Greetings, human. With my hand-engraved 24h disc and infinity-tipped hand-blued hour hand, I could only be the Kudoke 2. Image © Kudoke

I am made in Germany, have a hand-engraved balance cock, an in-house movement, frosting on my plates, and an elegant, understated dial. At this point, I can probably imagine what you think I am. But you’re wrong. So I’ll give you a final hint: my dial does not bear the name of a long fossilized master watchmaker of centuries past. My father is not only alive, but young, and very much kicking. I am the one and only Kudoke 2.

I have nothing against industrialized watches. Some are very good, and I am friends with many of them. But I always felt a bit lonely in life, because I don’t often find other watches who are the direct result of one master watchmaker’s singular vision. They don’t teach us watches much about human psychology, but I believe that’s one reason why collectors love me. They know that behind my creation are two wonderful human beings: Stefan and Ev Kudoke, who dedicate their entire day and all their effort to crafting some of the finest watches ever made.

Stefan and Ev Kudoke with the author in the middle, who seems to be having a tough time concealing his joy.

That said, I think the best way for you to understand who I am is to explain a few things about my dad. He is a master watchmaker, but leaving it at that would not do the man justice. I think what has always driven him is an insatiable curiosity and appetite for learning, a courage to try new things, learn new skills, and perfect his craft. I don't think anybody told him that the Renaissance period ended a few centuries ago, because he lives his life as a prime example of a modern renaissance man: part artist, designer, engineer, watchmaker, businessman.

My dad in his natural state of being.

In terms of watchmaking, dad started his career working in the complications and prototyping atelier of Glashutte Original, where he was routinely tasked with creating innovative and challenging movements. Later on, he worked in the servicing department of Breguet, Blancpain and Omega, where he would often repair, re-assemble, and re-regulate highly complicated timepieces. When he took the leap and started his own watch company, his curiosity led him to teach himself the art of skeletonization -where plates and bridges are sawed off by hand and then finished to create a beautiful open-worked effect. Skeletonization is not something anyone learns in watchmaking school. It is very much a rare and lost craft that very few watchmakers come to master. Its difficulty is two-fold: first, it is hard to design a skeletonized movement that maintains visual, aesthetic balance. But second, and perhaps even harder, one must cut away enough material to arrive at the desired shapes, while minimizing loss of the movement’s structural rigidity properties. If you fancy skeletonization, check out my siblings in the "Kunstwerk" collection. Naturally, having mastered one rare and nearly lost craft, he moved on to teaching himself another -one that is itself an entire metier in the world of watchmaking: hand engraving. This is almost always done by a specialist engraver, not a watchmaker. In fact, you can probably count in one hand the number of master watchmakers who are able to hand engrave themselves.

Speaking of hand-engraving, notice anything special about my balance cock? Image © Kudoke

In addition to his studies in watchmaking, he also studied business, which hopefully means that he can find a way to keep making watches like me for a very long time. And, believe it or not, he designs the cases for all his watches so that they can be worn comfortably by any wrist, which is no easy feat to accomplish. I think it’s because he loves my mom and wants her to be able to wear all the watches he makes.

As you can imagine, dad would not exactly be satisfied buying a movement from a supplier and maybe adding his own touches in terms of hand-finishing or hand-engraving, regulating it, putting his name on the dial and calling it a day. Obviously, he needed to design his own, in-house movement. This dream of his came true with the Kudoke Kaliber 1. While everyone and their mother would expect his movement to feature the typical design of a German kaliber with a Glashutte ¾ plate, which harks back to movements made in Germany centuries ago, he wanted to be different. Inspired by an old English pocket watch he had in his workshop, he created a movement with a totally different, yet still classical and efficient architecture. The Kaliber 1 features a large, hand-engraved balance cock found on top of the mainplate, rather than beside it. It has a unique and distinctive design, making any Kudoke watch instantly recognizable from the movement side alone. Hand finishing abounds, with frosting on the mainplate, beveled and polished edges, and traditionally heat-blued and polished screws, as well as circular graining and colimaconnage. There is also a beautifully finished nameplate bearing a hand-engraved "Kudoke Germany", with its edges beveled and its surface finely brushed to perfection, though in my mind my movement is so distinctive you don't need that nameplate to remind you who made it! Customization is also a distinct possibility, allowing my collectors to choose how they would like their movement: fully hand-engraved, partially skeletonized, hand frosted, hand engine-turned with traditional guillochage, and probably other choices too if you ask my dad politely.

The Kaliber 1 in-house movement in standard form. Image © Kudoke

The Kaliber 1 in-house movement in part-skeletonized form. Image © Kudoke

The Kaliber 1 in-house movement in fully relief hand-engraved form. Image © Kudoke

The Kaliber 1 in-house movement in fully relief hand-engraved and part-skeletonized form. Image © Kudoke

But enough about my dad. Let’s talk about me. I am the Kudoke 2 (you better use your thumb and index finger for two, not a peace sign). I am the second child of the Handwerk collection, and the second watch featuring the in-house movement. What sets me apart from my Handwerk siblings (the Kudoke 1 and Kudoke 3) is my 24 hour time complication, which also doubles as a day-night indication, and features a beautifully hand-engraved disc on the subdial at 12 o’clock. In 2019 I was nominated for a watchmaking Oscar, the Petit Aiguille prize in the prestigious GPHG. Although there was very fierce competition in my category from large watchmaking behemoth brands and small watchmakers alike, I won! Seeing my parents receive the prize on stage, in front of the entire watch industry, made me extremely happy and proud, especially because I am the only watch from a family-owned independent German brand to have ever won it. It also felt good to know that the panel of expert GPHG judges recognized my value and the craftsmanship that goes into making me. Perhaps even more importantly, however, it introduced me to an ever larger group of passionate collectors, whose wrists I hope to adorn for a long time.

Mom and dad receiving my Oscar, the 2019 GPHG Petit Aiguille prize.

Now that you have gotten to know me, I feel comfortable enough to share a secret with you: I am by no means cheap, but I also do not cost an arm and a leg. Contrary to what you might expect from a watch made with such a degree of hand craftsmanship and sporting an in-house movement, I am priced from 10,440EUR. To put this into perspective, Horisti’s software engineers spent years developing an algorithm to objectively quantify horological value. When they entered my characteristics in their database to calculate a score relative to all other luxury watches, it nearly broke their system. I can proudly tell you that I hold the Horisti record for horological value for money, and I have a feeling I will be holding it for quite some time. One day I sat on my dad’s wrist and he introduced me to a science humans refer to as “economics”. Well, human economists have this thing they call consumer surplus, which is a measure of the difference between a product’s price and the utility a buyer enjoys from it. Since I am not just a product, but a high horology timepiece, let us call it "collector surplus". My owners tell me that the collector surplus I offer is the largest they have ever seen. To be honest, I don’t care much about economics, but I live for making my collectors happy, and hopefully this means that I can be enjoyed by a larger group of humans, not just from far away on an Instagram wristshot, or from a booth at an exhibition, but on their very own wrist.

Me wearing a galvano-black dial. Image © Kudoke

Me wearing a salmon dial. Image © Kudoke

Me wearing a deep blue dial. Image © Kudoke

Me wearing a rhodium dial. Image © Kudoke

Me wearing a yellow gold dial. Image © Kudoke

Me wearing a bright mother of pearl dial. Image © Kudoke

As a parting gift, allow me to let you ponder the following: how often can you meet the person who is responsible for crafting a high horology timepiece bearing their name on the dial? How often can you visit their workshop, meet and greet the watchmakers who made your very watch? And how often can you ask for a custom little detail to make your watch truly a unique piece, without having to forgo a year’s salary?

It was lovely to meet you,

I, the Kudoke 2.