Up Close With The Manteio Zeus, The First Watch By Self-Taught Watchmaker Alex Goetschi

As we (digitally) scour the globe to bring you some of the most special and unique independent watchmaking projects, we don’t always have the chance to see the watches ourselves. One such opportunity to go hands-on with something intriguing, however, presented itself during Geneva Watch Days, where we met with Alex Goetschi. As a self-taught watchmaker and the founder of Manteio (meaning Oracle in Greek), he was eager to show us his first-ever watch, the Manteio Zeus. And although the theme is quite specific, it must be said that the Zeus feels worthy of the name. Inspired by the King of the Gods, the Zeus embodies Greek mythology through and through, with countless little details to be discovered.

Manteio is the culmination of Alex Goetschi’s love for watches, background in mechanical engineering, and passion for both ornithology and storytelling. Heavily inspired by Greek mythology after reading Stephen Fry’s Mythos, the Zeus captures the divine spirit of the famous deity. Each detail is a homage to Zeus, the sixth child of Rhea and Cronus. Zeus’ father was haunted by a prophecy that his offspring would one day overpower him, and to prevent that, he swallowed each of his children. The exception is Zeus, who was hidden from Cronus on Earth by his mother Rhea. Brought up on the island of Crete by nymphs, the divine goat Amalthea and Melissa the bee, Zeus grew strong enough to confront and overthrow his father, becoming the King of the Gods and therefore fulfilling the prophecy.

This divine inspiration is found all over the Manteio Zeus, which is the first in a series of Greek mythologically themed watches by Alex, under the Manteio name. The stainless steel case, which measures 39mm in width and 9.7mm in height, is quite striking. The shaped lugs especially catch the eye, as they are modelled after the pediment of a Greek temple. What’s also noticeable, and Alex talked about this previously, is the level of finishing. With a mix of brushed, polished and hand-bevelled edges to accentuate the strong lines, it certainly delivers on drama. The crown is hand-engraved with Manteio’s logo, resembling a Tholos (temples of the oracles) from above. The bezel has a strong slope to it and is polished to perfection. On both the front and the back, there is a sapphire crystal.

The dial is the literal star of the show, however, as it brings the Zeus theme to life. It starts with a solid gold blank, which is then hand-engraved by a specialist with a very specific image. Representing the Bringer of Storms is a forked lightning bolt coming down from the skies, as if Zeus himself has just thrown it down to earth in anger. Then, there’s the immensely detailed golden eagle, Aetos Dios, with over 200 individual feathers. The rest of the centre has a textured finish to mimic a storm, and is engraved with the individual number out of the run of 12 watches only. The outer ring is finished with a circular brushing and twelve polished, solid gold droplet hour markers falling towards the centre of the dial. It’s all very vivid, but also coherent. Each one will also be unique, as no two strokes of the master engraver will be the same. To add contrast, the base dial is coated in grey.

For the movement, Alex was connected to Jean-François Mojon of Chronode through Marko Koncina, better known as SwissWatchGang. The MYTH-001, based on Chronode’s C101 calibre, is specifically developed for Manteio and the Zeus. Its base architecture can also be found in other watches, like the Fleming Series 1 and the Breva Segreto di Lario. The movement runs at a rate of 21,600vph and delivers a massive 168 hours (7 days) of power reserve thanks to the twin-barrel construction.

The escapement is suspended underneath a small and elegantly shaped cock, which is surrounded by a large three-quarter plate. Both are frosted with a technique called Ecor-blasting and coated in 2N gold. The barrel wheels have a beehive-like hexagonal cutout pattern, and underneath the one next to the crown is an image of a bee, in reference to Melissa. Other details include mirror-polished jewel sinks, hand-engravings, anglage, perlage, satinnage and black-polishing. And to be honest, both dial and movement look spectacular in the metal!

There’s no doubt Alex Goetschi has created something rather special with the Manteio Zeus. The theme might not be for everyone, but the level of execution is mighty impressive. The details in the case, the depth of the engraving in the dial and the finishing touches to the movement tell a compelling story! And this stretches beyond the watch itself, as each one is presented on a handcrafted Doric-style stone column, similar to those found in temples dedicated to Zeus himself. Only 12 will be made, all fitted to a grey goat leather strap with a steel pin buckle. The price is set at CHF 29,800 before taxes.

For more information, please visit Manteio.ch.