Trouble modeling this tricky piece

[aljaz8888]

Hi guys.

I am making a realistic model of a mechanical watch and I just can’t figure out how to approach making this piece:

How would you suggest I go about creating all those holes and extrusions in a circle/cylinder?
The topology is not that important as the piece will not deform. It just has to be accurate in shape and look nice for close shots. I don’t care if subdivision surface is used or not as long as the end result looks good.

I have tried everything I could think of and I just can’t get clean results without weird artifacts or broken shading so I ask for your help.

Thanks in advance!

[Larssonklaksson]

This really isn’t as difficult as it looks. I did something similar some time ago and as you can see below, ended up just having bunch of n-gons cut into the surface. Used relatively high-poly circles to avoid needing subsurf.
The fact that it’s bunch of flat surfaces helps a lot. That and inserting supporting edgeloops and bevels to appropriate edges should help you prevent the shading issues.