Value for Money in Independent Watchmaking – Part 1

This article is the next in Watch Affinity’s series partnering with UK-based independent watchmaking specialist retailer, The Limited Edition, looking to showcase different independent watchmakers and brands to highlight what they have to offer in the ever-expanding watch market, and highlight some examples of value for money in independent watchmaking.

Be sure to read to the end to find out how you can get a little bonus with any order at The Limited Edition as well!

I have previously written about independent watchmaking and how important a part of the world of watches it is, and it was even remarked upon during my interview with industry legend Jean-Claude Biver by the man himself as having a bright future!

This article is the first of three, which will be focusing on independent watchmaking at the more affordable end of the market and showcasing three of the fantastic brands in this sector and some of the watches they have on offer, which represent excellent value for money in independent watchmaking. Hopefully there will be some which catch your eye that you weren’t previously aware of, and who knows, maybe even a future star of the industry!

With all that being said, let’s dive in…

Sartory Billard

Founded in 2015, Sartory Billard is the brainchild and passion project of Armand Billard, who spent years working in the design industry before breaking away into a career in watchmaking to follow his passion. This passion shines through in spades, and the mission of the brand is to bring an intimate and personal touch to the creative process, working directly with collectors to bring their watches to life.

The hero of Sartory Billard watches is undoubtedly the dial, perhaps unsurprising given Billard’s history working in design. Across the current SB04 and SB05 models, there are a multitude of different examples and limited editions which are showcased online, and the beauty of working with an independent watchmaker in this way is that, in essence and within reason, anything is possible – polished dials, brushed dials, different materials (including meteorite and even, more recently, ceramic!), different numerals or design of indices – you name it.

On the inside, each watch uses a fully Swiss ebauche movement, too – either produced by Swiss Technology Production based on the ETA 2824-2 with a 44-hour power reserve, or more recently hand wound movements produced by La Joux Perret, offering a very impressive 90 hours power reserve.

Above all, my favourite thing about Sartory Billard is that your watch is guaranteed to be made specifically for you, by the hands of Armand Billard himself, as he refuses to compromise on his ideals of being involved in each and every creation directly with his clients. This results in a highly personal experience with a tremendous focus on delivering a fully thought-out design where clients can lean on Armand’s design experience. To have a watch crafted by the hands of the artisan themselves is something which is really rare, or simply not possible, away from independent watchmaking, and something which for me adds incredible intrinsic value to a piece.

Depending on the watch and your specific requirements, the SB04 starts from 2900 Euros, and the SB05 a little more at 6400 Euros for a stainless steel case or 6800 Euros for titanium. If you’re so inclined, tantalum (the rarest metal on the planet) or gold cases are also available from 13,000 Euros.

A lovely recent touch as well is the auctioning of a piece unique for the benefit of the Unicef Program for Education, raising an incredible 12,000 Euros for charity.

Learn more: Sartory-Billard.com or follow Sartory Billard on Instagram.

Kudoke

Taking a different tack to Armand Billard, watchmaker Stefan Kudoke harboured the ambition to move into watchmaking from a young age. By the age of 20, Kudoke had completed his initial training as a watchmaker in Frankfurt and watchmaking Glashütte, before qualifying as a master watchmaker three years later in 2001. Before then going on to further his development at Swatch Group brand such as Blancpain, Breguet and Omega. This experience, along with time spent studying business administration, served to prepare Stefan well for launching his own brand, which he achieved in 2005 with the launch of his brand, Kudoke.

Kudoke made his name with skeletonised, engraved watches which constitute more a mechanical work of art than merely a watch. The pieces comprise the Kunstwerk collection, which translates as ‘works of art’. There are several variants available, my personal favourite of which are the KudOktopus and Free KudOktopus – these watches feature an incredibly detailed engraving of an octopus on the dial, with the Free KudOktopus expanding beyond the dial onto the case, as well as featuring two blued tentacles, complete with suction cups, as the hands for telling the time! There are several other beautifully decorated and elegant, skeletonised dial designs as well to explore as well.

In 2018, Kudoke launched his first in-house movement, the distinctive Kaliber 1, with the simultaneous launch of a new Handwerk (translates as ‘handcraft’) collection. This collection offers a more traditional take on watchmaking, with the Kudoke 1 featuring a small-seconds dial at 9 o’clock as inspired by Lepine pocket watches, and the Kudoke 2 which features a contemporary yet traditional looking take on the day-night indication at 12 o’clock – in fact it was this watch which made Stefan Kudoke the first independent watchmaker from Germany to take a GPHG award, winning the GPHG ‘Petite Aiguille’ Award in 2019 for watches priced less than CHF 10,000.

It won’t surprise you to learn that there are multiple options for customisation and personalisation available, and this will of course affect the price of your watch, however as the GPHG award category suggests the vast majority of Kudoke watches are available starting at between £5,000 and £7,000. Considering the attention to detail and hand finishing applied to each watch – again by the artisan himself – I think that these watches offer incredible value for money relative to the wider watch market, and Stefan Kudoke in my personal opinion is certainly one to watch with the potential to become an industry star in future.

Learn more: Kudoke.eu or follow Kudoke Watches on Instagram.

Horage

For the last brand to be highlighted in this article, we’re going to take a look at Horage – an independent brand which has really been making waves in the watch industry in the last few years especially with a mind-boggling value proposition. More on that in a moment, but first let’s take a look at the story of the brand.

Horage is a name created by concatenating the Latin word ‘hora’, meaning ‘time’, and ‘age’ intended to refer to the passing of time. The brand was founded in 2007, presenting their first piece at Baselworld in 2009, before founders Andreas Felsl and Tzuyu Huang decided to park the brand temporarily in light of the global financial crisis and to instead pursue the creation of their own watch movement. This goal was realised in 2015 with the launch of the modular K1 movement, which is today the basis upon which the Horage catalogue is built.

The real eye-catcher was the launch of the Horage Tourbillon 1 in 2020 – featuring an in-house movement with silicon escapement, a titanium tourbillon cage, 5-day power reserve and even certified to COSC accuracy standards. In itself that is more than impressive, but when you consider this is from a small independent brand, and then realise that this was available for CHF 7,000 – less than half the price of the next cheapest tourbillon available (TAG Heuer’s Carrera Heuer 02T at around CHF 16,000) – it becomes frankly quite difficult to wrap your head around.

And yet there is more to the story; when Horage started out on the tourbillon project in 2019, they enlisted the help of La Joux Perret. Having secured a number of pre-orders for the tourbillon, due at the end of 2020, proof that lightning can strike twice – firstly, La Joux Perret pulled out of the project in March 2020 when a new CEO took over the company and withdrew them from the project.

And then to compound the misery further, the world went into lockdown. With no tourbillon movement and a deadline of less than a year, Horage faced an immeasurably difficult uphill struggle to deliver. But did they give in? It wouldn’t be much of a story if they did…

Enlisting the help of the former CEO of La Joux Perret who started the project with them, and leveraging the expertise they had been working on with developing the upcoming K2 calibre, astonishingly the team managed to create this new tourbillon calibre and complete the first production piece just 12 months later.

Just think about this for a moment. A Swiss made, in-house tourbillon movement, designed and developed in just 12 months, readily available from an independent watchmaking brand for CHF 7,000. Absolutely astonishing.

The watch itself looks fantastic, with a skeletonised dial reminiscent of the brand’s logo. The design splits the dial into square segments, some of which are filled, and others which are not reveal some of the inner-workings of the movement including the mainspring and – of course – the tourbillon on display. The case is available in steel or gold, with a 39mm case, 100m water resistance, and 120 hours of power reserve. For a small additional cost, you can even add COSC certification, too. Honestly, this is surely about as full a package as a full package can be.

Horage followed this up just recently with the announcement of their newly developed calibre, K2, to be showcased in a new collection called Supersede. Described as an ‘all terrain GMT’, it is intended as a sports watch with integrated bracelet that is ready for anything you can throw at it; watches in the Supersede collection feature a GMT complication with a day-night indicator, 100m of water resistance with a screw-down crown, 72 hours of power reserve when fully wound, as well as the K2 micro-rotor movement with a silicone escapement.

Having well and truly demonstrated their capability with the Tourbillon 1, Horage are now taking on the micro-rotor movement, and with 4 pre-order phases starting with prices of CHF 4,500 for the earliest orders placed, up to CHF 5,900 for the later orders (and these prices include tax and shipping).

It just goes to show that sometimes, it really isn’t necessary to have the financial clout of the bigger brands to deliver both quality and value for money in the same breath.

Learn more: Horage.info or follow Horage on Instagram.

In Summary

Independent watchmaking can be a difficult field to navigate, with watchmakers and brands that are not often talked about in the mainstream and have to shout far louder to be heard in amongst the rest of the noise. However, just because they are not brands or even individuals that you have heard of is certainly no reason to pass them by.

With this piece, I have showcased 2 independent watchmakers and an independent watch brand, each of whom are doing amazing things, with incredible watches available for well within a £10,000 budget – indeed with this budget you could even get two!

For me, value comes from more than just the cost, and these options in my opinion represent outstanding value for money in independent watchmaking. If a personal, intimate purchasing experience, resulting in a timepiece delivered just as you imagined which has been carefully crafted by the hands of someone who truly cares sounds appealing – time spent navigating the world of indie watchmaking is time very well spent.

If you want to learn more, be sure to visit the brands’ websites as above, and for those of you in the UK you can find these great brands and more with our partners at The Limited Edition.

Be sure to mention “Watch Affinity” when speaking with the team at The Limited Edition to receive a small gift with any order!

If you have any questions, please get in touch via our Contact page, or via our Instagram.

You might also be interested in:

• Independent Watchmaking – An Ode to the Indies
• Spotlight: Schwarz Etienne
• Spotlight: Laventure Transatlantique GMT
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More about Watch Affinity’s Partnership with The Limited Edition

As smaller entities, independent watchmakers and brands are far more susceptible than those with corporate backing to the economic effects that will inevitably be felt following the Covid-19 pandemic, and so I felt it was important for me to try and do something to help.

The result of this was Watch Affinity’s partnership with The Limited Edition, a UK-based retailer specialising in independent watchmaking, and even working directly with indie brands, watchmakers, and collectors to collaborate on unique pieces, too. I will publish regular articles such as this one, shining the Watch Affinity Spotlight on independent watchmaking in an effort to showcase both brands and their timepieces, and spread the word. Pandemic-pending, perhaps even coverage of some exciting events, too!

Co-Founder of The Limited Edition and GPHG Academy member, Pietro Tomajer says:

“The rise of independent watchmaking is, at the time we write this, a fact of life. The appreciation of watch lovers and collectors for the artisanal workshops, the contemporary watchmakers, the alternative brands is remarkable.

“There is a misconception about artisanal independent watchmaking, an aura of inaccessible luxury that has sometimes the power to spook away some true lovers of the art of watchmaking. In this in-depth review Watch Affinity masterfully shed a light on a few makers that make in ‘proposing amazing value’ their score strength.

“With prices ranging from £2000 to £10000, these brands take us to a journey were nothing is impossible, including customised handmade dials, personalised case materials or finishing, to proprietary or in-house manufactured movements and, of course, creative alternative straps, with vegan options taking more and more importance.

“Watch Affinity’s and The Limited Edition’s intention is to take you to a journey where value is not necessary expressed by the retail price of a timepiece, but by the inner value around the timepiece and the work that goes with it. In simple terms, in independent watchmaking there really is a timepiece for everyone, starting from a £500 Raketa to a £800,000.00 Vianney Halter, and in this series of articles we explore the power of affordable independent watchmaking. Enjoy the journey.”

Remember to mention “Watch Affinity” when speaking with the team at The Limited Edition to receive a small gift with any order!