The still somewhat mysterious Kollokium project is back with its latest release, a new variant in their first series, dubbed Projekt 01. The Kollokium drops this year have reminded us, for better or worse, of the limited edition releases that dominated the pandemic era of watch collecting. In other words, watches timed to a worldwide release window, which starts a frenzy and inevitably ends up in many being disappointed when they miss out on snagging one. It seemed like these happened a few times a month in 2020 and 2021, but this cycle has slowed down significantly as the watch industry has normalized a bit over the last few years. I think it’s too Kollokium’s credit, then, that they’re still able to gin up a level of excitement for their watches that is capable of leaving people in a state where they inevitably lash out via keyboard. It’s also worth noting that these watches are still genuinely scarce enough that when they pop up on auction sites or the pre-owned market, they tend to command a hefty premium.
All of this, of course, is secondary to the merits of the Projekt 01 as a watch, and I still believe that Kollokium is doing something that is pretty genuinely interesting at a price point (at retail) that feels approachable. The brand, you’ll remember, was founded by watch industry veterans Manuel Emch, Barth Nussbaumer, and Amr Sindi, who collectively represent the business, design, and collecting sides of the community, with overlap across all three founders. The idea behind Kollokium is described by the brand as “neobrutalist horology,” and the case and dial take on characteristics of sculpture, only resembling a watch on a somewhat surface level.
The 40mm case of the Projeck 01 is manufactured using die casting process that leaves the surface in an “unfinished” state that reflects the brutalist tendencies of the design ethos. Importantly, the case does not have a bezel, but incorporates a box sapphire crystal that is directly affixed to the base of the case itself. The gives you a view of the dial from the side, which is somewhat rare in watchmaking but absolutely essential for appreciating what Kollokium has done with the Projekt 01’s dial.
Rather than a traditional uniform surface, the “dial,” such as it is, is made up of 468 cylindrical markers in a variety of heights and diameters, arranged so that from above you can make out hour “markers” to read the time by. The undulating markers have an organic quality to them when viewed together, and from the side (through that box crystal) you get a great sense of the height and how they are all arranged. It’s a design that is truly unlike anything else I’ve seen, and represents a fairly dramatic rethinking of how a dial can be made, and how time can be read.
To this point, each variant of the Projekt 01 has featured a different dominant lume color (all of the cylinders are lume filled by hand in a process that must be rather painstaking). Previous editions of the Projekt 01 have been rendered in orange and blue. For this one, dubbed “Variant d” we get a Toxic Avenger style green, with a matching green seconds hands. Like other variants, this one is a limited run (299 pieces total) and carries a retail price of CHF 2999.99. To what will certainly be the delight of many, water resistance has been increased to 5 ATM. Kollokium.
The Projekt 01 “Variant d” goes on sale this morning at 10:00 AM eastern time via the Kollokium website. Note that according to the brand’s Instagram feed, some of the 299 pieces will have been offered (and presumably sold) to customers who missed out on earlier releases.
