This see-through skeleton watch really is running — you just can't tell by looking
A fully transparent mechanical watch you can see straight through, front and back — and on the wrist you can see your own skin through the dial. The catch: there's no second hand, and the gears move so slowly that for a few minutes I genuinely thought it had arrived broken.
Published September 6, 2026
Tested context
Bought unseen off a marketplace listing and opened on camera — it arrived in a plain box with no branding on it at all. I handled it front and back, set the time with the crown, hunted for a sign the movement was actually running, and wore it on the wrist to see what the open dial looks like against skin. Single session, no teardown and no accuracy testing.
Verdict
It does the one thing it promises, completely: the dial has no plate at all, so you look straight through the watch from front to back, and on the wrist the background of the dial is your own skin. It's a real mechanical movement, marked FORSINING on the caseback side, not a quartz pretending. The genuine annoyance is that there's no second hand and the gears turn too slowly to read, so for a few minutes I thought it was dead. The only part you can actually see move is the small balance wheel near the top of the dial — once you know that, the problem disappears.
Pros
- Fully skeletonised both ways — clear front and back with nothing but the movement in between, so the backdrop (or your wrist) shows straight through the dial
- A real mechanical movement rather than a quartz in a see-through case
- Doesn't read as a novelty — silver case, Roman-numeral bezel and croc-embossed strap make it look like an ordinary watch until someone looks closely
- The kind of thing strangers actually ask about
Cons
- No second hand, and the visible gears move too slowly to read — there is no obvious sign the watch is running
- Busy dial: telling the time at a glance is genuinely harder than on a plain watch
- No branding anywhere on the case or box; the only marking is FORSINING printed on the movement itself
- I can't tell you what the strap is actually made of — it looks like leather and I'm not a materials person
I don't normally do watches on this channel. This one came in a plain box with no branding anywhere on it, and I bought it for one reason: you can see straight through it. Not "there's a little window in the dial" — the whole face is open. Hold it up and you're looking at the wall behind it.
It's genuinely lovely to stare at. It also spent the first few minutes of the video making me think it was dead on arrival, because there's no second hand and the gears you can see barely move. It is running. You just have to know where to look.
Watch the full video review on YouTube.
It really is see-through, both ways
The front is open, and so is the back. It's clear on both sides with a skeletonised movement suspended in between, so light goes right through the case. Turn it over and you get the other half of the mechanism — the big gear train — plus the only branding on the entire product: FORSINING, printed on the movement itself.
Wearing it, the background of the dial is your wrist
The odd part is what happens when you actually wear it. Because there's no dial plate, the thing you see behind the gears is your own wrist. Skin, hair, all of it, framed by a chapter ring and Roman numerals.
I kept forgetting there was anything in the way and half-reaching to touch the gears. That's not a spec, it's just a nice thing about owning it.
Setting the time is normal, and slightly fiddly
You pull the crown out and turn it like any mechanical watch. I fumbled it a bit on camera — nudged past the minute I wanted and had to come back around — but that's me, not the watch. Two hands, hour and minute, gold-coloured, and that's your lot.
Is this thing even working?
Here's the actual problem with a watch this open: there's no second hand. On a normal watch the second hand is your proof of life. Here you get an open dial full of visible mechanism and, at a glance, nothing in it moves.
I stared at the big gears for a while. Still. Completely still. It was only when I got close that I found the one part that visibly moves: the small balance wheel near the top of the dial — the gold ring with the red jewel in the middle of it. That's the bit that swings. There's another gear round the back turning too, but so slowly you'd never catch it unless you were looking for it.
So: it works. It just doesn't advertise it. If you buy one of these, check the balance wheel, not the gears. It would have saved me half a video.
The strap
Brown, crocodile-embossed, and it looks good against the silver case. I'm not going to tell you what it's made of, because I don't know — it looks like leather to me and I'm not a materials person. It felt fine for the length of the video. I haven't worn it long enough to tell you how it ages.
Who this is for
If you like old mechanical watches and the appeal for you is seeing the mechanism — and letting other people see it too — this is exactly that. It doesn't look like a novelty. It reads as a real watch, and it's the kind of thing someone will point at and ask about.
If you want to glance at your wrist and instantly know the time, it's a worse watch than a cheap quartz. The dial is busy, there's no second hand, and it's big.
What I didn't test
I didn't take it apart, I didn't check its accuracy over days or weeks, and I haven't had it long enough to say anything about durability or how the strap holds up. This is a first look at a thing I bought because it was unusual, not a lab test.
Verdict
It does the one thing it promises, completely: it's fully transparent, front and back, and it's a real mechanical movement rather than a quartz pretending. The no-second-hand thing is a genuine annoyance for about five minutes and then stops mattering once you know to watch the balance wheel. I like it more than I expected to.
Where to buy
I bought and tested this unit myself. The links below are affiliate links — if you buy through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and it does not change what I wrote above.
Is this for you?
Who it’s for
Anyone who likes old mechanical watches specifically because they want to see the mechanism working — and wants other people to see it too. It's a conversation piece that still passes as a normal watch.
Who should skip it
Skip it if you want to glance at your wrist and instantly know the time — the open dial is busy and there's no second hand. And skip it if a missing proof-of-life would bother you every day; the movement is genuinely slow enough that you have to look for the balance wheel to confirm it's running.
Watch the review
Watch the full video on YouTubeDisclosure
Hero and evidence photos are original Gadget Hunting with RR footage, captured firsthand from the video review of the unit covered here.
This review contains an affiliate link. See our affiliate disclosure for details.