Just in time to bring some much-needed chromatic relief during the sizzling hot summer months in the northern hemisphere, Projekt 02 Variant “C” once again demonstrates that a shift in tones goes a long way in giving a watch a completely different vibe. The inaugural Projekt 02 FFF&F (Friends, Family, Fools & Flippers) edition from September 2025 set the tone with a warm metallic dial and off-white hand-painted elements, a wearable proof-of-concept for a dial made like no other. Variant B from March this year introduced the stacked gradient dial, or what horo-hipsters might refer to as the first vertical fumé dial.

While retaining the same overall design with an emphasis on volume as its predecessors, the third interpretation of Projekt 02’s topographical dial gets a bit more literal, with the color gradient of white to blue giving the impression of islands scattered in an archipelago, or even glaciers below mountain peaks.

Across nine layers consisting of sixty-seven individual dial plates (with pegs and all), Projekt 02 Variant C brings a different kind of panorama to the wrist. Within a case that’s actually more sapphire crystal than metal to truly take in the view, the bright rhodium plating and matte finish of the individually crafted, painted and assembled dial plates contrasts and catches the light against an azure backdrop that’s constantly shifting with the light and revealing its different hues of blue.

HYPSOMETRY OF TONES
Like all kollokium Projekts and Variants, a little cosmetic change goes a long way, but it also requires much more prep work than meets the eye. Projekt 02 FFF&F edition proved that it can be done. A flat, two-dimensional image transfigured into a true topographical dial, consisting of 67 stacked dial plates. Each is painted by hand with a lacquer infused with Super-LumiNova. Variant B went a step further by introducing a vertical color gradient that darkens from top to bottom. Variant C is the culmination of two years of testing and trying to find the best way of achieving the desired visual effect and level of execution.

Like a Hypsometric map, the idea was to highlight and dramaticize the three-dimensional nature of the topographical dial by having each level painted in a slightly different tone. The highest peaks os the dial, representing the twelve hour markers, are hand-painted in a bright, cool white tone, then each successive lower layer gets darker and bluer. Across sixty-seven dial plate and nine vertcial layers, the dial shifts from white to deep turquoise.

The process to perfect the gradient of luminescent paint was no easy feat. Besides the usual headache of finding the right grain sizes, opacity and consistency, creating a transitioning gradient that maintains a unifrom tone or hue took more trials than we’d like to remember. But the end result is totally worth the effort. And just like in Variant “B”, a compromise had to be found between achieving a near-perfect transitition of blue tones and a solid performance of the luminescent pigments. It won’t glow like a torch, but it definitely glows, especially the Lichtblock™ elements on the hour and minute hands.

BRUTALIST ARTISANSHIP
While kollokium’s designs are meant to evoke a sense of industrialism and rawness, behind the avant-garde object is a tremendous amount of manual, meticulous handwork. And because there’s no equivalent to base our work on, we end up having to find creative solutions to problems no one has encountered before. While we wouldn’t consider ourselves champions of traditional handcrafts, our watches require specialized hands and talent to materialize. We call it brutalist artisanship.

Projekt 02’s topographical dial is made in nine layers, composed of sixty-seven individual dial plates, which are individually hand-painted with a mix of lacquer and Super-LumiNova, carefully avoiding the metal contours. These plates are then vertically stacked and pegged on top of each other, one at a time. It takes around 8 hours to assemble a single dial, and the plates can be prone to bending when handling and pressed together during assembly, causing the entire dial to have to be discarded and the work starts all over again. The good news is, our partners in dial production have gotten better, relatively speaking. Compared to the first version of Projekt 02, the dial rejection rate of Variant “C” has gone down from nearly 80% to 50%. Still horrible by any measurable standard, but such is the raw beauty of kollokium’s take on contemporary craftsmanship.

It should be noted that given just how much of the dial work is done by hand, industrial-level perfection and super-tight tolerances are not the aim of the game for us. We rejoice in the fact that no two dials will be exactly identical, and that some discrepancies are only natural in this kind of work. In fact, we’re so proud of it that we offer a full panoramic view of the dial through the tall sapphire crystal with rounded edges.

MONOBLOC CASE (OR IS IT?)
One of the things that we believe makes kollokium stand out from the rest is our approach to making cases. Instead of the tried and tested methods of CNC milling or stamping (yuck), we use a method that isn’t commonly found in watchmaking: diecasting. By working with a mold, the molten 316L stainless steel can take on forms that would be difficult to achieve with other methods, while also exhibiting a unique matte texture that requires no finishing. It’s steel in all its raw glory.

In Projekt 02, the case serves as a structural platform, upon which the topographical dial is built. With no distinct bezel (from the outside anyways), no caseback and no detachable lugs, it’s a single integrated unit that’s indivisible. The design is such that a slightly arched barrel-shaped central element appears to be held in place by four triangular lugs, as if welded together. No sharp angles, no straight lines. It’s all in the curves and tension. With a rounded bottom and downward lugs, the case sits very close to the wrist and wears surprisingly slim. With no visible logo or branding, the watch bears only one mark of its makers: the project’s full internal dossier or project name, K,P–n02, in relief on the side of the case. On the opposite side, the signature kollokium triangular valve-shaped crown.

One of the elements that many of our customers adore about their kollokium watch is the strap. Light, elastic and breathable, the strap is inspired by outdoor gear (glamping trip, anyone?). The hook buckle, also in diecast steel to match the case, fastening system and stitched loops allow for easy size adjustment on the move. For the first time, kollokium is going full-on colorful with a turquoise blue strap that perfectly matches the dial.

kollokium ≠ WATCHMAKER
We’re not pretending to be something we’re not. kollokium may be a lot of things (at least we like to think so), but a watchmaker on a bench isn’t one of them. For Projekt 02, we’re continuing to use Swiss movement manufacturer La Joux-Perret’s G101 automatic movement. With a power reserve of 68 hours, you can take it off on Friday and wear it again on Monday (though why anyone would want to remove it at all is beyond us, but hey). Since kollokium had nothing to do with the movement, it was decided to leave it completely unbranded and unadorned. It’s not like you can see it anyways ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The post Cooler Waters: kollokium Projekt 02 (K,P–n°02) Variant “C” tempers the heat with nine layers of turquoise blue appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.

CREATION EX NIHILO
It’s been a long time coming. Kollokium was founded in 2020 by three friends. Each went down a different path in the watchmaking industry, but they all found common ground in their shared aesthetic sensibilities. After having collectively spent a lifetime contributing to the creations (and creativity) of numerous Swiss and international watch brands, Manuel Emch, Barth Nussbaumer and Amr Sindi’s mutual desire to build something from scratch became too strong to ignore. To create with no established or inherited framework. No existing brand, no defined artistic direction, no rehashed history, no constraints. The freedom to truly, fully manifest objects they envision without the compromises of structure.

Kollokium seeks to materialize timepieces that transcend the confines of traditional watchmaking while remaining obviously mechanical watches. It aims to distill and incorporate all the things that fascinate and move us, from architecture and design to contemporary art and sub-cultures. Kollokium is watchmaking in a new context, from a new vantage point.

NEUBRUTALIST HOROLOGY
A bit of post-war brutalism, some Kraftwerk synth-pop and a Philip K. Dick retro-futuristic backdrop. For Kollokium projects, it’s not so much about defining a style, but about capturing and conveying a mood. Some elements might seem familiar, though likely not things you would have encountered in a timepiece. It may appear simple enough on a first glance, but the closer you look, the more details begin to jump out at you. The textures. The depth. The contrast. The interplay of light and dark; of industrial and fantastical. The emphasis on graphics. The controlled chaos. If traditional watchmaking is a classical opera, Kollokium is a gritty sci-fi noir.

Kollokium Projekt 01 – “friends & family” pre-series

The debut output from Kollokium. This is where it all begins – and maybe ends. We’ll see. Uninspiringly dubbed K,P–n01 (Kollokium Projekt 01), Kollokium’s first release aims to immediately and unabashedly lay down the foundation for future projects. Not necessarily in the sense of design continuity, but in establishing the vibe we’re trying to put out there and the kind of creative avenues we’d like to explore.

A work of transhumanism. Lo-fi yet three-dimensional. Is it one of those pin art boards from the 80s? A miniaturized nail art-work by Gunther Uecker? A minimalist tribute to the pioneer of the “ZERO movement” Enrico Castellani? A graphical representation of a ripple? A miniature cityscape? The dial is in fact a 3D reconstruction of an intentionally pixelated image rendered by Adobe Illustrator. If you squint your eyes, you can clearly make out 12 “maxi” hour markers, with batons for the cardinal hours and circles for the others. From a certain distance, you might even brush it off as a slightly blurry “utility” type of dial. And that’s exactly what we aimed for: low-key intrigue that you can only discover up-close.

You’d be forgiven for mistaking the dial for a textured but ultimately monolithic element. We get it. It takes a certain type of masochism to conceive something this outlandish. The subtly textured black base is set with 468 individually hand-applied cylindrical hour markers (is that a world record?), which come in six different diameters and heights. Each of these cylinders is sandblasted, then filled with white Super-LumiNova (also by hand) that glows with an orange emission.

With so many elements on the dial, ensuring easy readability was factored into the equation very early on in the genesis of Projekt 01. Almost like an optical illusion, the oblong-shaped hour and minute hands are black with Super-LumiNova outlines, seemingly floating above the dial. And while there is no visible branding on the dial, there is a little signature of sorts. The second hand features an open triangle counterweight, as if it were a single strip of metal that was bent into form.

There’s beauty in rawness and imperfection. And that’s precisely what we wanted to convey through Projekt 01, starting with the case.

Without trying hard to be outlandish for edginess’ sake, the case is literally crafted like no other watch out there. Forged from 316L stainless steel, the case is not made using typical milling and machining processes at all, though the process is in fact industrial and rather old-school: die casting steel. Why? Well, because they said it couldn’t (and shouldn’t) be done. And because the desired result was one where the case would boast practically no finishing or embellishment, and instead feature a uniform, industrial heavy duty steel tool-like appearance with a specific texture that can only be produced when injecting molten steel into a cast form. It’s neither matte nor frosty, but somewhere in between. And as rough as it looks, it’s unexpectedly soft to the touch. Because of the die-casting process, the edges and angles are slightly rounded off, while the steel has a surface that is neither entirely matte nor sparkly. It’s simply die-cast steel in all its industrial glory – and quite the antithesis to the neatly polished and delicately satin-brushed finishes you’d find in just about every other watch.

The two-part case construction consists of a caseback element that takes on a sort of barrel shape paired with lugs inspired by cruciform screwdrivers, which appear as if they were chiseled out to keep only what’s structurally integral. The case middle, within which the movement is protected in a steel container, is fixed on top of this base. A cylinder, it contains the only hint of the project or model name. Part of the steel cast, the left band of the case features the project’s full internal dossier name: K,P-n01. A triangular valve-shaped crown completes the industrial look and feel of the Projekt 01.

Because there’s so much to see on the dial, we wanted the wearer to be able to take it all in from different angles. Instead of a metal bezel, the sapphire box crystal is completely level with the base of the dial. Flat on top to avoid visual distortion and coated on both sides with layers of anti-reflective coating, it provides a micro-panorama you’re not likely to forget any time soon.

Ergonomics and an overall low-key form factor were carefully considered from the very early stages of Projekt-01’s conception. There’s no such thing as one size fits all, but the Projekt-01 comes pretty close. It measures 40mm at the widest point of the caseback, while the case’s cylindrical part is 38.5mm wide. and 11mm in total height (including the sapphire glass box, which accounts for nearly half of the height). As the lugs are short and integrated with the back, the case sits close to the wrist with a compact feel.

The strap also plays a major role in making the Projekt–01 so effortless to wear. Inspired by outdoor gear (and a certain connected watch), it’s been developed by Kollokium is the perfect finishing touch. With just the right amount of elasticity to keep it securely on the wrist without getting too tight and the kind of breathability that makes it quick to dry, It’s a utilitarian’s dream. It consists of a single strap with a hook fastening system and stitched loops to easily adjust the size on the go.

The Kollokium Projekt 01 is a closed pre-series of 99 pieces that was offered to friends and family of the three founders. The first iteration of Projekt 01 will be released during the first quarter of 2024.

The post Introducing the new project “Kollokium projekt 01” appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.