“Can I ask what watch you’re carrying?”
The amiable, scruffy man in a Laker’s hat asks, sitting a couple of stools down on the native bar right here in West Hollywood the place we’re each regulars. That day he was carrying a Royal Oak “Jumbo” Additional-Skinny, although I do know he has a couple of Rolexes, as nicely. (You discover when one other common has an important watch assortment.) I inform him it’s a Linde Werdelin, at which level he asks one thing alongside the strains of, “Say that once more?”
We chatted over a drink (beer for him, Fernet Branca neat for me), and the dialog moved onto different subjects, however I may inform he was ensorcelled by the LW. Earlier than we parted methods, he took down the model’s identify on his cellphone, commenting on how he liked the case design, how light-weight it’s, in addition to the way it’s one thing uncommon that his buddies don’t find out about. I believe we generally take without any consideration how powerful it’s for non-enthusiast shoppers to get uncovered to the smaller impartial manufacturers, however it’s a uniquely satisfying factor to look at after they do.
The Linde Werdelin I had on was the brand new Spidolite Titanium with the “Summit Inexperienced” dial. The Spidolite debuted again in 2009 after a workforce that was scaling Mount Everest requested the model for one thing as light-weight as attainable. The workforce lower down an present watch case by 60% whereas making certain the power wasn’t compromised.
Linde Werdelin has gone via main modifications since late 2016, cutting down operations and relying extra on a smaller-batch, made to order mannequin. As such, the 2 new colours of the Spidolite (Summit Inexperienced & Arktis Blue) are solely being finished in 75 items every. These are similar to the outdated SpidoLite II watches from about eight or 9 years in the past, however the brand new matte finishes completely change the look and total feeling of the watch. I recall the outdated “titanium blue” and “titanium pink” have been fairly shiny and loud, pushing wearability on an already daring case design.
Off the bat, this new Spidolite fixes one of many largest points I’ve with some present items within the colletion: legibility attributable to extremely skeletonized dials. For instance, the SpidoLite 3DTP we reviewed some years in the past was fairly troublesome to learn. Now, there’s a two-part skeletonized dial with the higher part in inexperienced and decrease part having Côtes de Genève work. This makes a drastic distinction in legibility and total aesthetics, once more proving that generally much less isn’t all the time higher. Whereas over-skeletonization doesn’t fall into what I’ve dubbed “pathological minimalism,” it’s actually an issue of its personal variety that’s pervasive within the trade.
The case of the Spidolite is waterproof to 100M and measures 44mm-wide and 15mm-thick. That is is on the larger facet, for positive, however the lug-to-lug of 48mm is simply as essential a measurement — notice that Linde Werdelin states case size at 46mm, which I consider is the lug-to-lug from the again of the case. For comparability, the 42mm Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore is thinner at 14.1mm thick however has a considerably bigger footprint at almost 54mm lug-to-lug.
The extremely stylized architectural case of the Spido is a large a part of why I really like this watch. The strains, angles, and shapes all come collectively for a glance that’s like no different, whereas not coming off as attempting too exhausting. The Linde Werdelin design DNA is robust and deeply established in its product line, one thing solely a handful of manufacturers this younger can declare. Like it or hate it, there’ll by no means be sufficient watches produced for critiques from the lots to ever actually matter.
In actuality, the “ears” on both facet of the case are vestigial because the authentic Spido was designed, partially, to connect the Linde Werdelin Land Instrument (aka The Rock) to the case. The Rock was a sensor-based laptop that connected onto the Spido and picked up knowledge, had GPS, and included different features, akin to a frostbite warning alarm. These have been discontinued (in addition to their diving laptop sibling ‘The Reef’), however the case of the SpidoLite Titanium stays true to the originals.
Seen via the exhibition case again is the LW04 motion by Concepto. With ceramic bearings and a skeletonized rotor, the LW04 has lengthy been a mainstay within the assortment. It operates at 28,800 vph and has a 40-hour energy reserve. I believe it’s cheap to anticipate that LW replace the LW04, because it’s getting a bit lengthy within the tooth and shoppers are used to seeing longer energy reserves from up to date calibers.
The Linde Werdelin SpidoLite Titanium in Summit Inexperienced and Arktis Blue each breathe new life into the gathering and create some mandatory thematic consolidation. The matte inexperienced dial provides an earthiness that I by no means knew Linde Werdelin was lacking, whereas the improved legibility has a multiplier impact on the general success of the design. You would name it the “considering man’s *insert audacious sports activities watch right here*” if it helps to categorize the inexperienced SpidoLite. For me, it’s the very best iteration of the Spido up to now and a hopeful signal for issues to come back. Linde Werdelin is making 75 items of the SpidoLite Titanium in Summit Inexperienced and 75 in Arktis Blue, with each bit made to order at a value of $10,480. You possibly can be taught extra at lindewerdelin.com.
