How to Design a Custom Watch Online with Rexx

A custom watch can begin with a complete picture, a rough sketch or one detail you cannot stop thinking about. The Rexx custom watch configurator helps you turn that starting point into something we can discuss and build. You can design a dial on its own, explore a complete SKX007-style watch, or bring us an idea outside the online options.

The important distinction: dial-only orders have their own checkout route; complete watches are reviewed and quoted by the workshop before payment. The price displayed on the designer product page is for the custom dial, not a complete watch.

Featured photograph: the finished Honeycomb watch, a Rexx workshop project. Its case and artwork illustrate the broader custom service, rather than a preset you can reproduce entirely in the online builder.

Choose your starting point

• I want a complete watch. Choose Build a watch to explore the supported SKX007-style platform, then request a build quote.
• I only need a dial. Choose Make a dial. If it is for an existing watch, confirm compatibility with Rexx before ordering.
• My idea does not fit the builder. Send a custom project brief. A reference, sketch, logo or description is enough to begin the conversation.

How to use the custom watch configurator

The watch route follows five steps: Movement, Dial, Parts, Personalize and Review. Start with a direction you like, then change the details. You do not need to know every component before you begin.

1. Choose the movement layout

The movement affects the layout of the dial: a date, day-date, GMT or open-heart design needs the corresponding openings and hand arrangement. Choose the layout that suits the watch you have in mind. Rexx checks the matching movement, available parts and clearances before confirming the build; the preview alone does not establish compatibility.

2. Give the dial its character

Explore the base color, exposed metal tone, markers, minute track, openings and surface pattern. A preset is a starting point you can adjust. Try changing one major choice at a time: first the color and metal contrast, then the markers, then the texture. This makes it easier to see which detail gives the design its character.

3. Choose the surrounding parts

Use the Parts step to explore hands, bezel, chapter ring and strap. Consider them together with the dial. Strong hands can help a busy pattern remain readable; a restrained bezel can leave more attention on the artwork. The available choices describe the current online platform, while final part availability is confirmed in the quote.

4. Personalize the watch

The Personalize step includes dial logo text, caseback options and crown engraving. On the steel engraving area, caseback text can use upper, centre and lower areas, with size choices and a font selection. Shorter wording leaves more room for larger lettering. Check the Back and Crown previews as well as the front, and let us know which elements matter most to you.

5. Review and request a quote

Look over the whole watch, including the spelling and placement of any engraving. Use Save draft if you want to return to your design, or Share build to keep a reference for the conversation. Continue through Review to request a workshop quote. Rexx confirms feasibility, parts, specifications, the complete-watch price and lead time before payment.

Designing a dial without ordering a watch

The dial route is for a standalone custom dial. You can explore its layout, color, raised metal details, text and pattern, then use the dial ordering route when the design is ready. If you are fitting it to another watch, send us the exact watch or movement details and any known dial measurements first. Matching the general appearance is not enough to confirm fit.

Our reverse-etching process removes the surrounding metal with a fiber laser, leaving the indices, numerals, minute markers, logo and text raised. After painting, we carefully sand and polish to reveal that metal again. Because those details belong to the same metal surface, they normally share one exposed metal tone: silver, gold or rose-gold.

The painted surface is usually one color. Some multicolor designs are possible, subject to manual airbrush limits. Patterns, textures and guilloché-style effects are available. An engraved radial pattern is different from a traditional sunburst finish, which we do not currently offer. We also do not currently apply luminous paint or Super-LumiNova, set stones or diamonds, or solder dial feet. Adhesive dial dots are provided instead.

The screen is a design preview. Physical color, texture and reflection can differ, and very fine details may need adjustment for production or legibility. See how the dial-making process works before choosing details that depend on a particular finish.

Your idea can go beyond SKX007

The online watch builder currently uses an SKX007-style platform. Rexx's custom work extends beyond that case. If you want a different shape, proportion or overall style, send a reference and explain what attracts you to it. We can discuss sourcing a suitable case or platform and adapting the dial and components around it.

That conversation is about making your idea feasible, rather than promising an exact copy of any reference. Desired size, wrist fit, artwork, budget and timing all help us propose a sensible direction.

Look at real projects before deciding

In the Rexx project gallery, Honeycomb shows how a dial motif can guide a complete watch: black and brass geometry, a bee detail, a gold-tone case and a burgundy strap. Iron Cockpit takes another route, with concentric texture and raised Arabic numerals. Tree of Life uses a brass tree against a deep green dial.

Use these projects to identify what you like: the contrast, texture, proportions or personal symbol. Each gallery project has a Start a project inspired by this link that carries its name into the inquiry form. You can then explain what you would keep and what you would change.

From your idea to a confirmed order

For a bespoke watch, we discuss the design, check what can be made and sourced, and agree the specification and quote. Once those details are settled, Rexx provides the custom purchase link. You do not need to solve every technical question before contacting us.

Start where you are most comfortable: configure a watch, design a dial, or send us your idea.