height of the case. Proportions, finishing, dial and colour all answer to it.
We publish the dimensions, the finishing and the real state of development. Anything not yet measured on a prototype is written as a target.
The first series will be limited to 100 pieces. Small enough to follow production closely, without overproducing for a first launch.
The name
APHEL takes its name from aphelion — the point of an orbit most distant from the Sun. It is from this vantage point that the brand looks at the world: its natural phenomena, from the most distant to the most elusive.
What it teaches first is nuance. Between a circle and an ellipse there is almost nothing: 4 millimetres on our case. Yet it is this nuance that makes aphelion exist — because on a perfect circle, no point is farther away than any other. Our first creation is built on that offset.
The brand will not confine itself to astronomy. What will run through our collections is a method: a strong decision about shape, and the technical rigour that follows from it.
APHEL is an independent watch house, founded and designed by Fodé Oularé in the Paris region. The A01 Ellipse opens the series.
One hundred watches to begin with. A list to be the first to know.
Development journal
What we decide, what we drop, what we measure. Subscribers receive the key milestones by email.
The first dial was right, but restrained: only its gradient echoed the shape of the case. It now receives scales drawn as arcs of an ellipse, lying flat like the case and laid in staggered rows, each with its own grooves. A flat flange carries the minute track. The crown becomes thinner, for a slimmer profile. An amendment to the consultation file describes both changes for the manufacturer; the rest of the file stays as it is.
The complete A01 file has gone out for feasibility study and quotation. Next step: feedback from the engineering office, then the first dial and finishing samples.
Softened lug tips, polished chamfers on the top and around the edge, a screw-down crown set on the band. The shape will not change again without an industrial reason.
For several revisions, the lug bands were plates fitted onto the case middle. Appealing on screen, impossible to manufacture cleanly. Everything went back into a single block of steel, with an identical shape.
The next steps reach your inbox before they reach this page.
Questions
Not yet. The case is frozen in CAD and the file is with the manufacturer. The watch images on this site are renders computed from the actual CAD model of the case. The dial, hands and strap are modelled from the consultation file and its amendment of 21 September. The first photographs will be of the prototype.
When pre-orders open, after the prototype is validated. Subscribers are told before anyone else. We give no date until the industrial schedule is confirmed.
The price will be announced to subscribers first, as soon as the manufacturing quotes are settled. We do not publish a price we cannot yet stand by.
It is a proven Japanese automatic calibre, thin (3.9 mm) and designed without a date: no phantom crown position. It lets us aim for 9.7 mm of thickness, and put the budget where you can see it: the case and the dial.
The manufacturers are being consulted. We will state the origin of every component once the contracts are signed, not before.
100 m and 9.7 mm are our targets. They will be confirmed or corrected on the prototype, and the result published in the journal.
Small enough to follow production closely, without overproducing for a first launch. The series is funded by pre-orders; the prototype itself is self-funded.
Yes. Every A01 of the first series will carry its own number, from 01 to 100, assigned in the order pre-orders are confirmed. One additional piece, numbered 00 and outside the series, will stay in the APHEL archives: all 100 numbers go to their owners. Where the number is engraved will be settled with the manufacturer.
Directly on this site. Members of the launch list receive the link 72 hours before the public opening: during that window, pre-ordering is reserved for them. The terms — deposit, schedule, refund conditions — will be published before opening. Nothing is charged when you sign up.
Another question? contact@aphelwatches.com