Back in December, we told you about one of the most curious projects to come across our desks in a long time. A new watch from a new brand, Kollokium, began making the rounds on social media and the watch-internet in the days and weeks following Dubai Watch Week. Everything about it seemed almost intentionally mysterious and vague, and their marketing materials, if you could even call them that, pointed to the watch’s so limited it’s impossible to buy friends and family run, and didn’t even guarantee a second installment. Obviously, this worked hugely in Kollokium’s favor, and watch enthusiasts with adventurous taste have been anxiously anticipating a follow up. Now it’s here, the aptly titled Variant “B”.
A brief refresher on Kollokium for those who need it: it’s the brainchild of Manuel Emch, Barth Nussbaumer, and Amr Sindi, three watch industry veterans who each come from a different side of the larger watch world. Emch will be familiar to many as the CEO of Louis Erard, and has guided that brand to new heights in the last several years with a string of popular limited editions and smart collaborations. Nussbaumer might be less well known by name, but is someone you’ve almost certainly encountered through his watch designs – he’s worked for many brands over the years, including TAG Heuer, Hautlence, Peterman Bedat, Jaquet Droz, and many others. And Sindi is better known by his Instagram alias @thehorophile, one of our favorite spots to look at great photos of incredible watches from independent brands. Kollokium is their effort to build something from scratch themselves after contributing bits and pieces to other more established brands throughout their careers.
The new Variant “B” release is very much in the same vein as the original Kollokium release, but with a significant color change. The dial is made up of 468 cylindrical markers in six different diameters and heights that have been meticulously placed to form what appear to be hour “markers” but are of course just undulations in the array of tiny cylinders. In the first release, those cylinders were tipped with an orange colored lume compound, but here they glow blue. Other details have held over from that first release, though. The case is still steel and has been made through a die-casting process with no CNC machining, and the crystal takes a central role in the watch’s visual presentation as there’s no bezel, so the cylindrical shape of the glass gives the wearer a dramatic view of those cylindrical markers from the side.
We had a chance to see the Variant “B” prototype in Geneva back in April, as well as meet with three co-owners of the brand, and I left very impressed with how they’ve pulled off this design. Pictures don’t really do the dial’s depth justice. It has a strange organic quality to it that is rather unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s very easy to read but also has you questioning your vision as nothing appears “sharp” like we’re trained to expect on a watch dial. Emch, Barth, and Sindi are also just incredibly enthusiastic about the project – don’t let the “This is where it all begins – and maybe ends” bit on their website fool you. They’re proud of this watch, as they should be. They’re very much part of the new class of interesting independent watch brands offering something genuinely unique and experimental at a fair price point, and this release throws the gauntlet somewhat, announcing Kollokium as a real player.
The Variant “B” will be available on May 22 at a retail price of CHF 2,666.66. It’ a limited edition of 199 pieces. Kollokium
