Impressions I had then was that LW was an adventurous and exciting brand yet with an understated tone of luxury. What caught my attention was the "hybrid" concept of having a mechanical watch with the option of adding on a digital "instrument" for the outdoors...diving or mountain climbing. Then again, what I heard and seen of LW watches were online until I saw "The One". I have to admit I bought it from impulse and did not do much research about LW nor on the watch. What struck me was the design of the case (which had four screws) as well as the strap design (which has 2 screws on each side). It reminded me of an AP RO, Hublot Big Bang, or an IWC Ingenieur. It has all the elements of some of the iconic design I ever wanted in a watch without sacrificing it's own distinct identity of its design philosophy.
Was surprised that the watch had so much presence on the wrist yet wasn't over the top with the blink factor (polished finished). It was elegant, clean in looks, humble and had the making of a modern classic. What's interesting is that all LW watches have the same case dimensions (this is to fit the instrument - which is one of their proposition).
The One comes in SS with a combination of matt and polished finish. It's design is similar to The Elemental which was a generation earlier.
The feel of the watch worn with the textile strap that it came with felt comfortable but one thing was that the strap was a little too short for my large wrist.
Wore this baby to my office (colleagues are mostly into the mainstream Rollies, Pams, IWCs) and got quite a few compliments from them which surprised me. Of course when it came to the brand...they weren't aware of Linde Werdelin. I had to explain to them the story of 2 danish friends who started this watch company...in the end I just told them to do their own research on the internet if they were interested. I personally like it when people appreciate a watch for the design rather than look at the brand first before passing on an opinion. Besides there's not much information on LW offline as compared to online. - So...I consider LW a "social-network" brand, which grew and continues to form it's fan base online.
Another thing I like is the unique strap changing...has pros and cons. Pros...easy to change and more likely to avoid scratches to the case. Cons...hard to use OEM straps since each LW strap has a unique "bracket" for you to screw-in the strap to the case.
Which means that you have not much choice but to buy it from LW, which means pricing is controlled. In addition, without a pure price policy, you need to do some homework before committing to a new strap. Warning: It cost around the price of an FM or AP strap.
Note: All pictures in this article are from the Linde Werdelin website and are for references purpose with no intention to be used except for illustrations and not for promotional usage.
