For decades, we’ve been indoctrinated into the timeless codes of Haute Horlogerie: slim case, mechanical movement, guillochage, crown at 3 o’clock and recognisable brand signatures. The problem is, these codes were made to be subverted. In the 1970s and 80s, quartz swept everything before it, gifting us with calculator watches, angular plated steel cases, questionable geometries and unreliable Chinese movements which are probably best forgotten.
What’s the connection with Kerbedanz? At first sight, none at all. But appearances can be deceiving. By looking more closely at the brand’s aesthetic syntax, which may appear conventional on the surface, it’s possible to identify an eloquent thread of controversy and an ironic approach to tradition.
Shall we danz
The new Cadanz collection is a perfect example. The fledgling range should perhaps be expected to start laying the foundations of a coherent and timeless aesthetic corpus. But that’s not what has happened. Cadanz focuses on an ethos, not a straitjacket of self-imposed rules. Take the typefaces on the existing models – there are four of them! Stylised, slanting, outlined – Kerbedanz doesn’t always use the same one.
Purists will be offended: where’s the consistency? You need a magnifying glass to find it. Because it’s not hiding among the hour markers. In fact, it’s concealed in the guillochage. That’s the key to the Cadanz aesthetic. The guillochage is always recognisably the same, made up of delicately tapered diamonds that break up the light on the dial surface. Kerbedanz has created a subtle motif that, with each new colour, captures the light differently, and gives the illusion that the guilloché pattern is constantly changing. But that’s an illusion. Regardless of whether it’s executed in white, black or ivory, the perception might change but its identity remains constant.
Staying Free
Purists will be offended: where’s the consistency? You need a magnifying glass to find it. Because it’s not hiding among the hour markers. In fact, it’s concealed in the guillochage. That’s the key to the Cadanz aesthetic. The guillochage is always recognisably the same, made up of delicately tapered diamonds that break up the light on the dial surface. Kerbedanz has created a subtle motif that, with each new colour, captures the light differently, and gives the illusion that the guilloché pattern is constantly changing. But that’s an illusion. Regardless of whether it’s executed in white, black or ivory, the perception might change but its identity remains constant.
Kerbedanz’s approach takes a middle road, borrowing traditional codes and subverting them. You want a crown on the side of the case? Fine, but not at 3 o’clock ¬– Kerbedanz crowns are invariably in the 2 o’clock position. How about a date window? Yes, but not at 6 o’clock. That’s going at 2 o’clock too. Alternating satin-brushed and polished finishes? Polished, yes; brushed, no. That’s just how it is: Cadanz by Kerbedanz watches are all fully mirror-polished, whatever their base material.
Precious materials and a leather strap? Yes to the former, no to the latter. Kerbedanz prefers to ship the Cadanz Signature Date Jewellery with a diamond-set bezel, on a rubber strap with a woven texture. It’s elegant and modern.
How about a distinctive hand shape, like the Breguet hollow apple or Nomos Glashütte’s baton? Kerbedanz takes a relaxed attitude – happy to conform to the standards, but refusing to be limited to just one. Hands might be leaf- or baton-shaped, full or openworked, blued, gold or even orange. Regardless, they keep time in their own unique way, according to their own unique Cadanz.
