A prodigious young watchmaking talent from just outside Copenhagen, Rune Bakkendorff has already an impressively accomplished CV. An award-winning graduate from the Danish School of Watch and Clockmaking, Rune’s designs are influenced by time spent in restoration, including both private and institutional watch and clock collections, and also by formative years working alongside the prestigious Master, Thomas Prescher. With his Ætt watch, named for an Old Norse expression meaning family, lineage and direction, Rune continues to evolve his own creations with a nod to the past, but with the contemporary nuances demanded by collectors throughout the world.   

Released in a series of only 10 pieces, with each handcrafted by Rune in his Copenhagen atelier, the Ætt watch takes inspiration from a historically significant tower clock mechanism made by Jensen Olsen in 1919, on which the unconventional display of time enabled the clockmaker to set the time without leaving the building, instead he could do so via the mechanism that was placed on the movement. By replicating the arrangement, and shrinking it to wristwatch proportions, Rune has created a contemporary masterpiece that is brimming with elegance and originality.

Evoking exquisite proportions, the pair of dials for the minutes and hours overlap gently and their rotational motion sets the scene for a highly unique façade. Reduced to its essentia to allow the layout to remain wonderfully uncluttered, only the hour dial is fitted with hands, and as the pair of dials complete their gentle rotation, telling the time becomes instantly intuitive. The hours and minutes are accompanied by a minimalist  small seconds which gives animation to the dial, while elsewhere the dial retains clean styling, save for a a duo of blued screws blued screws accompanied by a plaque declaring the provenance of the piece.

Meticulous in architecture, the manual winding calibre is a lesson in pure styling and restrained elegance. Developed and produced within Rune’s own atelier, it has been beautifully finished with immaculate detailing achieved by hand. The movement beats at a rate of 18’000 vib/h, and features a power reserve of 40 hours. Appreciable through the  rear sapphire crystal, the architecture of the movement is exceptional, and as if to pay an ode to Copenhagen’s significant horological history as seen through the youthful eyes of the country’s latest master, it evokes the the stark beauty synonymous with the region’s watch and clockmaking. 

The Ætt watch by Rune Bakkendorff carries a 39mm case of stainless steel and bronze that is brimming with subtle yet well-considered details, such as the visible screws on the case side where the bronze meets the steel; the pert, sculpted crown, and also the sharply tapering lugs. The model is be a limited series of only 10 pieces.