PASSIONS
54
FORTUNE.COM// FEB.1 .19fiona krüger
FIONA KRÜGER TIMEPIECES
FRANCE & SWITZERLANDSCOTTISH-BORN KRÜGER’S
entrée into horology was by
chance. While earning her
fine arts master’s degree
at the École Cantonale d’Art
de Lausanne, she took a
course sponsored by watch
brand Audemars Piguet,
where she was tasked with
designing a timepiece: “I
thought this was above my
skill set. Watches weren’t
really on my radar.” A
visit to AP’s factory and the
Patek Philippe Museum
soon changed her mind.
“The first time I saw the as-
sembled movements and
great-looking watches, and their construction has gotten
better,” says Wind, who’s noticed that many of his clients,
regular purchasers of six-figure watches from legacy
brands, are adding these new indies to their collections.
“I myself have bought a number in the past two years.”
The astute watch enthusiast has always been on the
hunt for the rare and exclusive. These independents
appeal in part because they produce small batches,
champion distinctive aesthetic perspectives, can take
advantage of the availability of quality components, and
eschew traditional retail distribution chains. What’s
more, price points can start at a reasonable $250 and
go up from there.
“The only modern watches that get me excited are
these indie brands,” says longtime vintage collector Kevin
O’Dell, who estimates he has about 70 pieces, including
those from Rolex, Patek Philippe, Panerai, and IWC.
“I feel like established watch brands lack inspiration,”
he says, finding that the indies “are building a brand,
not just a name.”
the precision of working on
that micro scale, I thought,
‘Wow, this is special.’” She
calls Patek’s historical
collection “Willy Wonka’s
chocolate factory for de-
signers.” For her master’s
project she designed
a skull-shaped watch,
inspired by her childhood
spent in Mexico. After
putting a prototype online
in 2011, she received over
100 inquiries. In 2013,
Krüger along with her hus-
band, Michael, launched
her company with the Skull
Collection. Last year, Krüger,
who also makes custom
orders, debuted her second
collection, Chaos, inspired
by the laws of thermody-
namics and Roy Lichten-
stein paintings. Timepieces
range from $12,900 to
$28,550: “I came to watch-
making as a complete out-
sider and discovered this
whole magical world, a mix
of storytelling and beautiful
craftsmanship.”bradley price
AUTODROMO
DOBBS FERRY, N.Y.AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
with a love for automobiles,
Price debuted his car-
gauge-inspired watches
in 2011: “I’ve always been
a car enthusiast, and
there was nothing in the
marketplace for me. I
wanted an automotive-
inspired watch that was
tasteful and priced in anaffordable way.” For Price,
who says he had a wealth
of ideas, the challenge
was to transform them
into timepieces. He went
to watch fairs and brought
his drawings to manufac-
turers. “I found I had to go
back and start over. A lot
of what I wanted to do had
limitations, but I learned a
lot from factory engineers.”
Price has launched two
watches with Ford: One is a
vintage-inspired chrono-
graph celebrating the Le
Mans race, priced at $695,
and the other, released last
year, is a made-to-order
customized piece available
only to Ford GT owners.
The watch is serialized
to match their chassis
number and priced at
$11,500. “What I’m trying
to achieve each time is to
come up with a new watch
that makes people excited
again and fall in love.”
FOUR NEW FACES IN WATCHMAKINGAutodromo’s
Ford GT
chronograph
is inspired by
the car’s wins
at Le Mans.KRÛGER:^ COURTESY^ OF^ FIONAKRÜGERTIMEPIECES;^PRICE:^COURTESYOFAUTODROMO(2 )