DESIGN studio Instrmnt knows all about the appeal of a timeless product. When it launched, the watch brand achieved instant success with one simple product which continues to fly off the shelves – the Instrmnt 01.

But there’s a catch if you want to wear one. You have to assemble it yourself.

The Glasgow-based company was founded by Pete Sunderland and Ross Baynham in 2014 with a focus on creating industrial-led watches with quality, simplicity and attainability at their core.

Baynham explains: “We really wanted to give the consumer a technical experience, with tools and instructions provided to build their own watch.

“Instrmnt 01 was really the product of two designers creating – very selfishly – the watch that we ourselves wanted to own. It had to be simple and unbranded, well priced, and built with the best components we could find, and the end product reminded us a lot of the industrial analogue instruments of the mid-20th century. That’s part of the reason behind the packaging and layout, which has been heavily linked to our brand since launch.”

To date, Instrmnt 01 has remained one of the brand’s most popular designs – even though customers receive the watch unassembled, with tools, so that they can build it themselves.

Both Baynham and Sunderland have a strong interest in the functional, utilitarian products and tools produced during this period. Their interest stems from everything from the revolutionary minimalism of Dieter Rams to the simple and readable dials of analogue ammeters and voltmeters.

Since the launch of Instrmnt 01, the brand has expanded to offer further products and commissions, including a two-speed bike built in collaboration with Freddie Grubb. The duo also explored furniture design with the creation of a multi-purpose day bed.

In early 2016, Instrmnt opened their own studio-store concept in Glasgow’s Trongate – a thriving district for independent stores, galleries and design practices in the city centre.

Outwith Glasgow, the brand is stocked internationally by fashion and design-conscious retailers – cities include London, Antwerp, Tokyo and Toronto in stores such as End Clothing, Oi Polloi and Need Supply.

Instrmnt’s work has also been recognised and exhibited by several big industry names. The V&A, London Design Festival and Paris and New York Fashion Week are among some of the names the brand has been involved with.

As for their plans for the rest of the year, Baynham says: “We’ve been working hard designing and developing two new product lines and it has been refreshing to work on a different scale, and with a completely new scope in terms of specification and visual language. We think that by the end of 2018 Instrmnt will look like a much more rounded brand, selling a wider range of goods but all built under the same ethos.”