Concord C1 Chronograph Watch Design Critique: Mistake Of Form Over Function

I highly recommend sticking with the machined steel. Carbon fiber is a great material. Light, and strong, it can be shaped in nearly any manner. It serves no functional purpose on a watch face other than to add what is honestly a cheap looking three dimensional effect. This material is completely overused on watch faces these days, and must be carefully implemented to look right. The machined steel on the other hand is much nicer. High-end products often contain machined steel, which has a series of circular pattens caused by a machine polishing. High-end Spyker automobiles use this finish on their dashboard for an excellent look. The machined steel background also does not contrast as harshly with the dials on the face. The problem however, is the non-machined clover shape outline of the subdials does not integrate well with either background as the transition is harsh and unappealing. This is a problem with all watch faces that feature a "layered" look.Well done however are the Concord C1 main hour and minute hands. While arguably also unimaginative, they are well suited to their purpose, and I particularly like the alternated sections with luminant. On the hour hand, the first segment of the hand is covered with luminant, while the second half of the hand is cut away. The opposite combination exists on the minute hand.The font used for the number is technical looking to say the least, but nothing special. The registers are clean and uncluttered. Using the C1 for timing is probably quite comfortable, but you don't need to spend this kind of money for a good timing instrument. A solid Valjoux 7750 movement based watch can be had for $1000 - $2000. The date window on the C1 really disappoints me. There is this trend to open up the date window to indicate the previous and next days. The only purpose this serves is that the curvature of the large date window functions to help balance out the circle shapes of the three subdials. Symmetry is disturbed when you have three circles and then a square date window. So while this is an interesting solution to the visual balance problem, the execution here is entirely flawed. The placement of the date window is so far to the right, that it is off balance from the relatively central location of the round seconds dial that it attempts to balance. The result is two round shapes along the radius of the watch that are not centered or balanced with the rest of the watch. This distracts the eyes, and prevents the watch face from looking pleasing to the eye.There are two types of background materials to choose from on the C1; carbon fiber or guilloche machined steel.