PHOTOGRAPH BY JOYCE LEE AUGUST 2019 GQ.COM 45
PROP STYLIST: KAITLYN DARBY
THE HERITAGE
By basing the movement
on an English pocket watch’s,
Stefan wanted to pay tribute
to the history of collaboration
between English and
German watchmakers.
THE CASE
The size—39 mm—is in
the sweet spot that works
for any wrist.
THE METAL
The Kudoke 1 is made
of stainless steel, a rare
metal for a dress watch.
(A gold version is available
upon request.)
THE DETAILS
Stefan isn’t just assembling
the components of the
watch—he’s manufacturing
and finishing many of them,
like the blued-steel hands.
HEN YOU START collecting watches, you try to flex—to
make people believe in you because of the gold watch on
your wrist. But eventually you want to buy pieces because
you believe in the people behind them. Stefan Kudoke is
one of those people. The 40-year-old German watchmaker is fully
independent. His brand, Kudoke, doesn’t have investors. And yet, in
a studio outside Dresden, Stefan single-handedly designs and builds
masterful timepieces. He’s not in it to get rich, necessarily. He’s in it
because he can’t help himself.
For a decade, Stefan was best known in watch circles for his quirky
one-o≠ creations. Then, last year, he dropped the stupidly perfect
Kudoke 1. Its face is super quiet: just the nameplate, tiny hour numer-
als in the outer ring, and a sub-seconds dial at 9:00. That’s it. And
that’s what’s so great—all day you get to observe the infinity-symbol
hour hand move through the vast silver field of the dial.
And then there’s the movement, which Stefan built himself (a
massive undertaking even for industry heavyweights). Dubbed the
Kaliber 1, it’s based on the caliber of an old English pocket watch
Stefan found in a drawer. I like that Stefan is building something
new out of a conversation with the past. But not as much as I love
the absolutely batshit engraving you’ll find when you flip the watch
over. It’s mind-boggling that the Kudoke 1 costs only $7,300. You
could tell me the watch was $30,000 and I would believe you.
I would still buy it, too. Because to me the Kudoke 1 represents
the pinnacle of watch collecting. It isn’t your first watch. It’s the
one you get when you understand that there are watchmakers out
there, like Stefan, who need people to be passionate about watches
in order to continue practicing their art. Who need people to wear
a watch for themselves, because they believe in its maker. Now, that
gets me more excited than a hunk of gold or a fancy logo ever will.
OUR
MONTHLY
WATCH
COLUMN
W
In his one-man workshop outside Dresden, master watchmaker
Stefan Kudoke is doing his part to keep the art of horology alive.
THE MAKER
Stefan, who learned his craft
in the German watchmaking
capital of Glashütte,
produces only around 40
watches a year.
