Haruo Suekichi is a Japanese artist who specializes in making wonderful steampunk watches. In the past 12 years, Haruo has made some 7,000 watches - he started out selling them in the flea market, but now his watches are very collectible.
Chief Mag has an interview with the master watchmaker, who recounted an interesting tale of how he got the whole idea because he wanted to design a watch for a one-armed man:
at the flea market, a one-armed man came up to me. And he said to me, well, with only my left arm, I can't put on a watch. Wow, I thought, he's right...I wonder if I could make a watch like that? So I made - and you can see one upstairs in the showcase - I made a watch that you put your wrist in it and it shuts around your wrist.
http://www.chiefmag.com/issues/4/profiles/Haruo-Suekichi/ | Gallery of Haruo's watches [in Japanese]
I live in Japan and can go and buy Suekichi
watches at 2 shops I know in Tokyo, for a
small commission.
Feel free to contact me at anchyo123 (at) yahoo.co.jp
Kind regards,
Antony.