25 years of the UNO one-hand watch – the original by Klaus Botta

In 2011, Botta-Design is celebrating 25 years since the invention of the UNO one-hand watch.
Only a handful of genuine watch-lovers and industry insiders are aware that the modern one-hand watch was the brainchild of Königstein-based designer Klaus Botta.

When the diversity of wristwatches and watch hands reached its peak in the mid-1980s, Klaus Botta felt that the readability of most watches could hardly get any worse.
To create an alternative to the overly complex dials of the time, he chose to pursue a novel display principle:
Klaus Botta developed a watch face featuring a specially segmented scale similar to that used by a precise measuring instrument to display a reading. In conjunction with a highly-precise hour hand tailored to this scale, the exact time of day could be read off as a clear measured value – with no need for a minute hand.

At a trade fair, Klaus Botta met Manfred Brassler, owner of the Watchpeople brand at the time, and the later founder of MeisterSinger.
Klaus Botta was able to persuade him that his unconventional idea for a one-hand watch would really work.
The UNO one-hand watch was the result, and advanced to become Watchpeople’s best-selling and most successful watch.

A few years later, Watchpeople was sold and the rights to the UNO watch were returned to Klaus Botta. The designer decided it was time to sell the wristwatches he designed and developed under his own name.

The UNO triggered a wave of copycat one-hand watches by many other manufacturers, a trend that still continues today.
Klaus Botta, on the other hand, takes pride in designing originals – such as his 24-hour one-hand watch UNO 24. He consistently achieves success by innovating in a market full of imitations.
Look forward to more genuine innovations from Botta-Design in the future.

Botta-Design is a product design and development company based in Königstein in the German state of Hesse. Pursuing a product philosophy that is anything but ordinary, proprietor Klaus Botta has made a name for himself in the watch industry. By consistently setting itself apart from the somewhat stuffy world of classic wristwatches, Botta-Design has boldly filled a niche. The watches developed by the company are designed with a strong focus on functionality: made in Germany, they meet high design standards and offer uncompromising quality. Botta-Design watches are regularly awarded national and international design prizes. Renowned design museums have already included Botta-Design wristwatches in their collections on account of their clear and functional design.

Botta-Design
Klosterstr. 15a
614621 Königstein

Phone +49 6174 96 11 88
Fax +49 6174 96 11 89

www.botta-design.de

This release was published on openPR.