The New Kudoke Infinity with a Hypnotic Aventurine Dial

German watchmaker Stefan Kudoke fell in love with watchmaking as a young man and cut his teeth in the complications and prototypes department of Glashütte Original, followed by stints in the New York service departments of Breguet, Blancpain and Omega. Since branching out as an independent watchmaker on the outskirts of Dresden with his brand Kudoke, the repertoire reflects Stefan’s fascination with handmade skeletonised, richly decorated movements gathered in the KUNSTwerk collection and the more sober, understated models of the HANDwerk family, spearheaded by the Kudoke 1. The Kudoke Infinity we are looking at today breaks rank with earlier editions and offers just the hours and minutes but features a lovely sparkling blue aventurine dial.  

The Saxon-English Connection

Keen to develop his own calibre, Stefan turned to the design of historical English pocket watch movements with their symmetrical style and a central balance cock. Saxony, the cradle of refined German watchmaking, enjoyed intensive cooperation with English watchmakers like Thomas Mudge. His first manual-winding movement, the Kaliber 1, was designed to honour the old masters.

Gazing into Infinity

Following the Kudoke 1 with its subsidiary seconds, Stefan introduced the Kudoke 2 with a 24-hour indication at noon and the more sophisticated Kudoke 3 with its three-arm hour hand. The new Kudoke Infinity is the most straightforward model with just hours and minutes creating an uncluttered canvas for the sparkling aventurine dial.

Also known as goldstone, the story behind aventurine glass (from the Italian a venture, meaning by chance) involves a Murano glassmaker who mistakenly introduced copper shavings into molten glass. Evoking the unfathomable mysteries of the cosmos, the sparkling aventurine dial of this Kudoke is hypnotic. Framed by a rhodium-plated chapter ring with Roman numerals and dots, the hours are indicated by an elegant hand with an infinity symbol at its tip and a slender minutes hand with a slight taper to echo the shape of the hour hand.

Kaliber 1

While you can stare at the dial for hours, there is another surprise on the caseback. Powered by Kudoke’s in-house manual-winding Kaliber 1, the hand-engraved finishings reveal Stefan’s determination to safeguard traditional watchmaking skills. Reverting to the cosmic theme of the dial, the hand-guilloché pattern of the movement bridge is shaped like an expanding star. Other hand-decorated components include the raised and frosted central balance cock, the snailed wheels, bevelled edges and the blued screws. On the mechanical front, the Kalibre 1, which shares a few parts with the Habring2 A11 movement, runs at 4Hz and has a 46h power reserve. All this is set into a polished stainless steel case identical to earlier Kudoke editions; it has a 39mm diameter, a height of 10.3mm and a classical onion crown.

Availability & Price

The Kudoke Infinity is a special edition limited to 12 pieces yearly and is presented on a leather or Alcantara strap. It retails for EUR 14,170 (excl. tax).

For more information, please consult Kudoke.eu.