Have you ever heard the phrase: one man’s trash is another’s treasure? It’s one that strikes at the very core of everything we do here at Diatom. While some might regard meteorite fragments and pieces of charred Kapton foil as relics of the past, we choose to see them as precious astral artifacts that are far too valuable to be relegated to the scrapheap of history. Some things are simply too extraordinary to be forgotten, so read on to find out how these materials play a starring role in our limited-edition watches.
Giving the past a pulse
Fuelled by desire for the latest and greatest technology trends, mankind is undoubtedly living through an age defined by disposability, where the default mindset all too often leans toward replacing things rather than repairing or recycling them. But while humanity tends to discard anything old, the universe actually plays by a completely different set of rules. Thanks to the law of conservation of energy, nothing is ever truly lost – it’s only transformed – and that’s something that truly resonates with us here at Diatom. We take a leaf out of the cosmos’ playbook by breathing new life into remarkable materials, reshaping them into something new rather than letting them fade into obscurity.
The gold standard
One of the most historically significant materials we work with – in terms of human history – is genuine space-flown Kapton foil. This reflective golden film once lined the outside of Apollo’s lunar command modules to shield astronauts from radiation experienced on the return journey to the Moon. Although a large amount of it burned up during atmospheric re-entry, the remaining portions were stripped from the craft upon landing and then placed into long-term storage. We believe this magnificent material deserves much more than merely living out its remaining days in a dusty old warehouse, so we set about incorporating it into our limited-edition watch dials to create a genuine piece of space-age history that can be worn every day.
Meteorite: A Story Older Than Time
This is where things get really special: we also include authentic meteorite fragments in all of our watch dials. For the uninitiated, meteorites are pieces of rock that have travelled through space for billions of years prior to crash landing on Earth, some of which formed long before our home planet even existed. The fragments we source are truly something to behold (especially once we’ve expertly cut and polished them), with each piece exhibiting its own unique fingerprint of crystalline patterns that formed as the red-hot primordial metal cooled while drifting through space. Ultimately, these meteoric inclusions are a small but powerful way to carry the story of the universe with you everywhere you go.
The Blue Dot Series: Reimagining the Relic
At Diatom, we believe that the past shouldn’t be discarded, and Our Blue Dot range is where this cosmic recycling philosophy truly comes into its own. Our timepieces combine recovered space materials with refined and forward-looking design, creating lasting tributes to what has been and to what comes next.
Each Diatom watch is made with care. Not just for the person wearing it, but for the stories within it. Because beauty does not always come from what is new. Sometimes, it is found in what has already proven itself in the remnants of missions, in the fire of re-entry, in the patience of deep time. And sometimes, it lives on your wrist.
Shop the Blue Dot Collection and get one of these timepieces today!
