Konrad Wohlfahrt Brings Artyom's Watch, From the Metro Series, to Life

Maker Konrad Wohlfahrt has turned a Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 development board into watch inspired by the one worn by Artyom in the Metro franchise — designed, its creator says, to be nostalgic yet functional.

"There's always been something super cool about bringing fictional gadgets and tools to life. Holding a real-life version of something from your favorite game or movie? That’s just an awesome feeling," Wohlfahrt writes. "Now, most of the stuff you recreate probably won't be super useful in day-to-day life. But what if you could build something that actually is useful — and still gives you that nostalgic kick? I've played all the Metro games and totally love them. One gadget really stood out to me: Artyom’s wristwatch. It works as a gas mask timer and a visibility indicator in the game. I thought, 'Hey, this would make a cool first electronics project!' Spoiler: it wasn't."

Wohlfahrt's project is something of a throwback, and not just to the popular Metro series of post-apocalyptic shooters which launched in 2005 with Metro 2033: the reason Wohlfahrt knows it wasn't a good project for an absolute beginner is because he started it when he himself was an absolute beginner. "I failed at it. A lot," he admits. "But now? Things are different. Over the years, I've learned how to design circuits, make PCBs, solder properly, and write code. So now it's finally time to go back to that awesome little gadget… and build it for real."

The replica watch is based on a compact Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 development board, itself featuring the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840. The display uses a quartet of seven-segment LEDs in a fetching yellow, in place of the in-game watch's iconic Nixie tubes. An internal 100mAh battery keeps everything ticking over, with a CR927 battery for teh real-time clock — an Analog Devices DS1302. A circular PCB connects everything together, and a metal mesh completes the simulated Nixie look.

"Like with any project, there's always room for improvement, but at some point, you have to call it finished," Wohlfahrt writes. "I'm really curious to see how it holds up in daily use. I'm optimistic that it'll last far longer than my early attempts. And that's the biggest takeaway here: even if you fail at first, keep going. Keep learning. Then, when you try again, you’ll find the project is much easier with your new skills and knowledge. I learned that the hard way — this is the fifth iteration of this watch. But hey, that's progress!"

The project is documented in full on Instructables; Wohlfahrt has also released source code, schematics, and 3D print files on GitHub under an unspecified license.