Papar Watch Co.’s Anillo GMT Features a Functional Sector Dial

From Audemars Piguet’s [RE]Master02 to Toledano & Chan’s debut watch, Brutalist-inspired timepieces are gradually making waves this year. Among the sea of prestigious and independent Maisons, Papar Watch Co., a fresh micro-watch brand embodying raw and post-modern design aesthetics has emerged, with offerings at much more accessible price points.

Founded by husband and wife duo, Josh Blank and Emily Rosenberg, the Anillo GMT not only serves as the inaugurating model to Papar Watch Co., but also an encapsulation of Josh’s vision: “My goal with Papar is to create something modern in aesthetic, but vintage and gender-neutral in proportions. Something that feels like higher-level horology, while still being affordable, swimmable, and wearable.”

Arriving in a 36mm case diameter, the Anillo GMT may be on a slimmer end for most, but its bold silhouette counter-balances its small case size with an almost 2D effect. Crafted from stainless steel, its distinctly angular and faceted design is enhanced by an equally intriguing sector dial. The dial features laser cutouts that reveal a second timezone, which is powered by a rotating GMT disc underneath.

“When designing the Anillo, I started with focusing on developing a unique GMT display. After a few false starts (GMT with only 12 hour indices, anyone?), I realized that my favorite, classic dial layout, the sector dial, had so much unused potential!” – Josh Blank

In the early stages, Blank was fixated on crafting a unique GMT display, which led to a few prototypes that only read the time of 12 hours. While certainly, that would have been a charmingly funny selling point, Blank went on and rectified his approach. Currently patent-pending, the resulting design integrates a GMT function into the sector dial.

In addition, the timepiece also features a logo that changes color throughout the day to visually represent the 2nd time zone. This feature was inspired by Blank’s desire to create a sense of emotional connection to loved ones in a different time zone — an inspiration that also derived from his personal experience. “Living in Mexico at the time, I was inspired by the incredible brutalist architecture of the country, but it wasn’t until I saw my wife making paper airplanes with our daughters that a complete picture of the brutalist lines of the watch case and the folded paper look of the Anillo’s patent pending bezel design (featuring overlapping and peaked folds) crystalized in my mind,” he explained.

As a horophile, Blank is highly aware of all the other Brutalist-inspired models that are on the market. While he expresses utmost admiration for Toledano & Chan and even AP’s creations, he believes that his creation is “something equally unique and fun to the watch industry.” Most importantly, it’s at a far more accessible price point of $750 USD. The Anillo GMT is powered by a Miyota 9075 movements and is offered in steel and rose-gold PVD, both available to order now via Papar Watch Co.’s official website.