Getting the Finishing Right (6th July 2026)

The last month have been quiet but useful. I’ve been tightening the housing geometry, cleaning up small fit issues, and testing different finishes.

Most of the time has gone into polishing experiments and surface treatments. Polishing titanium, as I’ve found out, is hard.

Nothing dramatic, just steady improvements to how the watch feels and how the curves resolve. So far the best result has been manual polishing with a whetstone to get the clean lines and edges.

It’s slow work, but the Bold is looking cleaner and more settled with each pass.

— Selby

Housing Prototypes (26th May 2026)

This week brought a meaningful step forward for Inkwell Watch.

The first round of 3D printed housings has been completed by the 3D printing supplier. They produced them in resin, nylon, and SLM titanium. Seeing these materials come together at this stage is a big moment for the design. The next round is now underway in stainless steel and anodised aluminium so I can compare weight, feel, and finish once everything arrives.

Another milestone landed too. Inkwell Watch is now officially registered as a business name. It feels good to formalise the work that has been happening quietly in the background and to keep building this in a steady, intentional way.

More updates soon as the new housings arrive and testing continues.

A Week of Quiet Diligent Progress (12th May 2026)

This week felt slow on the surface, but a lot of important pieces clicked into place.

I sent the latest housing designs off to a local Tasmanian contract manufacturer. We’ve been shaping the curves so they can be cut cleanly on a 5 axis CNC, and it is starting to feel like a real, manufacturable object rather than a sketch that happens to be 3D.

The PCB also had another round of tightening. Smaller footprints, cleaner routing, better use of the space inside the curved housing. It is the kind of work where you nudge something by half a millimetre and suddenly the whole layout breathes a little easier.

A highlight was receiving a set of wooden bracelets from Zahe Creations https://zahecreations.com.au/ Tasmanian timbers, beautifully made. They have been sitting on my desk and they keep reminding me why I care about this project. Technology with a bit of warmth. Craft that feels lived in.

Based on your feedback, Another big design update is that I added 36 mm by 1.5 mm watch pins to either end. This way the strap can be swapped out like a normal watch. A tiny detail, but it opens up a lot of flexibility for future strap ideas. Please let me know what you think.

Quiet week. Good progress. The watch is getting closer. Thankyou again for all of the support.

DFM and a Huge Thank You! (2nd May 2026)

Wow. Thank you so much for all the support this past week. It has been an absolute whirlwind in the best possible way.

Over the last few days I’ve been deep in the design, pushing the Inkwell Watch Bold closer to DFM (design for manufacturing). That means tightening tolerances, refining the housing, and making sure every part of the watch can actually be produced in a repeatable, manufacturable way, not just once in my shed, but 30 times for the Inkwell Watch Bold edition.

I’ve been meeting with other watch founders, factories, and industrial designers, learning from people who have already walked this path. Every conversation has helped shape the next iteration. The curved housing, the battery fit, the internal stack. The whole design is getting sharper and more realistic.

And the response from all of you has been incredible! The mailing list keeps growing every day, and this week the project was featured in an article by Pixelcore Lab, which still feels surreal to write.

You can read it here: https://www.pixelcorelab.com/article/open-source-curved-eink-smartwatch-flexible-display-nrf52840

Seeing people resonate with the idea of a curverd, calm, crafted alternative to noisy smartwatches genuinely fuels the work.

Above is some photos from this week’s progress: the exploded view, the internal stack, and the updated housing dimensions as I move toward DFM. Still working with the manufacturer on this one.

Thank you again for being part of this journey. Every message, every signup, every bit of encouragement helps push this project forward. I’m excited to share more soon as the Bold gets closer to its final form.

-Selby

Three Weeks of the Inkwell Watch (24th April 2026)

Three weeks ago I shared a build log on Reddit showing the curved eink watch I had been building in my shed here in lutruwita Tasmania. I expected a few curious comments. Instead the response was enormous and it completely changed the direction of the project.

Here is the original post if you want to see where it started: https://www.reddit.com/r/Watches/comments/1saalnq/diy_watch_i_made_an_opensource_eink_smartwatch/

Since then it has been a whrilwind.

• The project has found a name. It is now the Inkwell Watch. I have even ported the logo to the prototype watch

• The build log won second place in an Instructables contest!

• I have spoken with factories, watch founders and engineers to understand what it takes to turn a one off prototype into something that can be produced at a small scale.

• I've started design and prototyping on the first available version. The Inkwell Watch Bold

In the middle of all this I had surgery on a broken elbow. The Inkwell ended up helping me recover. I used the built in gyroscope to track my wrist rotation during physio. I can now reach about eighty degrees of pronation which feels like a small victory.

Designing the next version

A lot of work is happening behind the scenes.

• I have started a complete redesign of the printed circuit board so the electronics can shrink into a much slimmer body.

• I am designing a titanium housing.

• I have also begun designing a silicone wristband with a magnetised clasp.

  The goal is to keep the original spirit of the watch. Calm technology. Long battery life. Readability in all light conditions. A device that supports your day rather than interrupts it.

The next version has a name. It will be called the Inkwell Watch Bold. The plan is to create only 30 bespoke units for early adopters who want to help shape the future of the project.

The website is live

The official site is now up at https://inkwell.watch

I even have a discord! https://discord.gg/pCnfqxMW

If you are interested in the project or want to express that you might buy one of the first thirty units, please join the mailing list.

Knowing how many people are out there and where you are located will help me plan materials and production.

Thank you for being here at the beginning.

Selby