After the incredible success of the award-winning watch KUDOKE 2 presented last year, Stefan Kudoke now introduces an enchanting limited edition of this model in 2020 – KUDOKE 2 Nocturne.
While the original KUDOKE 2 shines with a silver-white dial, this year‘s limited edition is grounded in a new galvano-anthracite dial that evokes the night sky of the extraordinary 24-hour display at 12 o‘clock. This watch face 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 colours 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 caseback where a new version of the manual winding KALIBER 1-24h movement hearkens the nighttime theme. The hand-finished movement is presented in white rhodium, a stark inversion of the standard calibre 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, only 20 pieces of this special watch are available worldwide.
The limited-edition model is priced at 8,665 EUR (excl. VAT) as is the original KUDOKE 2.
About Kudoke
„More than 15 years ago, I said to my wife, ‘I have a crazy idea: I will manufacture my own watches!’“ At that time, Stefan Kudoke was a student who already had finished his master watchmaker’s degree and had worked at renowned brands like Glashütte Original, Breguet, and Blancpain before.
With the founding of his eponymous brand in 2008, Stefan pursued his dream full-time and made a name for himself as a creator of exceptionally artistic hand-skeletonized and hand-engraved timepieces among his KUNSTwerk collection. Of the emergence of his second collection, the HANDwerk line, Stefan explained, “After more than 10 years, I refined my skeletonizing skills to their utmost, and I found myself in a position where I wanted to develop my watchmaking skills further. To use old techniques and keep the practical know-how of traditional watchmaking alive has always been very important to me.” And he brought this to fruition with the first two models of his new collection: KUDOKE 1 & 2.
With his first own movement, Stefan has fulfilled his dream. Valuable lessons were drawn from the old masters, specifi cally 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.
KUDOKE 2 Nocturne Technical Specifications and Price
Movement
- Kaliber 1-24H,
- Manual winding
- Indication of hours, minutes and 24 hours at 12 o‘clock
- Diameter 30 mm
- Height 5.05 mm
- Power reserve: 46 hours
- 18 jewels
- Frequency: 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour
Finishes and decorations
- White rhodium-plated bridges traditionally finished by hand
- Hand-grinding method to finish the movement bridge
- Balance cock hand-hammered and engraved with infinity symbolPolishing the edges by hand
- Hand-applied snail-finish on the wheel
- Hand-engraved yellow gold plated nameplate
Dial
- Galvano-anthracite
- Frosted dial with two rhodinised chapter rings and logo plaque applied
- 24h-indication at 12 o‘clock with hand-engraved day & night disc
Hands
- Polished infinity shaped hands
Case
- Stainless steel
- Diameter: 39 mm
- Height 10.7 mm
- Sapphire glass on top and caseback
- Water-resistant up to 5 atm
- Onion crown
Strap & Buckle
- Graphite grey alligator leather strap with signed stainless steel pin buckle
Price
- 8,665 EUR (excl. VAT)
