We've already seen analog wristwatches that incorporate astronomical models, tell time via screws, and let you make Dick-Tracy-type phone calls. The Snake Watch still manages to stand out, however, as it comes with its own moving mechanical snake.
Currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, the Snake Watch is made by Chinese/Singaporean company Zbioland Luxury Watches. The timepiece was designed in honor of the fact that 2025 is the Chinese year of the snake.
Twelve interlocking cogs are arranged in a ring around the perimeter of the watch's round face.
A bicycle-chain-like mechanical snake is threaded through those cogs, its articulated body made of interlinked gold-color-plated titanium segments. As the cogs turn, they draw the snake around the face of the watch. It's kind of like watching Charlie Chaplin going through the machinery in the movie Modern Times.
The cogs are driven by an independent spring-loaded movement within the watch, which is powered by winding the bezel in a clockwise direction. Five full rotations of the bezel should keep the cogs turning (and the snake moving) for approximately one minute. They're set in motion – and stopped again – by pressing the upper of the two buttons on the right-hand side of the watch.
And no, the snake serves no practical purpose. But for that matter, neither do the gold or gemstones on other luxury watches.
The watch's main body is made of machined Grade 5 titanium, with a sapphire crystal covering its analog face. Its time-keeping movement – which is separate from the cog-turning movement – is reportedly good for 38 hours of runtime per winding.
The whole thing is water-resistant to 50 meters (164 ft), which really just means you can swim with it as long as you stay at the surface.
Assuming the Snake Watch reaches production, a pledge of a whopping 4,038 Singaporean dollars (about US$3,002) will get you one. But hey, that price does include a nylon-weave/rubber strap.
You can see the watch in animatronic action, in the video below.
Sources: Kickstarter, Zbioland Luxury Watches
