Stefan Kudoke’s passion for watchmaking handcraft began at an early age when two skilled master craftsmen imbued in him an appreciation and love of the mechanical processes of timekeeping. Although not born into a long family tradition in watchmaking, Stefan finished his studies by graduating with honors. He continued to study and refine his skills at the Glashütte Original manufacture in the studio for complications and prototypes. He then continued his professional development in the service department for Breguet, Blancpain, and Omega in New York. But that is not the end of the story.
His thirst for knowledge and artisanal refinement was hardly slaked when he achieved the Master Craftsman Certificate at the age of 22. Inspired by this passion, and bolstered by his studies in economics and finance, the young master watchmaker set upon the independent path of designing and creating his own watches under the eponymous brand Kudoke. This is the cornerstone of Kudoke craftsmanship: harnessing the best of traditional watchmaking techniques to explore the imagination and creativity of the watchmaker and his clients.
After the incredible success of the award-winning watch Kudoke 2 presented last year, Stefan Kudoke now introduces an enchanting 20-piece limited edition of this model in 2020.
While the original Kudoke 2 shines with a silver-white dial, this year‘s limited edition is grounded in a new galvanic-anthracite dial that evokes the night sky of the extraordinary 24-hour display at 12 o‘clock. This 39 mm watch features a dial that changes dramatically from light grey to black and white, depending on lighting conditions. The hand-engraved, domed sky disc is galvanically treated in an elaborate process with the colors of yellow gold and black and white rhodium. Polished hands together with applied rhodium-plated chapter rings form the frame that is at once contrasting and consonant with the nocturnal tones of this very special piece in the Kudoke HANDwerk line.
The surprises continue to the case back where a new version of the manual winding Kaliber 1 24-hour movement hearkens the nighttime theme. The hand-finished movement is presented in white rhodium, a stark inversion of the standard caliber traditionally finished in yellow gold. The balance bridge also finished in white rhodium, bears the quintessential infinity mark of the HANDwerk series, but on a background that is hand-hammered and hand-finished. Matching the year 2020, only 20 pieces of this special watch are available worldwide.
With his first own movement, Stefan has fulfilled his dream. Valuable lessons were drawn from the old masters, specifically those of the German-English traditional handcraft of precision watchmaking. "During the development of the Kaliber 1, I was inspired by the design of historical English pocket watches whose use of forms I incorporated into my movement. Ages ago I bought an old English pocket watch movement that lay unused in a drawer for a long time. One day it fell into my hands again, just as the idea of Kaliber 1 began to take shape."
As with his skeleton models, Stefan Kudoke sets great value upon the refinement of the watch components by hand. Be it the polishing of edges at bridges or steel parts, the engravings, or the surface treatment of the wheel bridge using a special grinding technology – all steps during the finishing process are carried out by hand exclusively. This is how handcrafted pieces of art are created - in small volumes and with great care and attention to detail.
Sticker Price €8,665 Euro —approximately $9,800 USD. For more info on Kudoke click here.
