BY DHANANJAY PATHAK
Crowdfunding platforms are perhaps one of the most interesting developments to have happened in the world of horology in the recent past. Not only have they enabled many young brands to start their horological journey, but they have also helped long-forgotten brands make a comeback. Eugen Wegner is a brand that belongs to the latter category and is currently live on Kickstarter with three new watches that pay a tribute to the brand’s historic past.
Before we get into the watches, let us talk a little bit about the brand. Eugen Wegner was a talented German watchmaker who started his namesake brand from a small workshop in the Polish town of Gdansk in 1897. His passion and hard work soon took Eugen Wegner to new heights, and, in 1909, the brand launched one of its bestselling pocket watches, the Hevelius. While the brand did well for itself, expanding its presence in various cities across Germany throughout the 1950s, it could not survive the new developments of the watch industry in the late 1960s and slowly vanished from the market. In 2017 Jonas, the great-great-grandson of Eugen Wegner decided to revive the brand, and here we are today with the outcome of that decision.
Seeking inspiration from past designs, the new Eugen Wegner watches are classically styled. All the three watches feature highly legible stepped dials, that are characterized by elegant Arabic numerals and feature thermally blued hands. The cases have been crafted from stainless steel and are water-resistant to 50 meters. All watches are powered by Swiss automatic movements that are well regulated to run within +-7 seconds a day. The movements have also been nicely decorated using perlage, blued screws, and feature rotors with custom engraving and gold-plated oscillating weight, all of which can be appreciated through the exhibition case back.
Hevelius
A simple yet refined three-hand dress watch, the Hevelius is influenced by and named after one of the most popular pocket watches released by the brand. The watch has petite proportions sporting a diameter of 39mm and a thickness of just 9.5mm. Akin to its vintage inspiration, the hours and minutes can be read using the centrally mounted hands, whereas the sub-dial at 6 displays the running seconds. Presented in white, the dial provides the perfect backdrop for the blued hands and the black text. And, while the original Hevelius pocket watch was hand-wound, this new watch is powered by the ETA 2895 that ticks at 4 Hz and offers a power reserve of around 42 hours.
One
This watch is the more complicated cousin of the Hevelius. The dial is once again offered in white, and apart from keeping normal time, this one can track the hours, minutes, and seconds using the sub-registers at 6, 9, and 12. An elaborate minutes/chronograph seconds track runs on the outer periphery and features numerals at intervals of five. The case still bears the same silhouette as the three-handers but is slightly larger and chunkier, measuring 43mm in diameter, with a thickness of around 14mm. Under the hood is the tried and tested Valjoux 7750 that operates at 4Hz and provides an autonomy of around 48 hours.
Phoenix
The Phoenix offers a more modern take on the Hevelius. The overall design remains quite familiar, with a few noteworthy differences. Firstly, the dial is an intriguing mix of black and grey and features the text in white to create a nice contrast. Secondly, there is a date window at 3 o’clock that does stand out due to the white date wheel. And this one also comes with a centrally mounted second’s hand. The case is once again 39mm wide and 9.5mm thick. Beating inside this watch is the slim and refined ETA 2892 that comprises 24 jewels and offers a power reserve of around 42 hours.
As of writing this article, there are just six days left for Eugen Wegner’s Kickstarter campaign, and the brand has already reached around 75% of the pledged goal. So, in case you like what you see, you better act quickly to take advantage of the delivery based discounted prices.
