23/11/2025
When I started building watches in 2002, I sourced my cases from a German case maker who supplied practically every German watchmaker. Almost all German watchmakers used the same case, which was available in various versions. In 2008, during the global financial crisis, our customer base suddenly changed. Many people no longer wanted to buy overpriced watches and thus discovered Tourby. These were customers who had previously bought Patek Philippe watches. I learned a lot from these customers. My cases were good, but far too bulky for a classic watch. I was advised to make my watches smaller and slimmer, with a better feel on the wrist. That was the beginning of my own cases, which I designed entirely myself. I reduced the diameter from 42 mm to 40.5 mm. With that, I built the smallest Unitas 6498 case on the market at the time. Then I used a highly domed sapphire crystal to significantly reduce the stainless steel casing. This made the case appear much slimmer. My case measures only 10.4 mm in height, including the crystal, but only 9.0 mm for the stainless steel casing. At the time, this was a remarkable achievement and completely new to the industry. Furthermore, I used exceptionally short lugs, measuring only 48 mm from lug to lug. Thanks to their pronounced curve, the lugs fit the wrist perfectly. While other German watchmakers still use the same cases as back then, in 2009 I took German watches a step further compared to their Swiss counterparts.
What sounds like a simple story was actually a technical masterpiece. Fitting a 37mm hand-wound movement like the ETA Unitas 6498 into such a small and thinn case presented a major challenge. The original movement retaining screws no longer fit. We had to manufacture new, shorter screws. We needed curved spring bars for the straps, and the dial had to be installed from the top. This required a screw-on bezel.
In the end, the effort was worth it. When I see many German manufacturers today who are still using the same bulky cases from back then, I know I’m one step ahead of them.
