WatchSkins Is Creating Digital Collectibles for Your Wrist

A company called Watch Skins wants to turn digital wearables into new ways to express yourself – and let you own a piece of unique digital property, too.

AccessTimeIconJan 10, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 12:07 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Watches, like shoes and cars, can tell you a lot about a person. A fan of gold and bling could identify as a crypto investor, while a fan of Disney will strap on a Mickey Mouse watch.

Now a company called Watch Skins wants to turn digital wearables into new ways to express yourself – and let you own a piece of unique digital property too.

The company, founded by brothers Colin and Justin Knock along with creative director Seth Cheshire, has created a platform for creating, buying and selling watch faces based on non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The product is currently in its early phase, but the team showed us an early version including an auction app that lets you bid on and buy popular watch faces.

The key to the product is the idea of non-fungibility or digital scarcity. The team has created a wide collection of face designs and is also working with brands and artists to produce others featuring logos, sports players, cartoons and street art. Their platform is working, but is currently in beta.

Each watch face is unique and no other user can own the same one. Because they are collectibles, the Knocks expect the faces to fluctuate in price based on demand.

"I’ve always been a watch lover. I've collected them for years, and when it came to my smartwatch I realized that there was no real scarcity or rarity in the digital watch face market. I wanted something unique that I could design myself. When I couldn’t find it in the marketplace, I decided to build it myself," Colin told CoinDesk at CES in Las Vegas as he walked us through the platform.

"We think of them as kind of like digital baseball cards, something with real value," he said.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.