How did the collaboration between a tattoo artist Henning Jorgensen come about?
Over two years ago Morten was looking through a lifestyle magazine when he came across an interview with Johnny Depp. The article had a close up picture of him revealing his tattooed arms and what struck him at the time was to see he was wearing a rather conservative / classic watch next to modern / rock type of bracelets and his tattoos.
This made us think about what sort of watch would we see as the 'perfect match' to this style. This is when Morten first came up with the idea of creating a tattoo watch. We then looked for the most talented tattoo artist. We met with Henning Jorgensen and Morten and I instantly loved his art. So we went ahead to create 82 pieces of the Oktopus Tattoo.
The Hard Green DLC is of particular interest to those, who appreciate its tough scratch resistant properties, however DLC is typically a black finish; why green?
The DLC coating is a procedure we often use on our watches. As you mentioned, this offers a protection for the timepiece which is important for sports watches. You are also right in believing that black is the most common colour for DLC coating and this is because any other colour is difficult to be smoothly achieved.
At Linde Werdelin though we believe in surpassing what are thought to be our limits. We have experimented a lot on alternative DLC colours and were able to successfully achieve green among other which you might see soon. I just wanted to add though that the interest in the Green DLC was more than expected so I guess people are ready for non-black watches!
LW didn’t have a dedicated diver for some time before we saw the release of the Oktopus; what lead to your decision to build a dedicated divers model?
The first Oktopus model made its appearance at BaselWorld 2009 along with a newly designed The One and a GMT watch, 3-Timer, and of course the SpidoLite. So back then we launched five families with several variations within each family. We wanted to create a complete collection and of course appeal to people’s different tastes. A diver’s watch of course made even more sense to us since we have The Reef.
What was the design brief for the Oktopus? What attributes did you consider important for such a watch?
First of all the Oktopus needed to have the same case dimensions as the rest of the Linde Werdelin watches to be able to take The Reef and The Rock. Then, we needed to differentiate the model from the rest of the lines and incorporate important to us features that a diver’s watch should have. Numerals instead of indexes, more lume on the dial, easy to turn with gloves unidirectional bezel, thicker sapphire crystal to withstand the pressure at 1111m and a helium escape valve (though not very often used).
Why so far no bracelet for the Oktopus? Any plans for one in the future
or for a divers extension strap?
Part of the Linde Werdelin idea is that all straps are interchangeable. Customers can easily change them with the help of the LW strap tool given with every watch purchase. Apart from the wide range of straps we do offer one steel bracelet which follows the same logic. Customers may opt to have a bracelet with their Oktopus watch rather than a strap. You can expect though to see more bracelets offered by Linde Werdelin in the near future!
All LW watches are designed to be compatible with LW instruments, the Oktopus was no exception. Did you feel that the Oktopus’ functionality was in anyway compromised to accommodate the Reef?
Not at all! With the Oktopus family we have launched four different models including our first complication, the Oktopus Moonphase. Our motto is ‘no compromise’ but rather offering more to the divers. There are certain functions a timepiece can offer a diver. For precise information for a safe dive one should refer to The Reef.
Do you feel that the Oktopus can stand on its own eights legs (so to speak) as a dive watch without having to be integrated with the reef instrument?
Absolutely, all our watches can be worn on their own or with our instruments to enhance their sporting experience. The Oktopus family is no different. The first years of Linde Werdelin the majority of our customers would buy our timepieces with our instruments. Today, we have seen a shift and our customers do buy our watches and not necessarily our instruments.
Please talk a little about the technology that the Reef uses? Where does this technology come from? Who helped you develop the Reef? What are its core functions? And how would it compare other dive computers or dive watch-computers on the market?
The Reef is a sophisticated high end diving instrument. It uses the latest technology for all its functions regularly updated by our in-house development team. Today, there are approximately four to five companies worldwide that can produce diving computers. At Linde Werdelin, we produce The Reef in our premises in Denmark. The Reef as The Rock are technology products and need to be updated regularly and these updates to reach the customers fast. We have therefore built an interface for customers to be able to download all updates easily.
In terms of functions The Reef offers everything to ensure a safe dive such as ascent rate vs. ideal ascent rate, dive time, decompression stops, no fly time, temperature, maximum operating depth, surface interval times, alarm/warnings, timers etc, constantly keeping the diver in a real time picture. Apart from these, and more than any other watch-computer, it is a high end product with anodised aluminium casing, sapphire crystal, anti-reflective screen and a lithium memory less battery.
How do you plan to develop the Oktopus? Considering the huge success of the SpidoSpeed, is an OktoSpeed [chrono] a likelihood for the future?
The ‘Spido’ and the Oktopus are two separate families that appeal to different people. So far this year we have launched the SpidoSpeed and the SpidoLite II models but soon the lovers of diving watches will be able to see what the new Oktopus will be. I am afraid I cannot reveal more at this stage, you will have to wait until our next launch!
Linde Werdelin is fast approaching its 10th year. How would you sum up those 10 years?
It has been a rocky road but an incredible learning curve. Building a watch brand is very hard in our days but when all the pieces of puzzle start to slowly be put together one realizes how all the years of ‘sweat and tears’ are so much worth it.
What are your aspirations for the brand’s future?
I would still like to see Linde Werdelin a small organic watch company with more innovative and well crafted timepieces.
What’s next?
You can certainly expect to see more of the Spido-family and Oktopus models in the near future…
Any final words for the OceanicTime readers?
We believe that intuition and always listening closely to our customers’ feedback are the basis of innovative watches.
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