Preview of Upcoming Watches For My Collection
Three intriguing pieces from top independents and one classic model from Rolex
Patience is a virtue for watch enthusiasts and collectors as watchmaking is a craft that takes time. Waiting for the timepieces we desire just takes a lot longer nowadays for various reasons. First, the demands for mechanical watches have skyrocketed as more people are joining this hobby perhaps due to the influence of social media. The waitlists are common for many sought-after watch models. The independent watchmakers are much more popular today compared to just 1-2 years ago, but they tend to produce very low volumes. Lastly, the supply chain issues caused by the pandemic often add to the manufacturing schedules. The end result is that we have to wait significantly longer for our watches.
The wait makes us appreciate the hard-work and collaborations that go into each beautiful watch. The anticipation adds to the enjoyment when the timepieces finally arrive. While looking forward to the future additions to my collection, it is hard to keep them as secrets and wait for 1-2 years before being able to write about them for my Newsletter. So, I decided to present a preview of four incoming watches to share my excitement and joy in pulling the triggers and waiting patiently for their arrivals.
Gronefeld 1941 Principia Automatic Turquoise Dial
The horological brothers Bart and Tim are rock stars to the world’s lovers of independent watchmaking. Their uncompromising craftsmanship and beautiful movement designs have set them clearly apart, since their brand’s founding in 2008. Their watches have won the GPHG awards and nominations multiple times.
For high-end independent brands, my collecting strategy has been acquiring their entry level models when possible (mainly due to financial constraints). This approach has served me well as I added F.P. Journe Chronomètre Souverain and De Bethune DB27 V2 Titan Hawk to my collection. Therefore, I set my sight on the 1941 Principia Automatic which was released in 2019. In Sept 2021, due to overwhelming demands for the Principia, the Gronefeld brothers had to close the order book. The lead time had stretched to 3 years, which would impact the new model development and hurt customer experience. It was the only responsible thing to do and what a classic act that the brothers had encouraged collectors to look at other independent brands. Very fortunately for me, I have placed an order with my AD in March 2021, when the waitlist was about 2 years.
One very nice thing about the Principia was the options for personalization. The collectors may choose from 3 case materials, 5 dial colors and 6 strap designs. My watch will come with a turquoise dial, a stainless steel case and a blue buffalo orange stitching strap. The case diameter is 39.5mm and the thickness is 10.5mm, which are perfect for most people. The automatic movement is finished and assembled by hand with 56 hours of power reserve.
Rolex DateJust 36 Green Palm
In early April 2021, Rolex announced four new models of Datejust 36 featuring new “palm” and “fluted” dial motifs. The palm motif with tropical leaves was presented in 3 colorways: olive green, gold and silver gray. I fell in love with the green palm right away, intrigued by the fun, summer theme that was not typical Rolex. I had never owned a Datejust, perhaps the most classic and elegant Rolex. The green palm model just looked like such a unique and wonderful piece to experience this iconic creation.
I waited two months to visit the local boutique, as it would take some time for the new watches to be released to ADs. No palm Datejust in store, as I expected. To my surprise, the saleslady told me that I could make a “special order” to get this piece! I pulled the trigger without any hesitation. Another surprise was that I could choose from 4 variations of the green palm in stainless steel. The choices were doomed (smooth) bezel or fluted bezel, oyster bracelet or jubilee bracelet. I selected the smooth bezel and jubilee bracelet.
The wait started and it has been 8 months now. I do have a good feeling that this one is coming soon!
Lang & Heyne Hektor
Retired Professor Bill Sander has a prolific watch channel on YouTube called WatchArtSci beginning in 2016, where he produces 2-3 videos a week. Bill admired Lang & Heyne and its founder Marco Lang tremendously. His enthusiasm is absolutely contagious. I knew that I wanted to add a timepiece from this top German brand to my collection and was just waiting for the right model to come along.
When Hektor, a sporty watch with integrated bracelet, was announced in early October 2021, I knew instantly that this one was for me. For a person loving outdoor activities and having been working from home, I just found myself gravitating towards sporty watches. I love dress watches too, but they stay more time on the winders than on my wrists. As this is a brand new collection from Lang & Heyne, only 99 pieces would be made for the initial release, 33 in each color of gray, blue and green. I jumped on the opportunity and I was lucky to get an allocation for a green dial piece.
The stunning movement was another reason for my quick decision. The Caliber 33.2 is truly in-house as it was developed at UWD (Uhren-Werke-Dresden) under Marco Lange. The UWD 33.1 may be found in Josh Shapiro’s Infinity Series as well as Sinn’s high end dress watch 6200 Meisterbund. Note that the petticoat shape is visible in both dial and movement.
The wait started and I have been checking Instagram hashtag #langheynehektor for any pictures posted by new owners. The pictures from the lucky early owners were stunning, which validated my decision to go for it. I look forward to my turn to post the pictures later this year, fingers crossed.
Kudoke 2 with Mother of Pearl Dial
Stefan Kudoke is a talented independent watchmaker from Germany who won the highly competitive GPHG “Petite Aiguille” award in 2019, with his exquisite Kudoke 2. He is one of the 34-member AHCI, the most prestigious association of the world’s top independent watchmakers. Stefan has collaborated with Richard Habring, another top watchmaker on his movement development (see my review of a Habring2 piece).
When the Kudoke 2 Bauhinia Edition in collaboration with its AD in Hong Kong was released in August 2021, I fell in love with it right away. The main attraction of this 10-piece limited edition for me is the stunning Tahiti Mother of Pearl dial. I have become a sucker for MOP dial after owning the F.P. Journe Chronomètre Souverain Nacre and the Sinn U50 with a MOP dial. The color changing dials are just so mesmerizing and out of this world.
Unfortunately, the 10-piece edition sold out very quickly, before the news reached me. Seeing my disappointment, a collector friend encouraged me to contact Kudoke directly. Ev Kudoke, Stefan’s wife and business partner, replied to me quickly. Email exchanges over a few days led to a Kudoke 2 with a white MOP just for me. There were quite a few options to personalize as well including the decoration on the movement.
I’m a very lucky man to have such sublime timepieces being made for me and coming in the next 1-2 years. Good things come to those who wait, which is quite suitable for watch lovers and collectors. I look forward to the time when I may write my hands-on reviews for these wonderful timepieces.