See work Book a call
Work

Cais

NDA

A Shopify theme for a Lisbon watch label: a storefront that draws the watch at life size on your own wrist, and says what the deposit is, before it asks for one.

Built for a client under NDA. We can't reveal the brand, so the name and identity you see here stand in for theirs.

  • NDA
  • Watches
  • Online Store 2.0

Cais, Lisbon theme preview: the home page, starting with the video banner.

Challenge

Cais makes two watches in a Lisbon workshop, at €1,250 and €1,450, and sells them in numbered batches of 300 against a €200 deposit. A watch bought before it exists is bought on size and on trust. The old store sold it like any other: a spec table, a strap dropdown, and a pre-order line that said little about when the watch ships or what happens to the deposit.

  • Size was a row in a table, 38 or 40 mm cases, 46 or 48 mm lug to lug, with no way to see either on a wrist
  • Case, dial and strap were three dropdowns, and one watch was six listings
  • The deposit, the balance and the ship month lived on a policy page
  • A full batch was a dead end, with no word on the next one

The brief was a theme that shows the watch at the size of the shopper's own wrist, says the deposit plainly before the button, and numbers every case.

How we worked

01 Discover: What a shopper needs to see before paying a deposit on a watch they cannot try on

02 Define: Three proto-personas and the journey from a guessed size to a numbered watch

03 Design: Wireframes first, then the storefront, section by section

04 Optimise: The product page, the life-size wrist and how we'd test them

01 · Discover

The brief

Goal
Sell a €1,250 watch before it exists, in numbered batches, to people who cannot try it on and cannot tell from a spec table whether it fits.
Constraint 1
Size is shown, not listed: the watch appears at true scale on a wrist bar the width of the shopper's own wrist.
Constraint 2
Strap, case and dial are choices on one product page, never a dropdown and never a separate listing.
Constraint 3
Every page says what the deposit is, when the balance is due, when the batch ships and that the deposit comes back until it does.
At night on a stone quay, a hand in a grey watch sketches in a notebook beside the water
The first-watch buyer Has a 150 mm wrist and has only seen 42 mm watches on other people.
The spec reader Reads the water rating, the movement and the reserve before the price.
The batch waiter Missed Batch 2 and does not want to pay a deposit for a watch that arrives in five months.

02 · Define

From a guessed size to a numbered watch

  1. The first-watch buyer

    Discover

    DoubtAnother watch site with a spec table?

    MoveA masthead that promises life-size on your screen, a €200 deposit that comes back, and a Lisbon workshop.

  2. The spec reader

    Browse

    DoubtWhich of the two is for me?

    MoveTwo watches, six pieces, and under each one a bar for the wrists it fits, 150 to 190 mm.

  3. The first-watch buyer

    Size

    DoubtWill 38 mm or 40 mm sit inside my wrist?

    MoveHold a bank card to the screen, type your wrist in any form, and the watch is drawn at true size with the lug overhang marked.

  4. The batch waiter

    Reserve

    DoubtWhat exactly am I paying today?

    MoveOne line before the button: €200 deposit, balance before shipping, ships March 2027, refundable until we ship.

  5. The batch waiter

    Wait

    DoubtIs my watch really mine?

    MoveYour case number is fixed when you reserve, and Batch 3 is 300 pieces. If it fills, the next batch opens by email.

03 · Design

Wireframe to storefront

Ten sections, from the life-size bar to the footer, each one the team can move, edit or switch off in the theme editor. Wireframes first, then the design.

Home page, Online Store 2.0 · 10 sections. The home page as an exploded watch: ten layers, from the crystal on top to the caseback underneath, put together caseback first. Each layer is drawn as a wireframe and then as the finished storefront section.

  1. Life-size on your screen, a €200 deposit that comes back, assembled in Lisbon: three promises, no countdown.

  2. Five links, the wordmark centred, and Batch 3 where a sale link used to be.

  3. One watch, one quay at evening, one line: Life-size. Nothing on sale.

  4. Two watches in three tiles, 38 mm, 40 mm and the dive, each with its price under it.

  5. Six pieces from Batch 3, each with a wrist bar for the wrists it fits.

  6. The bank-card step, explained in two lines, over the watch on a wrist.

  7. The workshop: the bench, the numbered case back and the service, one line each.

  8. Three notes on size, how a batch is built and reading lume at the quay.

  9. Batch notes: one email when a batch opens, nothing else.

  10. Shop, fit, care and help, with life-size and the wrist guide in their own column.

01 · Crystal Announcement bar Life-size on your screen, a €200 deposit that comes back, assembled in Lisbon: three promises, no countdown.

02 · Bezel Header Five links, the wordmark centred, and Batch 3 where a sale link used to be.

03 · Dial Video banner One watch, one quay at evening, one line: Life-size. Nothing on sale.

04 · Hands Collection list Two watches in three tiles, 38 mm, 40 mm and the dive, each with its price under it.

05 · Movement Featured collection Six pieces from Batch 3, each with a wrist bar for the wrists it fits.

06 · Rotor Image with text The bank-card step, explained in two lines, over the watch on a wrist.

07 · Mainplate Multicolumn The workshop: the bench, the numbered case back and the service, one line each.

08 · Gasket Blog posts Three notes on size, how a batch is built and reading lume at the quay.

09 · Case Newsletter Batch notes: one email when a batch opens, nothing else.

10 · Caseback Footer Shop, fit, care and help, with life-size and the wrist guide in their own column.

04 · Optimise

The product page, decision by decision

A watch reserved before it is made is bought on trust and on size. Each number marks a decision on the product page and the reason for it.

  1. Case, dial, lug to lug and thickness sit under the name in a single line, with the price and the deposit beside it.

  2. 38 or 40 mm as two choices, three dials as swatches: one watch is one page, never six.

  3. Rubber, leather or bracelet, each with its price, and Show it life-size on my wrist beside them. No dropdown.

  4. 46 mm lug to lug on a 165 mm wrist leaves 4 mm each side, in one card before the button, with your wrist one tap away.

  5. Deposit, balance, ship month and refund terms in one line, where the doubt is and not on a policy page.

  6. Reserve · €200 deposit is the only filled button, with the total under it; asking the workshop is a plain link.

Cais, Lisbon product page buy box, six numbered decisions: 1. The spec, in one line; 2. Case and dial under the name; 3. Strap as chips, then life-size; 4. Fits you; 5. The batch, said plainly; 6. One filled button.

04 · Optimise

Life-size

Three steps from the theme, in order: calibrate the screen, give your wrist, pick the strap. The watch is drawn at true size and the total follows every choice.

Step 1: Calibrate

Hold any bank card against the outline and slide until it matches

On this screen 1 mm = 3.8 px

Step 2: Your wrist

6.5 in · 16.5 cm · 165 mm, any form Wrists run about 120–230 mm. Width across the top of the wrist is taken as a third of the circumference.

Type your wrist and the watch is drawn to it

Step 3: Strap and reserve

€1,370 with the leather strap · balance in March

Batch 3 · €200 deposit · balance before shipping · refundable until we ship

Hold a bank card to the screen and the watch is shown at its true size.

Design tokens

The bezel insert

Headings & wordmark · Spectral Light

Life-size.

Interface · Public Sans

Two watches · Assembled in Lisbon

Specs & prices · Public Sans Medium

Cais Um · 38 mm €1,250

Colour

Components

Reserve · €200 deposit; Life-size

€1,250 Life-size on your screen · Ships March 2027

04 · Optimise

How we'd test it

These are the first three experiments we'd run after launch, and what each one has to prove.

  1. Week1

    If
    the watch is drawn at true size on a wrist bar the width of the shopper's own wrist
    Then
    more shoppers who reach the product page reserve
    Because
    size is seen, not inferred from a 38 mm in a table
    Metric
    Reserve rate from product page
    Guardrail
    Deposit refund requests

  2. Week2

    If
    the fit card states the lug to lug against the wrist, in millimetres, above the button
    Then
    fewer reservations are changed from one case size to the other
    Because
    the 4 mm each side is known before the deposit is paid
    Metric
    Case changes after reserving
    Guardrail
    Reserve rate

  3. Week3

    If
    one line states deposit, balance, ship month and refund terms before the button
    Then
    more started reservations are completed
    Because
    the shopper knows what leaves the account today and what comes back
    Metric
    Deposit completion rate
    Guardrail
    Refund requests before shipping
Next case study Qadam A Shopify theme for an Agra women's shoe label: a storefront that finds your size in every last, says how each one fits and makes the exchange its own risk. Read the case study

Ship it Built
for Shopify.

Book a call