”Hello. My name is Kristian Haagen. I am a Linde Werdelin owner”. I imagine this is the future scenario for Linde Werdelin owners. Meeting in smelly school gyms, drinking horrid coffee and acting as if this was yet another AA meeting.

But why comparing the ownership of Linde Werdelin watches with an AA meeting? Well, the dang watches grow on you and you have a hard time limiting your horological collection with a single SpidoLite, Oktopus, 3-Timer or even Hard Black I / II. You become a Linde Werdelin addict!

Well...at least I did. Starting out with a simple Elemental, then adding the cool Hard Black I of only 22 made. And now drooling like a mad man (not referring to the brilliant TV-show, mind you) by the windows of the Danish Linde Werdelin dealer, Franz Jaeger & Me in central Copenhagen.

New Kids On The Block
The Danish company may be in the league of upcoming youngsters. However, since their first attendance at Basel World 2009, the curiousity of the brand has made quite a few online discussion fora buzz with excitement.

The buzz is well deserved. The featherlight titanium SpidoLite with the Svend Andersen modified movement had me wonder what other watches from my collection I could sell to make this fantastic critter mine.

However the black DLC Oktopus was yet another cool alternative. Not to mention the latest colorful 3-Timers, taking inspirations from the timely Singapore F1. Only nine produced of each color, red or yellow. Or the impossibly cool Oktopus Moonphase with the seductive good looks and perfect fit on my slender wrist. Every new release from Linde Werdelin painstakingly reminds me of Oscar Wilde's clever words: ”I can resist everything but temptation”.

The list of ”I Want That Linde Werdelin” is getting longer. The list is even transforming from Want to Need. A dangerous route to follow, admittedly.

Horological Drug
The small Danish watch company only have a line of five different models and an annual production of approx 1/425 of Rolex. But I want to own them all.

Now...when is the next meeting?

~ Jorn & Morten: Kristian is well known for his horological passion and knowledge in the Scandinavian countries and among the international watch communities. His views and opinions are regarded by many and recognised by various worldwide publications. He has become a friend of LW over the years. We highly value his views and are honoured to feature him as our first guest-writer for "Me & My LW".

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~ Morten:

I'd say, every piece we create is special. So why do we have Special Editions?

For the uninitiated, you may think creating a new model in one of our existing watch families is just a matter of changing the colour of the dial, changing small details, then 'voilà!'...or the Brits would say 'Bob's your uncle!'

The truth is, it doesn't get easier and there is no short-cut. Not for Linde Werdelin anyway. A lot of our designs are done through hands-on development. Every piece requires a full technical study from scratch. Each goes through the same process from R&D to final tests before it hits the market.

Recently we have produced the Racing Series for our retail partner, E’Collezione, for the Singaporean customers. Consider it a fun project on the side for LW. The design was inspired by the leather pattern for a race car’s steering wheel and driving gloves, when 3-Timer was chosen for this special series to be launched in August/September. The red and yellow colours are typically seen in F1 races.  So you can see, it’s just a special project inspired by a timely event, not a LW creation for the event.

Let me show you a quick run through of the design in a short video below.

We will be doing more commissions for our partners. They are not part of our Collections and are only available through specific partners, hence Special Editions. They are fun to do as they bring in fresh inspirations from outside The Lab and create the challenge to maintain the LW DNA beyond our Collections.

Check out the 360º of the Racing Yellow and Racing Red. Enjoy!

~ Morten:

The 3-Timer dark green dial complements our GMT series particularly after the successful launch of the brown dial version, now sold out. The idea of using different colour dials appeals to me, especially for a model like the 3-Timer the most refined watch of our collection, as I love the way the dial pattern reflects light.

On this note, I will leave you with a video we’ve done here in Copenhagen I hope you will enjoy watching… and as always I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.

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Ending on a High Note

~ Jorn:

August in general is a quiet month in the watch industry though here at our London HQs, our daily pace has far from slowed down! We are getting ready with new launches coming soon and events we will keep you posted on in due time, so I should say no more...!

So if you happen to pass by one of our favourite spots here in Notting Hill ‘The Westbourne’, you might just find us there having a drink after a day’s work and enjoying what has been a fantastic summer in London!

Enjoy it!

~ Morten:

Quality is always found in the detail… one can really feel - or rather hear(!) - the level of quality of a timepiece by closely listening to the clicking sound of the turning bezel.

When I first started working on the design of the 3-Timer and Oktopus it was clear to me I wanted to find the best bezel mechanisms for those models.

Under the 3-Timer bezel lies a metal mechanism comprised of a roller type of ball and a spring. When turning the bezel, the ball ensures a smooth movement as well as durability of the mechanism itself.

[Above: a cross-section of the 3 Timer case] 

For the unidirectional bezel of the Oktopus I chose the solid ratchet mechanism. Made of metal parts only, this mechanism is perfect for our diver watch series. 

So, next time you turn the bezel of your LW Oktopus or 3-Timer do take a minute to actually feel and listen to its ‘clicks’!

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