Introducing: Kollokium Projekt 02 Variant B Gets Deeper And Darker With First Public Sale Of Sophomore Model

What We Know

Since its beginnings as a Covid-era side project by three veterans of the watch industry, Kollokium has aimed and succeeded in being different. Its first watch, the Projekt 01, was a lumetastic, pin-dialed treatise on doing things not like the others. Now the follow-up Projekt 02 Variant B is doubling down on the difference-making, with topographical dial architecture that’s come to define the Kollokium platform. They go on sale beginning today.

We covered the Projekt 02 FFF&F (Friends, Family, Fools, and Flippers) edition with a hands-on last year, where we also highlighted versions of the Projekt 01. For the Projekt 02 Variant B, Kollokium goes darker with what it says may be “quite possibly the world’s first vertical gradient dial in a shift of grey to black across nine layers.”

Using 67 dial plates, the new gradient treatment gives the topographical dial even more perceived depth with the light grey colored peaks contrasting with a shift to black in the lowest regions of the sculptured dial landscape. The brand, which claims it isn’t a brand, but rather a platform for watch design ideas and projects, says each layer of the stacked dial plates is painted successively darker to enhance the effect. Each is treated with a mix of laquered paint and Super-LumiNova. 

The full impact of the treatment and distinctive gradient effect can be seen from the side through the tall sapphire crystal, measuring 12.4 mm in height. The stacked dial itself measures just 5.9 millimeters. It takes around six hours to assemble each dial, and the failure rate is significant, Kollokium says, as the plates can bend when pressed together. 

The utilitarian, rounded, and modern handset shape from the previous version remains, but in a darker shade to match the deeper contrast of the stacked dial. The classic-shaped, sporty seconds hand with a hooked counterweight is a constant across all Kollokium models and variants so far, and changes only in color, with bright neon yellow here on the Variant B, playing off the darker dial. And because this is Kollokium, we’ve got a fully lumed dial, another signature of the project, with the 9-tone dial plates infused with Super-LumiNova throughout. Kollokium’s unique take on the concept retains the dial’s gradient shades amid the glow. 

Beyond the impossible-to-ignore layered dial, the monobloc steel case adds another element that sets the watch apart. Kollokium uses diecasting to construct the case – yes, diecasting like your old Matchbox toy cars. The technique gives the case a matte, tool-watch-ready-for-anything vibe. With a crown shape, Kollokium says it calls it ‘valve’; that’s another difference-maker, too. I have the FFF&F version of the Projekt 02, and it wears and feels like a very sturdy watch, that’s surprisingly compact on my relatively small wrist, thanks to the 39.5 mm diameter, sharply downward-angled lugs, and a lug-to-lug distance I measured at about 46 mm.  

The strap remains an elastic stretch fabric with a hook fastener made by Delugs. It’s practical and comfortable, and it comes in a dark grey shade, which Kollokium calls anthracite, that furthers the darker themes of this version. 

Beneath the dial and behind the closed caseback beats an unfinished La Joux-Perret G101 movement that gets the job done without drama. Kollokium’s three founders, Manuel Emch (the numbers guy), Amr Sindi (the design, words, and messaging guy), and Barth Nussbaumer (the design guy and veteran watch and jewelry designer), don’t claim to be watchmakers. The movement is a means to an end – that being making a unique, time-only, sculptural dial, design-driven watch – and sits in the background while the design traits of the watch do the talking. 

A total of 299 Projekt 02 Variant B timepieces are being produced, and they are priced at a very specific CHF 3,666.66, excluding VAT and local taxes. They go on sale beginning today.

What We Think

There’s not much on the market like Kollokium’s watches. They’re timepieces that put unusual and innovative concepts and techniques centre stage. You probably either like them or you don’t, but one should appreciate their commitment to the different and uncommon ways they conceive and construct a watch. 

The Projekt 02 Variant B continues the concept, and if you dig the darker gradient dial, we expect you could spend plenty of time staring into this particular abyss from a host of angles.  

The Basics

Brand: Kollokium
Model: PROJEKT 02 VARIANT B

Diameter: 39.5mm
Thickness: Height without sapphire crystal: 5.9 mm; height with sapphire crystal: 12.4 mm
Case Material: Diecast monobloc steel
Dial Color: Gradient grey to back
Lume: Black hour and minute hands with applied ‘Lichtblock’ elements in grey, blue emission Super-LumiNova
Water Resistance: 5 ATM (50 meters)
Strap/Bracelet: Anthracite elastic textile single-piece strap with “hook” buckle in die-cast steel

The Movement

Caliber: La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movemen
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Diameter: 26 mm
Thickness:  4.45. mm
Power Reserve: 68 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 4Hz /28’800vph
Jewels: 24
Chronometer Certified: No

Pricing & Availability

Price:  CHF 3,666.66 plus VAT and local taxes
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: Limited to 299 pieces.

For more, click here.