Although I have mentioned the Linde Werdelin SpidoLite SA All Black before (click here), I never really published about it, since I don’t want to become too biased. On the other hand, this blog represents my own interest in watches and brands, so why not? Fellow Dutchman Martin Wilmsen’s website (WristWatchPhoto), normally dedicated to Panerai watches, mentioned the SpidoLite SA All Black a few days ago. I was blown away by the pictures he took and he told me I could use them for my own blog if I wanted to. Well, here you go. The full set of pictures can be found at his other web initiative, PaneristiPix.com.

The SpidoLite SA All Black DLC version was introduced on the 15th of October 2009, retailing at 9.800 Euro. This DLC’ed titanium watch is limited to 88 pieces world wide, and is available for pre-order via the Linde Werdelin website or through one of their distributors. Like all SpidoLite SA versions, the movement is a A.Schild caliber 1876 modified by Svend Andersen. The rotor, made from blue gold, is engraved with both the LW and Andersen Geneve logo. Svend Andersen is an independent watch maker, based in Geneva, and respected member of the AHCI (Horological academy of Independent Creators). Actually, Andersen is one of the founding members of the AHCI, an initiative from 1985 for (master) watch makers to demonstrate that watch making is more then meets the eye. Michael Clerizo covered Svend Andersen in his recently released book on watch making, Masters of Contemporary Watchmaking.

The SpidoLite has been designed to fulfil the need of professional mountaineers, to have a light weight wrist watch. Like all other Linde Werdelin time pieces, this one can also be extended with The Rock instrument for mountaineers or skiing fanatics. This All Black version has been coated with DLC (the normal version has a titanium grade 5 watch case) and features blued hands.

I think it is important to stretch that despite its size (dimensions: 46mm (w) by 49mm (l) by 12mm (h)), the Linde Werdelin watches wear very comfortably on the wrist.

Also, if you are Dutch, please visit www.horloge.com for more information on Linde Werdelin. Horloge Platform Nederland recently became Linde Werdelin’s official retailer in The Netherlands.

Photos courtesy of M.Wilmsen.

Mid-November, I blogged about Linde Werdelin, a brand that has its focus on toolwatches for die-hards. This coming Basel, they are expanding their collection with the Linde Werdelin Spidolite Watch. This watch will be available in titanium, titanium DLC (limited edition) and in titanium with a skeleton dial (also limited edition). The best part is (in my opinion), the movement for the sekeleton dial version. This movement is a 1970’s automatic mechanical movement, modified by Svend Anderson. Svend Anderson is member of the AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants).

The Spidolite skeleton dial version is a 46×49mm wristwatch, with a height of 12mm. This hockey puck in titanium has a see-through sapphire crystal case back that shows the 42 hour power reserve movement by Svend Anderson. The watch is water resistant to a 1000 feet (300 meters) and has a textile strap with titanium buckle.

I can’t wait till the end of March, when I am heading to Basel and meeting the people of Linde Werdelin to see these toolwatches in the flesh! If you are coming to BaselWorld 2009 as well, here is the Linde Werdelin stand information:

In the first weekend of December, I will be visiting the Watch2008 event. A two day watch event, to be held in a castle in Maastricht. A city with a very nice shopping center and lots of nice watch and jewelery stores.

Anyway, one of the exhibitors on the Watch2008 event is Rainer Nienaber, from Bünde/Germany. This watchmaker, born in 1955, created his first wristwatches in 1995. Before that, Nienaber had a repairshop and was primarily occupied with clocks (regulators). Nienaber is a member of the AHCI – the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants. Other members of the AHCI are George Daniels (Co-Axial design), Paul Gerber, Svend Anderson, Franck Muller, FP Journe, Felix Baumgartner (Urwerk) and our own Dutchman, Christiaan van der Klaauw.

Horlogenieuws.nl, a Dutch blog with the latest watch news, had a topic on Nienaber recently. They covered the Digimat watch, a nice rectangular shaped watch with a jump-hour display. Very nice, and limited to 25 pieces. That’s what I call ‘limited’.

After a visit to the Nienaber website, which is a bit of a disappointment really, I was immediately interested when seeiing the Retrograde watches. The disappointment of the website is mainly because it is lacking good pictures, pricing information and specifications on each watch. However, I rather see the Nienaber company putting their effort in creating interesting watches than in their website.

The Retrograde watch comes in several models, but I am discussing this ‘The Unique’ model here. Only 50 pieces per year, featuring a regulator dial with a jumping hour at the top, followed by a retrograde minute hand and a small seconds hand. The stainless steel case has a 41mm diameter and is 10.8mm thick. The dial has an incredible nice pattern and is made out of silver.

Nienaber used a A.Schild S.A. movement, also referred to as A.S. with caliber number 1130. This manual wind movement was produced between 1936 and 1967. This slow-ticker (18000 bp/h) is a 29.4mm movement, with a power reserve of 38 hours.

I am definately going to check Rainer’s watches out in December. The price of this watch is 6300 euro. An up-to-date price list of Nienaber watches can be found here. Since the used movement is not very special and can be found in lower market brands like MarcelloC as well, I will pay close attention to the finish of the movement and the applied modification. Otherwise I think 6300 euro is a lot of money for this watch.

Do you want to see Nienaber’s watches yourself as well? Thanks to Ernie Romers of WatchUseek, one of the Watch2008 partners, I have some entrée cards worth 35 Euro each to give away. Just drop me a line at fratellowatches@gmail.com.