HandStand debuts as a series of watch stands, or watch holders, designed to mimic iconic watch handset designs while offering an elegant, cool, unique, and safe way to store your timepiece day after day.
The HandStand Mercedes is a watch stand that takes what the community's lovingly dubbed the “Mercedes hand” as its inspiration. One of the more recognizable hour hands found on dive watches was created with the desire to visually distinguish it from the minutes hand — often a sword-style minute hand is paired with the “Mercedes hand” — for error-proof legibility.
We could also look at it as a modernized take on the antique cathedral style hands that have found their way onto countless of the most popular dive watches of the last 70+ years including the Rolex Submariner and just about every other "Professional" series collection from the brand, as well as the Omega Seamaster, Citizen Promaster, TAG Heuer Formula 1, Seiko 5... To name just a few watch collections that have taken on this distinctive design that, for the record, has nothing to do with the carmaker Mercedes-Benz, other than a passing resemblance to its logo. You may also consider it a tribute to Mercedes Gleitze.
For HandStand, the first challenge was getting the Mercedes-hand watch stand's proportions exactly right while achieving convenient and safe watch storage. As it is, the stand is large enough to achieve prominent presence in the office, living room, or wherever you place it, without being brash or flashy. It is distinctive and tasteful. With its solid base, weight distribution, and balance, it is also ideally suited to safely hold just about any watch.
The platform that holds your watch extends in a hand-sanded arc and ends in a genuine suede leather surface that is guaranteed not to scratch your caseback while offering adequate grip on it to keep your watch from sliding around. We designed the platform to be at a height where you can lay your watch on it with your clasp still open — unless your bracelet is really quite long — and it is wide and sturdy enough to easily fit watches that are 45mm wide.
As befits a proper Mercedes dive watch hand, we have added a touch of luminous paint to the lacquer that fills its characteristic crevices. Full disclosure: It takes a generous blast with a UV torch for the glowing effect to show, and it lasts a short while because we prioritized the clear lacquer-look for now. Adding more lume to the lacquer creates a creamy, opaque finish (as it does on any watch dial and hand if you look at it closely), and the current effect, as you can see on the picture above, is still heaps of fun. When you look at it in daylight and do so very carefully, you will discover a "tropical effect" where the lacquer shows a spider web-like pattern.
Every HandStand product is made in its entirety, including the stand and its packaging, in the European Union, specifically in Hungary. Every piece is cast to achieve a marble-like effect, without the excessive weight, fragility, porousness, and cost of solid stone. No two piece is alike, but all show a marble-like finish. The Mercedes-style hand is in dark green, as a tribute to the brand that made this style of hand famous, while the Speedy watch stand is in grey and black for a monochromatic marble effect. The HandStand watch stands ship in a neat presentation box — making for the ideal gift — safely stored by a bespoke foam against knocks during shipping.
The Mercedes stand measures 28cm or 11 inches tall, with a base that is 10cm by 10 cm (4 inches by 4 inches wide) and weighs around 450 grams (16 ounces).
The HandStand watch stands are priced at $289 or €275 (excluding taxes) and, for the launch, we include free FedEx International Priority (1-3 business day) shipping to just about every corner of the world.