Interconnecting The British and German Watchmaking: Kudoke and The Limited Edition present an elegant English variant of time: Kudoke 2
4 min read
Curator of all things fine and collectable, The Limited Edition, UK collaborates with GPHG winner Kudoke to co-create a watch that truly embodies their native watch-making styles, the Kudoke 2—British Heritage is definitely a piece to covet and commend.
Dreamt through 365+ days of development, the Kudoke 2—British Heritage is a tribute to seventeenth-century master Thomas Mudge, whose work in the advancement of chronometry was endorsed and supported by German astronomer Hans Moritz von Brühl, establishing a connection which is revisited in this magnificent limited edition wristwatch.
Featuring period finishing techniques, and lavishly embellished with the style of elaborate hand engraving which defined Mudge’s work, The Limited Edition and Kudoke wanted to conjoin the Saxon and British style of watchmaking to christen this collaboration.
“Working with emerging talented watchmaker Stefan Kudoke to unleash the historical link between Saxon and British watchmaking was one of the most fulfilling projects we have been involved with. It really gives a warm sense of belonging and it is amazing to be able to leave a small mark in the glorious world of artisanal watchmaking”, Pietro Tomajer, The Limited Edition.
"The interesting part with collabs is to learn about new aspects be it in history, design or crafts. With the start of our partnership with TLE in 2020 it was perfectly clear we had to incorporate the rich history of British watchmaking into a common edition. Fortunately I was quite familiar with some aspects as the inspiration for the architecture of Kaliber 1 actually came from an ancient British pocket watch movement. I very much enjoyed working with Pietro and the TLE team on this great project and hope there will be 30 happy new owners of a piece of independent watchmaking!", Stefan Kudoke.
Encased in a 39mm case of stainless steel, the sapphire crystal overarches the pale golden-beige tone of the dial and has a fine grenage finish, which is evocative of the frosted effect preferred by many English watchmakers of the mid-1700s. At 6 o’clock lies a domed day/night disc which is hand-engraved, galvanised in gold and black and white rhodium, and rotates in a twenty-four-hour cycle, depicting the sky as it changes. The golden star is a nod to the motif of The Limited Edition and indicates the time of day. The numerals and dot indices are applied in a deep blue lacquer and complement the rich tone of the heat-blued hour and minute hands, the former of which features the Kudoke Handwerk signature ‘infinity’ symbol.
Powered by the in-house Kaliber 1-24H manual winding movement, which is decorated to perfection with ornate floral engraving which adorns the wheel bridge to capture and plays with the light, accentuating the meticulous craftsmanship. With a 46-hour power reserve, only thirty numbered examples of this very special edition will be manufactured, making it truly a Limited Edition Kudoke.
