This Brass "Cyberpunk-y" Smartwatch Packs an Arduino, Curved Display, and a 3D-Printed Button Ring

Pseudonymous maker "Star_11" has put together a smartwatch with ring control and a chunky cyberpunk aesthetic, powered by an Arduino Nano Every — and soon to gain Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support with an Arduino Nano 33 IoT.

"I made this cyberpunk-y watch," Star_11 writes of the project. "Or maybe it's more of a Deus Ex-y watch. Currently running on an Arduino Nano Every, but the plan is to replace [that] with a Nano 33 IoT. [The] display used is a Crystalfontz SSD1320 flexible OLED. [It has a] 3D-printed inner chassis and brass outer chassis."

Designed to snap around the wrist, the smartwatch is more of a bracelet — but with a fully-functional display, at present limited to displaying the date and time, which curves to follow the design. A planned upgrade to the Arduino Nano 33 IoT will add smartphone connectivity, while software work is underway for alarms and timers.

The brass outer was made by hand, using a template glued to brass sheets which were cut with snips and a rotary multitool then soldered together. "Being able to solder [it] was the main reason I went with brass as opposed to steel or aluminum in the first place," the maker explains, "because although I have access to welding equipment through my college I just have more experience with soldering and it'd be easier to get cleaner solder joints than weld joints at this small of a scale."

Inside the 3D-printed main shell is a 280mAh battery which currently offers an eight-hour runtime, pending optimization and use of the microcontroller's low-power sleep modes.

A three-pin magnetic pogo-pin connector common to many off-the-shelf smartwatches looks like it should be used for charging, but actually serves as connectivity to a clever input button embedded into a 3D-printed ring on the user's finger.

More details on the project are available on Star_11's Reddit thread.