The Strange Hours: How a Salvador Dali-Inspired Watch Reinvented Time

What would a watch look like if Salvador Dali designed one?

That question became the foundation of one of the most talked-about independent watches of the last decade. The Grandeur Strange Hours doesn't just tell time differently — it challenges the very idea of what a watch should look like.

The Melting Case

The first thing you notice is the case. It appears to melt, droop, and flow like soft wax — a direct homage to Dali's iconic painting The Persistence of Memory, where clocks drape across a surreal landscape. But unlike Dali's clocks, this one actually works.

The 39mm titanium case is precision-machined to create a fluid, organic silhouette while maintaining structural integrity and water resistance. It sits on the wrist like nothing else — because nothing else looks like this.

"I didn't want to make another round watch in a round case. I wanted to make people stop and ask 'what is that?'"
— Belal Shaher, Founder & Designer

The Jumping Hour Complication

The Strange Hours isn't just visually unique — it reads time in a way no other watch does. Instead of traditional hour and minute hands sweeping around a dial, the patented jumping hour complication displays the current hour in a window that changes instantaneously at the top of each hour.

This isn't a simple disc rotation. Grandeur engineered a proprietary mechanism where the hour snaps forward with mechanical precision — no gradual creep, no ambiguity. One moment it reads 3, the next it reads 4. Clean. Decisive. Strange.

The minutes are tracked by a single hand, giving the dial a minimalist quality that contrasts beautifully with the complexity happening underneath.

Stone Dials: Where Nature Meets Horology

Across the Strange family, every edition features a dial carved from genuine natural stone — not printed patterns, not synthetic reproductions, but actual geological specimens cut, polished, and fitted by hand. Because each stone is a natural material, no two dials are identical.

The Strange Family

Strange Hours (V1 & V2) — Where It All Began

The original Strange Hours launched in titanium with four dials color way. Priced at $1,300 with an in-house mechanical jumping hour movement, it offered a level of horological creativity typically reserved for watches costing ten times more. Both generations sold out completely.

Strange V3 — The Next Chapter

The third generation introduces five new genuine stone dials — Turquoise Tellus, Noctis Astra, Viridis Flux, Lapis Regalis, and Aureus Strata. Still powered by the in-house jumping hour complication in a titanium case, the V3 refines the design and expands into bolder stone territory at $3,200.

Strange Quartz — The Gateway

The Strange Quartz is its own distinct collection — same iconic melting case, but powered by a precise quartz movement with its own set of ten unique stone and mineral-inspired dials. Starting at $599, it’s the most accessible way to experience the Strange design language. Important note: the Strange Quartz has its own exclusive colorways (Crimson Agate, Obsidian Vein, Opal Spectrum, Amethyst Pulse, etc.) that are separate from the mechanical stone dials.

18K Gold Strange — The Ultimate Expression

For collectors who want the pinnacle, the 18K Solid Gold Strange editions pair the mechanical jumping hour complication with cases and buckles crafted from solid 18-karat gold. Five stone dial options — Aventurine, Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Tiger’s Eye, and the Gold Strange Edition. At $9,990 with production limited to 25-50 pieces per stone, these are investment-grade timepieces.