Teddy Baldassarre
Review: Neobrutalist Horology & the Kollokium Projekt 01
About 15 years ago I came across a brand out of the Netherlands called d.m.h. which was, in reality, a single person by the name of Fred Dingemans, working out of a shed in his backyard. His creations were raw and slightly impractical, but they were also a pure expression of creativity, and unwaveringly original. These watches were captivating at a glance, showcasing a similar level of creative fidelity to what we were seeing from the likes of Urwerk and MB&F; at the time. This is a quality sorely taken for granted these days, with most of the newcomers wisely choosing to play it safe with practical, conventionally attractive creations that can go anywhere, and do anything. I have a well-documented love of practical tool watches that can go anywhere and do anything, but I often lament the homogeneous nature of watch design that this trend has brought us to. Truly novel expressions are a rare sight these days, but there has been exactly one to cross my radar over the past year that has brought a similar feeling to seeing a d.m.h. watch all those years ago, and that is the kollokium projekt 01. My first glimpse of kollokium came when I spotted one on the wrist of one of the co-founders while attending the Dubai Watch Week events of 2023. This individual, uncoincidentally, is also responsible for the avant-garde creations coming out of Louis Errard these days. His name is Manuel Emch, and he is one of three men (the others being Barth Nussbaumer, and Amr Sindi) behind koll...
