High Horology Meets Playful Memory, with the Unexpected Krayon PAC-MAN Series

Krayon, founded by Rémi Maillat, is a highly focused, conceptually consistent independent watchmaking brand. Since its debut in 2017 with the groundbreaking Everywhere, it has explored a singular theme: our relationship with time as shaped by sunlight, geography, and personal experience. From Everywhere to Anywhere and, more recently, Anyday, each creation has translated complex astronomical or calendar data into original and remarkably intuitive displays.

The new Krayon PAC-MAN series is an unexpected evolution. The idea of integrating one of the world-famous arcade characters into a high-end mechanical watch seems playful, even close to provocative. Still, it is a continuation of Krayon’s ethos, approached from a different angle: time not only as a natural cycle, but as a personal, emotional memory.

All 15 watches from the Krayon PAC-MAN series are housed in a 39mm platinum case, consistent with the proportions of the Anywhere collection. At 9.5mm thick, it remains compact given the movement’s complexity. Finishing is meticulous and understated, keeping the dial the focal point.

The dial base is a polished onyx. The PAC-MAN maze is rendered in translucent tampography, visible only when light hits at the right angle. Around it, hand-painted elements, ghosts and fruit, appear suspended, giving the composition a sense of motion. Importantly, the design remains faithful to the original 1980 game, both in scale and typography, down to pixel-style inscriptions.

Essentially an Anywhere model, the Krayon PAC-MAN watch retains the brand’s signature complication, which displays sunrise and sunset times for a specific location. The mechanics stay, but Krayon reinterprets the display. The sun indicator, which tracks the 24-hour cycle, is replaced by PAC-MAN, which moves around the dial as the day progresses. Sunset becomes a “cookie,” and transition into night triggers a shift like the game’s logic.

This change is not superficial. It is integrated into the layered display system of the underlying calibre, where multiple superimposed discs interact to indicate time, date, and light cycles. The addition of animated elements, ghosts, fruit, and directional cues, which appear according to the sunrise and sunset times of the selected location, follows the same mechanical logic used to display astronomical data. The dial remains functional, with hours and minutes by central hands, PAC-MAN as the hour indicator on the 24-hour dial, sunrise time indicated by the ghost’s eyes, and sunset time, as mentioned, shown by the big cookie. The date at 6 o’clock completes the list of indications.

Variations in the positioning of elements, as well as subtle differences in execution, ensure that no two dials are identical, composed individually by Fei Hou, Rémi Maillat’s partner. It is an intersection of Métiers d’Art and conceptual watchmaking, where decoration actively contributes to the storytelling.

The hand-wound calibre C030 still comprises over 400 components and delivers a 72-hour power reserve. It remains one of the most elegant solutions for displaying sunrise and sunset times in a wristwatch, and readers familiar with our previous coverage of the Anywhere will recognise the sophistication behind what appears to be a playful display.

Limited to 15 unique pieces in platinum, the Krayon PAC-MAN is worn on a hand-stitched black alligator leather strap, closed with a platinum pin buckle. Price is upon request, but it should be in excess of CHF 150,000. More details at krayon.ch.