 The
Artistry of Strehler Watches
Andreas Strehler meets the challenge of the contemporary watchmaker who must be
a craftsman of meticulous skill as well as a designer who utilizes every advantage of
modern technology. From his workshop in Winterthur, Strehler personally built his
masterpiece, the Perpetual Desk Calendar and Zwei Pocket Watch. With consummate
proficiency garnered from many years of experience coupled with an innate and intuitive
talent, Strehler has created a watch work of refreshing simplicity that is nonetheless
fashioned from hundreds of intricate handmade and coordinated working parts. Time and
patience, a precise idea of the desired result, clarity built on a foundation of
mechanical complexity, and the valuable rarity of a one-of-a-kind objet d'art constructed
entirely by hand after countless hours of creativity and craftsmanship have all
contributed to a timepiece of unsurpassable artistry and functionality. Strehler has
proven himself to be the Michelangelo of watchmakers.
Unique functionality of Strehler Watches
Strehler set about to create a stationary desk calendar with a removable pocket watch,
catering to the personal tastes of the most demanding collector by designing a stationary
tool that was also a portable companion. Synthesizing elegance and ease of use with subtle
workings, Strehler invented a transmission mechanism that coordinated the watch's works
and the automatically self-adjusting calendar. The outcome of his labors has been
remarkable, and the synergy between his Perpetual Desk Calendar and his Zwei Pocket Watch
can best be appreciated if we look the concordant pieces working together. The pocket
watch shows all the principal units of time and has a window in the back showing a gold
sun during daylight hours. It can be removed from the calendar case and has a mechanical
memory that measures the time since it was removed. When returned to the calendar case it
automatically adjusts itself. The memory in the watch registers the elapsed days and
resets the calendar correctly even after a protracted absence. As an added advantage after
the watch is set, pulling out its crown can halt its memory and adjust the watch past
midnight without causing the calendar to add spurious days. The calendar automatically
displays day, date, month and year. Its clockwork mechanism has a pump-winding lever that
reactivates the main spring and then retracts to prevent over-winding. The calendar itself
is wound only twice a year.
Distinctive Styles of Strehler Watches
The Perpetual Desk Calendar
It is housed in a heavy, wear-resistant, semi-circular case of suave and contemporary
form, with brilliant electrolytic gold-plated gilding and five symmetrically placed
elements done in rich lapis lazuli. A large centralized dial is made of silver. It shows
the month, date and year, with a distinctive, inlaid brilliant marking the twelve o'clock
position. A smaller dial to the left displays the day of the week, and counter-balancing
it all on the right is the socket with a special safety catch to secure the pocket watch.
The calendar has a cherry-and-walnut wood box with a gilt carrying handle, fits nicely
inside the case, and can be removed by a touch on the lapis lazuli release button.
The Zwei Pocket Watch
Because it uses only two hands to tell the four functions of minutes, hours, date and
month, the watch has been named ZWEI, the German for TWO. How does it work? Exclusive to
Strehler is a push button feature on the upper left edge that switches from minutes and
hours to date and month. The mechanism has a manual wind with a 36-hour reserve, and
measures 52mm. The case is made of layers of damascene steel that have been hot-forged,
folded and polished to a fine grain. The case can be finished in gold, silver or platinum.
Under a protective domed sapphire glass the silver dial is engraved with enameled black
Arabic numerals and has two asymmetrically steel hands that show hours, minutes and
seconds. On the dial, outside the hour numerals, is a ring engraved with red date
numerals. There is a solar indicator in back with a gold sun, similar to that on the
Perpetual Calendar, to distinguish between day-and nighttime hours.
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