BlacktipSV

Sony CMD‑Z1

Illustration · 2020 · 3D illustration · Fusion 360

Sony’s first GSM phone, from 1997 — rebuilt in Fusion 360 down to the last rubber keymat and jog‑dial notch.

The CMD‑Z1 was Sony’s first GSM handset, launched in 1997. A fat, jog‑wheeled little brick that felt more like a hi‑fi remote than a phone — and the direct ancestor of the later Ericsson collaborations. I still own mine, so I sat down with a pair of digital calipers and modelled it from the actual object — then kept finding excuses to add one more detail.

Details

Rubber, plastic, aluminium

Every keycap is its own transparent dome with a rubber underside, each lit from the inside. The jog‑dial clicks into 12 positions. I know, because I modelled them all.

The jog dial and the bright red REC/PLAY button. Answering machine built into the phone — very 1997.
Close‑up on the keypad — glossy polycarbonate domes over a soft‑touch mat, with micro‑serif labels under each cap.