LINDE WERDELIN – OKTOPUS Reef

LINDE WERDELIN – OKTOPUS Reef Double Date Engraved Rose Gold & Titanium - Unique Piece NEW

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In a special project, Linde Werdelin have collaborated with artist Johnny Dowell (Instagram: KingNerd; Twitter: JohnnyKingNerd) to create a new piece. Johnny Dowell, an established and talented engraver, approached Morten Linde and Jorn Werdelin to propose he do something with a Linde Werdelin watch.

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The result: we sent him an Oktopus Double Date Rose Gold; he sent back the Oktopus Reef.

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By trade, Dowell is a gun engraver, following in the footsteps of an uncle, a gun maker. He learned his engraving craft 14 years ago, a five-year learning period.

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Since then he has been plying his trade at one of Britain’s most prestigious gun engravers, later beginning to work on jewellery and, most recently, watches.
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In Johnny’s own words:
"I must admit doing this Oktopus Reefproject has been the most fun just because I had a lot more space to manoeuvre with regards to design and drawings. Morten and Jorn were quite happy for me to put my own style into it. I had a lot more freedom compared with other projects I’ve worked on. It was quite satisfying to transfer the drawings I’d put in the original templates onto the watch", said Johnny Dowell.

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 [Johnny “KingNerd” Dowell examining the Oktopus Reef.]

"I played around with ideas for a few months – drawings, layout, and case parts. There was a lot of back and forth between myself and Morten in that time. Being an Oktopus, a dive watch, we always thought the design would have something to do with the sea. We played with ideas for a while until Morten said ‘let’s do corals and bubbles to create an underwater diving effect."

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 [Oktopus Reef bezel with engraved octopus tentacles.]

"The bezel was not originally involved. Morten sent another template through with the concept of the octopus and I brought it to life with my own sketches. I wanted to create movement in the engraving, having the tentacles turning and twirling, showing the suckers underneath."

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"The engraving process took up to 100 hours, from planning the layout onto the watch to engraving and finally creating the black effect."

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"The most challenging part was working with Grade 2 Titanium. I had to order a piece to practice on, to feel how hard it was. It’s probably the hardest material I’ve cut. On the other hand, the sides of the watch are all flat rather than curved, which makes it lovely to work with. Its facets providing the best canvases. It works better visually, you can see more of the detail that way", said Johnny Dowell.

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"The details are created with a very fine cut done under a microscope or magnifying loop – this takes the longest time. It takes a lot of focus and patience. It’s a painstakingly long process."

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"The Oktopus Reef is a one-off piece. There may be future engraved versions of our current collection, but using different bases or with a different design due to the hand-engraved nature of the work. As such, there is only one piece available to buy on our website, on a first-come basis."

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Morten Linde also talks about the Oktopus Reef in the video below:



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Technical Specifications

Model: OKTOPUS Reef

Case
Outer Case: Three-part case construction; 18K rose gold (5N) and titanium grade 2; satin, polished and microbillé finishing.
Engraved with coral-and-bubbles scene by Johnny "KingNerd" Dowell
Sapphire crystal, anti-reflective on the inside
Crown: Titanium; screw-down; microbillé and rough circular satin finish; engraved with an octopus icon.
Back Case: Titanium; engraved with a multi-layer octopus motif; microbillé and circular satin finish
Bezel: Rose gold; satin on top surface; polished facet.
Titanium screws; black tension discs.
Dimensions: 44mm (w) x 46mm (l) x 15mm (h)
Movement
Linde Werdelin-modified Dubois Dépraz calibre 14580
Power reserve: 44 hours
Balance frequency: 28,800vph (4Hz)
Jewels: 23
Dial
Five-layer skeletonised dial.
Réhaut and top dial: black, circular satin finish.
Lower dial: black, circular Côte de Genève finish.
Hands in rose gold; satin finish, cool grey Luminova.
Large numerals 3, 6 and 9 in gold Luminova with black frames.
Hour and minute indexes, logo and logotype in cool grey Luminova.
Double Date.
Skeletonised date wheels visible at 12 o’clock.
Titanium wheels treated with rose gold.
Water Resistance: 300m
Strap
Interchangeable natural rubber strap in black, with DLC-coated titanium ardillion buckle.

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