Crude showcased its recent fancy watch release, Unique. The luxurious heavy metal, created in small series in a studio near Pforzheim, reflects the finest artistry of watchmaking. All components are made high-quality in Germany and Switzerland. Each piece has its character and style, which is, in part, impacted by its owner.
The mastermind behind the unusual Crude is Gregor, ‘Greg’, Bieniek, who resides in Ibiza. The idea to create a watch that didn’t fit the mainstream’s mold for a long time. He gradually brought the idea to life over the course of a few years.
Greg gradually brought the idea to life and developed a timeline for the project. He planned to make the product rough, unique, with a solid silver cast, and a hand-woven leather band, hand-crafted by an artist in Ibiza. The watch is made out of two natural, raw materials that are reactive to their surroundings. The beauty of the watch’s patina develops and intensifies over time. Though Greg intends for the style to be raw and uncut, he ensures that CRUDE still produces the watch for up to the standards of a luxury watch.
Besides the original, rough, quality watch quest, Greg also executed his plans to initiate workshop and piece builder. His creations have sparked both curiosity and skepticism. “This will not work, no one does it this way,” they would say.
The most challenging part of the process is to forecast it, due to the difficulty and high cost of it. Greg admits that it’s much easier to produce using raw material, assembled with a dial.
especially in the case of keeping the beautiful tailor-made skin and to finish the work precisely to stay within all tolerances. No CRUDE casting is the same. Each unique item must be processed individually. Why cast housing? A cast has this unmistakable feel. Rough, but velvety with flowing transitions and soft edges, which you never will get by milling a case out of a block by machine.
After more than four years of production and development, Greg’s vision finally began to take form. CRUDE finally began creating high-quality watches, made of hand and sapphire glass shipped straight from Switzerland, complemented by an automatic caliber.
Silver studs surround the time-telling device, along with a case construction, crown, and the custom-made bottom screws, which contain the typical E and the label that warns: “made in Germany.” Greg’s studio was constructed to be just as savvy and modern as the watch itself, placed amid Pforzheim, popularly known as a “gold town.”
The first model series, Gypsetter is made up of a three-hand automatic watch. The device is water-resistant from up to 100 meters. The design is further personalized through a trimming process, using two-millimeters brilliant-cut diamonds in the dial as well as various patinas in the course of the finishing. This summarizes CRUDE’s ability to form an original and luxurious experience with its watch.
Greg considers his lifestyle to be a driver that showcases how the patina of the watch will help develop the future. The CRUDE Gypsetter is currently accessible at its manufacturer and is being distributed via selected retailers during the beginning of spring 2020. The retail cost is 9,600 euros and varies on the custom design and customer requirements.
