For designer and founder of Haydenshapes Surfboards, Hayden Cox, time – and the rejection of it – have always been part of his creative process. "Within surfboards you aren’t really bound by a schedule and I have always released new designs when I felt they were right versus for the sake of needing something new. As the brand and I have grown and evolved, time has become more of a precious commodity for me," he tells RUSSH.

With this ethos in mind, it makes sense why the creative mind's latest collaboration with luxury Swiss watchmaker, IWC Schaffhausen, feels so organic. The pair – both big believers in and contributors to innovation in their respective fields – have always been known for their careful considerations around creating. And this new collection, featuring four bespoke surfboards inspired by the new signature dial colours released in IWC's Portugieser portfolio, is the perfect representation of this.

The union of IWC’s iconic Portugieser collection and Cox's masterful surfboards is a story of craftsmanship, precision, and time itself. For 2024, IWC unveiled four new signature dial colours – Horizon Blue, Dune, Obsidian, and Silver Moon – each a reflection of the shifting skies from dawn to midnight. In perfect harmony, Cox's surfboards echo this palette, mirroring the moods of day and night with every stroke of colour and curve of form.

In unison with Cox's creations, at the heart of the Portugieser collection lies an artful mastery of material. Each dial is a feat of depth and dimension, achieved through the meticulous application of 15 layers of transparent lacquer. Fine-ground and polished to a glassy sheen, the dials possess a clarity that’s as hypnotic as an endless horizon. Subdials are carved with precision, while appliques are mounted by hand, elevating the craft to a near-mythical level. It’s a process of 60 steps—each one essential to achieving the Portugieser’s signature elegance.

In celebration of this collaboration, we spoke to Cox about how the pieces came to be, his favourite time of day and why his work and IWC Schaffhausen have always felt like a perfect match.

Congratulations on your partnership with IWC. How did the collaboration begin and what have been some of your favourite parts of the process?

IWC and I have always connected over a shared interest and passion for material. As a brand and maker they are very customised and innovative in their techniques in achieving certain finishes like Ceratanium® – an IWC patented material combining the lightness and robustness of titanium with a hardness and scratch-resistance of ceramic – and this project required finishes you don't typically see in surfboards.

Tell me about the four boards – what inspiration did you take from each of the watches that helped to inform your creations?

The boards really pay homage to the colour palette of the Portugieser Novelties more than anything, following the detail of metallic pigments in the colours of the watch dials... An IWC time piece has many layers to its materiality and design, and the colour and finish of the surfboards goes to that same level applying multiple layers to bring depth to the colour. The Portugieser has an elegance about it, so the board's shape honours that blending tradition and clean lines.

When it came to replicating the iconic colours of the Portugieser collection, was there a special technique you used to ensure the colours were a perfect match?

I had to step outside of surfboards for a moment and explore custom metallic colour pigments and finishes that ensured we kept the surfboard lamination lightweight and high performance.. Achieving colour and performance were equally as important in this project. To achieve the closest colour match, we hand mixed each individual colour and tested it under all light spectrums to ensure the closest match possible.

The four different dial colours in the Portugieser collection speak to different times of the day. Do you have a favourite time of day and what do you like to do/how do you like to spend your time during these moments?

I'm a morning person. My young family gets me out of bed early and I like to be in the water for a surf between 6 or 7am. Even if there's no waves, there's something about just getting wet and getting into the salt water to start your day.

How does your studio space inspire you or assist in the creative process? Are you someone who needs that physical connection or do you like to ideate on the go?

The studio space is ever changing and usually pretty chaotic. As a brand, we now not only make surfboards but also clothing, wetsuits and high end resin furniture. So when you walk in, you really do experience a bit of everything and being in that kind of environment has also fuelled a lot of creativity for me. My team and I are all hands on in terms of developing products so quite our shaping studio will transform into a workshop for whatever project we are working on.

What does your personal relationship to time look like in your creative process? Is it something that frightens you, or are you good at embracing it?

Within surfboards you aren’t really bound by a schedule and I have always released new designs when I felt they were right versus for the sake of needing something new. As the brand and I have grown and evolved, time has become more of a precious commodity for me. When I started Haydenshapes at 15 and grew the business throughout my 20’s life felt a lot looser in terms of time. Now that I'm in the era of having a young family, a global business and way too many ideas for the hours in my day I’ve become far more appreciative of time and how it’s spent.

When you look at the Portugieser collection and the boards you created, what do you think unites both creations?

Connection. Detail. The connection between a surfer and their boards is very personal from the unique compression dents to the way it feels between under their feet when they are riding a wave. There's a similarity in wearing my IWC, it's a more sentimental and personal item that I wear daily and over time becomes very personal.

These IWC timepieces are available at IWC Boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne, or on the IWC website.