A rare and magnificent piece which showcases the individual talents of two contemporary masters of independent watchmaking, the KudOkTourbi by Stefan Kudoke and Felix Habring is a masterpiece of hand engraving and technical sophistication for the connoisseur collector of twenty-first century horologic exotica.

Dominated by the unmistakable form of an octopus, with its huge bulbous head and writhing tentacles which reach out and across the dial, and through to the underside of the movement, it is a three dimensional masterclass in the combined arts of skeletonization and meticulous hand engraving, a watch of exquisite aesthetic detail, and one which instantly catches the eye.

The beautiful tempered blue steel hands which display the hours and minutes are also hand engraved and shaped like tentacles. Along their length, each of the suction cups have been finely sanded to reveal their silvery base colour, while the recessed rounded centre of each cup is still blue.

The octopus motif itself has been crafted by hand before being electro plated in yellow gold, and beneath it the completely stripped back architecture of the movement within can be seen, with skeletonised bridges, gear wheels and the exposed mainspring within the openworked barrel all adding to the depth and complexity of this exceptional vista.

In its own cavity near to the seven o’clock position, the technical icing on the cake is the captivating spectacle of a flying tourbillon which rotates gracefully in its sixty second cycle. Created by friend and fellow independent master watchmaker Felix Habring of the Habring² manufacture in Austria, the tourbillon is an in-house module adapted to the heavily modified hand winding ETA/Unitas 6498 base movement which boasts a power reserve of 44 hours.

Underneath, the detailing is as thorough as it is on the dial, and through the sapphire caseback the gold and silver tentacles serve as bridges and fixing points for the rubies which seat the tourbillon and the other moving components.

The KudOkTourbi is encased in a round 42mm case of stainless steel, with contrasting brushed and polished finishing and a fluted onion shaped crown. A truly breathtakingly beautiful piece of ‘art horlogerie’, from two contemporary masters of watchmaking in their own disciplines, only eight examples have been created, ensuring exclusivity and significance as a collector’s piece.