The new reference execution of Ludwig Oechslin’s annual calendar.
LUCERNE—November 12, 2013—Today ochs und junior announced the new reference execution of the world’s most minimalist annual calendar watch: Ludwig Oechslin’s annual calendar brass.
The high-contrast dial of annual calendar brass is executed in one material – brass – with no added color. Just two metals are visible on the watch: titanium (case, crown, buckle) and brass.
Inside is the world’s most minimalist annual calendar function – just 3 specially-manufactured moving parts designed by Ludwig Oechslin enable an annual calendar which requires adjustment only once per year. A typical annual calendar function uses up to 40 parts.
Dial-contrast is achieved through hand-patination of the milled indices, month, date, and weekday dots with an antique art sculpture restoration solution. The same process is applied to the hour and minute hands. A tiny excentric dot is milled into the hand-patinated second disk to show the watch is running and preserve the harmonious balance of the dial.
Ludwig Oechslin developed this single metal dial solution so that he could control the entire process of making ochs und junior prototypes in his workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Every ochs und junior annual calendar brass is a unique piece due to natural differences in the hand-patination process.
The rigorous simplicity of Ludwig Oechslin’s annual calendar goes much further than a simple solution for dial contrast though.
Ludwig Oechslin’s annual calendar watch jettisons text and numbers to give a more intuitive sense for the calendar year than an alphanumeric display, the same way an hour and minute hand give a more intuitive sense for the time than a digital display. The date, month and weekday are soon recognized simply by their analog position on the dial (examples are provided above).
Why dispense with text and numbers?
Ludwig Oechslin’s goal is to execute the most functional representation of time horizons in the most technically elegant manner possible.
20 or 25 times per day, a person may check the time, and perhaps some fraction of that, the date or weekday. Still less frequently, the month. For a use case like this, the optimal hierarchy of information is the time, then the date, and then the weekday and month. The ochs und junior annual calendar’s dial with no text or numbers is specifically designed to ensure the first thing the wearer sees when glancing at his watch is the time, and that ancillary indications remain perfectly legible.
Ludwig Oechslin’s unique rotating dots also provide an intuitive feel for the amount of time in a week, month, and year. Awareness of each time horizon is increased when they are observed in analog rotation upon the wrist.
Annual calendar brass features the world’s most minimalist annual calendar function – just 3 specially-manufactured moving parts designed by Ludwig Oechslin enable a calendar function which requires adjustment only once per year, when other watchmakers use up to 40 parts.
Ludwig Oechslin accomplishes the ochs und junior annual calendar’s extreme reduction in parts by using custom-designed gears and lateral thinking instead of the conventional watchmaking solution of levers and springs.
The three specially-designed moving parts, pictured on the right, include the specially designed 5-tooth cogwheel, the month disk, and the weekday disk.
The only additional parts necessary for the function are the date disk (similar to the date disk on the ochs und junior date), a finger bonded to the hour wheel for power (similar to the one on the moon phase), and the functional dial.
Ludwig Oechslin is able to conceive novel solutions like these because of his wide-ranging background, which includes a doctorate in theoretical physics and experience restoring the Farnese astronomical clock in the Vatican. His experience has taught him that gears are a more technically elegant and reliable way to execute functions.
Ludwig Oechslin’s technically elegant designs allow ochs und junior watches to be custom-manufactured with high reliability in extremely small production quantities (a maximum of 300 watches are manufactured per year).
The custom-made gears of the annual calendar function, as well as the functional dial, case, crown, and buckle are manufactured outside the watch industry by Peter Cantieni, who machines ultra-precise parts for the Swiss Formula One team Sauber.
ochs und junior’s cases have visible machining marks that show the precision of Peter Cantieni’s workmanship. The resulting look is perhaps similar to the use of visible concrete in architecture.
A lifetime warranty is offered on all ochs und junior parts including the annual calendar function, case, dial, crown, and buckle.
Technical information
- 3 moving part annual calendar innovation by Ludwig Oechslin
- ETA 2824-2 base movement
- 39mm or 42mm
- Titanium case, crown and buckle (also available in silver)
- All dial components executed in hand-patinated or brushed brass
- Custom color options also available
- Price: 8000 CHF in titanium, 10,000 CHF in silver (incl. 8% Swiss VAT)
Ludwig Oechslin
While others think that a watch has to be complicated and contain as many parts and functions as possible to be considered high-quality, Ludwig Oechslin,by contrast, has other interests and priorities. His thought processes lead him to develop the simplest combination of parts for superior reliability and fewer interfaces. Oechslin’s studies of astronomical devices and his restoration and documentation of the Farnese astronomical clock in the Vatican between 1978 and 1982 taught him that gears are a better solution for functions than the levers and springs more conventionally used for wristwatches. He now bases his designs on that insight. His novel combinations of cogwheels and epicyclic (planetary) gearing use far fewer parts than traditional watchmaking complications and offer excellent operational reliability. Ludwig Oechslin is responsible for all of ochs und junior’s technical innovations and functional designs.
Distribution
ochs und junior breaks the traditional rules of luxury watch distribution. ochs und junior watches are exclusively sold directly to customers at the ochs und junior workspace in Lucerne and over the internet at ochsundjunior.ch, instead of through the conventional routes of worldwide watch retailers and monoboutiques.
Every ochs und junior sale (both online and in Lucerne) is personally handled by cofounder and CEO Beat Weinmann. This direct distribution model means customers enjoy a dramatically better sales and customer service experience, and pay no high middleman margins.
Zürichstrasse 49 in Lucerne is the location of the ochs und junior workspace. Surrounded by architecture firms, advertising agencies, and unique local restaurants, the bright, spacious venue is a place for customers to work out the concept for their timepiece with Beat Weinmann, while enjoying espresso served from a vintage 1966 Gaggia.
ochs und junior
ochs und junior AG was founded in 2006 as the vehicle for producing Ludwig Oechslin’s rigorously simple watches.
The watches have no logo on the dial or case – Ludwig Oechslin creates clear design idioms for ochs und junior which are instantly recognizable.
ochs und junior manufactures a maximum of 300 watches per year, enabling it to offer uncompromising timepieces and a uniquely personal sales (and aftersales) experience from a single source – the cofounders of the company.
Ulysse Nardin became a strategic partner in ochs und junior in the spring of 2012.