Independent watchmaking is still very much in its ascendency. I’m not about to say that the big marquee groups – LMVH, Richemont, and Swatch – aren’t still killing it with numbers and sheer visibility, but more and more individual horological maestros are making their presence felt. Kudoke is very aesthetic, in a very German way.
As with all independent brands, Kudoke has a face: that of Stefan Kudoke. And it’s a frustratingly youthful face at that. This is a man who has already achieved some impressive credentials in the watchmaking world, working for Breguet, Blancpain and Omega, and at just 22, earning a Master Craftsman Certificate. In Germany, that’s no small thing. He’s a stark counterpoint to that classic image of a little old man machining dials in the Alpine winter.
Kudoke 1
And yet, Kudoke is still very much along those lines, at least insofar as production goes. Stefan doesn’t have the fancy manufactures of Glashütte, nor does he simply buy in everything he needs ready to go. Instead, he does the watchmaking equivalent of working from home, working at the proverbial kitchen table in a pared-back workshop based in Weifa, a small town in east Germany. It’s a much humbler approach than he would have been used to at Omega.
Humble though might be the most apt word for Kudoke as a brand. Take one look at the Kudoke 1, their perennial flagship with its nine o’clock small seconds and beautifully machined… everything. There are distinct Saxon flavours going on and while the comparison to Lange might be a bit too obvious, it’s still apt. The Kudoke 1 embodies that distinctly German balance of elegance and understatement – albeit a bit more on the elegant side.
Kudoke 2
The main difference is that, while the quality is very much on par with the most prestigious German watchmaker, the prices are not. Just over £12,500 isn’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but when you get a solid gold case, a manufacture movement and painfully perfect finishing across the board, that number starts to feel like a serious value proposition.
Following the initial Kudoke 1, the brand only consolidated that bang for your buck with the day- night indicating Kudoke 2, the stunning triple retrograde Kudoke 3 and a wonderfully accessible Louis Erard Regulateur. They all share the same sensibilities, albeit with a bit more colour on that last, collaborative effort. But all of those models across the board actually comprise one half of what Kudoke can do, labelled Handwerk meaning, simply, handwork. The other side of the brand is very, very different: Kunstwerk.
Le Régulateur Louis Erard x Kudoke
Kunstwerk translates to work of art, so you might think you know what to expect here. Plenty of metier d’art techniques, perhaps some enamelling or even a cheeky bit of marquetry these days, all very low-key gorgeous and sehr Deutsche. What you probably weren’t expecting was a three-dimensional octopus breaking its way out of the dial like a Kraken rum advert.
Kudoke KudOktopus
The KudOktopus is just one design in a pantheon of gorgeous engravings, but its sculptural nature is very much the way Kudoke have embraced their artistic side. Showing hints of the manufacture movement underneath, it’s not just worryingly lifelike at the front, but those tentacles continue to grasp the movement on the caseback, too. While I never expected to utter the phrase ‘exceptionally rendered suckers’, I guess I have to, because they are weirdly stunning.
There’s normally a premium for this kind of attention to detail and beyond next-level finishing. And while the tourbillon-equipped editions are indeed pricey, the automatics come in at under £8,000. It’s not like these are mass-produced; they’re special rarities that have hours upon hours of labour lavished on them. Kudoke could ask for a chunk of change more and the KudOktopus would still feel undervalued.
Kudoke Real Skeleton
Like I said at the beginning, independent watchmaking is still very much on the rise. But it’s reassuring that, where the Journes and Dufours of the world still claim insane, headline-grabbing valuations, there are brands out there not just making great watches, but doing so at a fair price, not driven by hype. Between their classic Saxon looks on one side and their sculptural engravings on the other, Kudoke might just be Germany’s best kept watchmaking secret.
More details at Kudoke.
