When astronauts strap on a watch before heading into orbit, it’s usually made by Omega. The Swiss brand’s Speedmaster became NASA’s go-to chronograph in the 1960s, earning its place on the wrists of Apollo crews and in spaceflight lore. But a small startup from California believes it’s time for an update, one built for today’s space missions from the inside out.
Karel Bachand, founder of Barrelhand, believes it’s time to rethink the wristwatch for space.
“Space is the harshest environment we’ve ever gone to,” he told Wired. “When we first did it 50 years ago, there were no tools for it.”
Unlike the Speedmaster, which was retrofitted for the space age, Barrelhand’s Monolith is being engineered specifically for extra-vehicular activity (EVA). It’s marketed as a rugged, mechanical timepiece forged in the crucible of additive manufacturing, radical materials science, and 21st-century engineering.
A Watch Forged for the Final Frontier
The Monolith’s case isn’t machined. It’s 3D-printed from Scalmalloy, an alloy of scandium, aluminum, and magnesium originally developed for aerospace components. Scalmalloy is lighter than titanium but just as strong, and resilient enough to withstand extreme temperatures, from -120°C to +120°C.
“We get the same strength specs as titanium for half the weight, which is insane,” said Bachand.
That matters more than one might think. Each kilogram sent to the Moon costs about $1.4 million. A watch that weighs just over an ounce (about 33 grams) can save precious grams and dollars.
Inside the Monolith is a finely tuned mechanical engine that’s been toughened up to handle the intense shaking, strong magnetic fields, and sudden forces of a rocket launch. It’s built with specially chosen materials that won’t get thrown off by space conditions. Most importantly, the Monolith avoids electronics completely, so it keeps ticking even when radiation or extreme cold might knock out digital systems.
“You need mechanical performance; something that can keep track of time when all other systems fail,” said Bachand. “The liquid crystal display [on modern quartz watches] would essentially freeze up on a spacewalk.”
By avoiding electronic components, the Monolith sidesteps the hazards of cosmic radiation, which can degrade or destroy digital systems.
Space Demands More. Will This Watch Deliver?
Every component of the Monolith is shaped by the unforgiving realities of space.
The crown used to adjust time is air-tight and designed to operate underwater or in a vacuum. The crystal is shatter-proof, designed to dent rather than break, avoiding the nightmare of floating debris inside a spacecraft. Even the gaskets are aerospace-grade fluorosilicone, replacing rubber seals that would become brittle in extreme cold.
“We looked at the airlocks for the ISS and found a partner that can make an O-ring seal… that won’t get brittle when it freezes,” Bachand explained.
The design also accounts for outgassing, the subtle but critical problem of materials releasing gas in the vacuum of space—gas that can contaminate sensitive instruments or create safety hazards.
“If you’ve ever opened up a plastic product off Amazon you’ll remember being greeted by a harsh chemical smell,” said Bachand. “On Earth, we can just crack open a window and air it out, but the ISS does not have that luxury.”
Small Disk, Big Archive
The Monolith is also a time capsule. Embedded in its case back is the Memory Disc, a 19 mm nickel-alloy plate made using NanoFiche, a micro-engraving process capable of storing 1,000 pages of information (or about 4.5 GB) in analog form. Unlike digital memory, it’s immune to electromagnetic fields and built to last millions of years.
This February, one such disc landed on the Moon aboard Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander as part of the Odysseus mission, which also carried artwork by Jeff Koons. The disc contains excerpts from Le Petit Prince, classic artworks like the Mona Lisa, and other records of human culture.
The watch itself hasn’t made it to space yet. But part of it has already touched another world.
A High Price and a Promise
Priced at $8,750, the Monolith doesn’t yet have the cosmic credentials of the Speedmaster (ranging from $6000 to $9000). It has not been worn on the ISS, nor strapped to a spacesuit during an EVA. But it’s built to do both. The specs are impressive. The intentions are sincere. And for now, the Moon has already received a small taste of what’s to come.
Bachand knows the real test lies ahead.
“There is nothing like real world testing,” he admitted. “That’s also something we are working towards.”
