In the run-up to the first European GTG of Fifth Wristers in La Chaux-de-Fonds back in September 2021, I had the opportunity to meet the team of ochs und junior at their premises.

Kornelia, the head and owner of ochs und junior, together with Ludwig Oeschlin, gave me an insight into their recent history, the inner workings of their ingenious movements and their future plans.

Among other things, ochs und junior took advantage of the coinciding move to La Chaux-de-Fonds and Covid to update all constructions to further improve reliability and set the stage to add more serialised production (more on this point later) along with their current bespoke watches they are known for. For this purpose, they (in addition to their own research with Ludwig and Masaki Kanazawa, of course) used a supplier/consultant from La Chaux-de-Fonds, one of several examples that gave me an impression of how closely interlocked the Swiss industry is – particularly in the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Jost, one of the ochs und junior watchmakers, showed me an example of the continuous improvements they have been making, which demonstrates how delicate high-end watchmaking is. When dials are patinated (using a quite unique and typical Ludwig Oechslin method of getting the raw brass dials and hands coloured without using paint) the functional backside of the dial is now masked with an adhesive film before the dial is placed into the patinating fluid, so that the very thin patination only is applied to the visible dial, while the back side stays untreated, thus improving tolerances.

 

Even more interesting was what he explained to me using the larger models of their complications, which they again got made in the last months by a small company in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Jost knowledgeably and patiently explained to me how each of the modules work (they have a module for the perpetual and the annual calendar, the moonphase, the settimana and the day/night). While I might struggle to accurately explain it here, I do remember that usually one function is derived from the time gear train (the sun and moon in the day/night, for example) and another from the date (the length of the day in the day/night).

 

 

Christian, the designer (who is responsible for the looks of the original MIH watch, and a Porsche Design model too), took me briefly through the marketing side of things.

I am kind of a marketing guy myself, but always in more technical B2B surroundings. Here, marketing is kind of different and involves much more product design. It was fascinating to see how new ideas are born, discussed and evaluated with a very high attention to even the smallest of details. Since the declared objective is to have ready-designed watches in stock in the future, a lot of brainpower is naturally put into achieving a design that appeals to as many people as possible. One very small design element was not decided yet at all, so I will not mention it here, but I will follow up to see if this feature makes it into the finished product … I for one liked it!

The straps are also an integral part of these considerations; ochs und junior offer a wide range, and only recently one line was withdrawn from the assortment because it did not meet 100% of their standards. Most of the straps which are in the portfolio are manufactured by Sabina Brägger, a subcontractor (not from LCdF this time, she’s from Bern). She happened to be on site during our visit, too, so I could fortunately order a special version for an existing 3^rd party deployment clasp directly from her, using the new materials she was discussing with Christian.

calendario cent’anni

The star of the show was the new perpetual calendar watch, called the cca.

In addition to the time, you will find the small seconds as a function indicator on the 6, and it also shows the date using the typical, proprietary and (after a bit of practice) very legible date spiral.

(More about this technique can be found here and here.)

The main feature, however, is that this date will be correct for the next 100 years and will even take leap years into account. In the middle of the dial, you find a disk with a dot pointing towards the month of the year (12 indexes like the 12 hours). There is also a second, smaller, disk: if it’s line and the dot are in line, we have a leap year.

Also the indexes are not printed, but milled into the dial and subsequently filled with superluminova. This leads to a great look as well as a very even distribution of the light in the dark. The Fifth Wrist team was particularly impressed by the black dial, which is PVD coated on a sandblasted brass basis. This is (again) done by one of the small suppliers/partners in La Chaux-de-Fonds).

This elaborate dial fits perfectly with the 11mm flat, cool case (remember: very short lugs and no pushers) resulting in an exceptionally unique, stylish and elegant wearing experience. Sprezzatura!

Looking at the inside instead of the looks, the cca is a perpetual (ochs und junior says „100 years“) calendar which overcomes two of the issues normally associated with this top of the league complication: the complexity (accompanied with a certain fragility) and the fact, that you can‘t set them backwards. The cca uses a clever and reliable gear system, with only nine (!) parts in addition to the Ulysse Nardin Movement UN-320, and can hence be easily be adjusted in both directions without the need of correction pushers. This is, to my knowledge, completely unique.

However, I should also mention two minor drawbacks of the cca. Setting the watch, if you haven’t worn if for some time, may involve some crown turning, i. e. adjusting the date for the time you didn‘t wear it; but fortunately only in the date-, not the time-position of the crown – this shouldn’t take you longer than one or two minutes. But remember: if you accidentally set the watch too far into the future, no problem with the cca, as opposed to most other perpetual calendars.

 

 

settimana

As the cca does not display the day of the week, to do so, you would have to wear the settimana, the weekday watch of ochs und junior, on your other wrist. During the visit, ochs und junior revealed that they are working on a non-limited version of this cute watch. This will be – similar to the cca – available in black on white and white on black. The dial will be lacquered though, not PVD coated like the cca, as this serial settimana will be the most affordable ochs und junior to date. I am really looking forward to this release, especially as it will be available not only in 36mm but also in 40mm!

The settimana is very special, as it displays the week day (similar to the date on other ochs und junior watches) with a dot corresponding the 1 to 7, which gives you a visual, romantic representation of the week.

Originally (this was the first ochs und junior design right at the start 15 years ago) it was intended for children, which is probably what makes this complication so adorable. Quite notable is the font of the numerals (which can be found on the cca III, too). It is simply derived from the one that the milling machine of Dr. Oechslin produces. Thus the font is also an expression of the ochs und junior philosophy, which can also be found in their unpolished cases: it’s not only about construction and design, but also about watch making. (As you might have guessed, I am a font-lover and also like AnOrdain or Hermes watches because of their special fonts.)

2021 is the 15th anniversary and kind of the settimana year for ochs und junior … there will also be the settimana brut … a version with a raw brass dial (and no numerals).

The picture below shows an early prototype as worn by Kornelia herself, and the Fifth Wrist team were very enthusiastic about this watch!

 

Please also note, that the day refers just to the positions 1-7, so whether your last/favourite day of the week is – depending on your region, religion or preference – Sunday, Saturday or Friday … it’s up to you.

The typical ochs und junior customer

Talking about regions, I asked the team who the typical ochs und junior customer is and where he/she lives. Not surprisingly it’s not really possible to classify ochs und junior owners, but you will find typically architects, engineers, designers, medics, artists and the like in the user base. Perhaps more interesting is the geographical distribution. A strong market is apparently the US – which again could possibly been expected – while Asia and the Middle East are still relatively under-represented.

Also, ochs und junior intends to focus more on women – which in my view follows a megatrend and make a lot of sense. Recently, a pair of the limited Settimana in vivid colours went to a couple each in Zurich and Bahrain as “partner watches“. Can it get any cuter?

Another settimana was shipped to Singapore for a new born baby. Actually, yes, this is even cuter.

Serial Production and Beyond

The settimana and the new cca are maybe the first, but not the only watches which will be serialised. This is maybe the most important news/substantiation of the news (see last article) taken home from this visit: Ochs und junior is currently actively working on serialising some of their watches. This will not replace the bespoke customised watches, but offer a more accessible route to their watches.

Actually, this strategy is obvious: with ochs und junior watches, the effort is at the beginning due to Dr. Oechslin’s brainwork, but the movement constructions are particularly simple and thus well-suited for serial production.

However, as ochs und junior remain a niche company, it will be serial, not mass production. Instead of getting into mass production, ochs und junior, as you probably have seen, is actually putting its focus on value creation instead. For the future the plan is to release new, not yet offered, but continuously developed constructions of Ludwig Oechslin in regular time intervals and to produce the parts for the modules of some models with their own CNC machines in-house.

This will require not only the investment, but also specialised manpower as – for the precision required – this is a craft of its own. Fortunately, ochs und junior clearly has sufficient intellectual and personnel (and spatial) capacity and potential for this expansion.