A Custom Watch Order Started as a Fun Idea. Then It Became More.

A couple of years ago, Yoni Ben-Yehuda, whose extensive watch collection includes a handful of modern and vintage Cartier pieces, decided to create and design a watch with the house as a special order.

His plan was to buy one himself and — independent of his job as head of watches at Material Good, a luxury retailer with locations in New York City, Miami Beach and Dallas — to invite some friends and fellow collectors to buy it, too.

The design included an unusual dial with numerals from alphabets including Arabic, Hebrew and Mandarin — there was even a runic five because, he said, the “lost language is sexy, interesting and visually appealing.” Mr. Ben-Yehuda wanted the range to represent what he described as the bond that a shared love of horology created among people of different cultures.

With that in mind, he called the watch, unofficially, Timepeace, intentionally using the unconventional spelling.

“When I started this process, Timepeace was a cute name that spoke to the reverence that I have for the community,” he said, sitting in his office in Lower Manhattan. “Now, Timepeace feels like it’s embedded with a lot of meaning and the importance of finding common ground.”