In the 20th century, the Rolleiflex was one of the most respected names in camera circles. First made in Germany in 1929, it’s a twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera, which means it has two lenses stacked one above the other. The top one shows you the scene on a viewing screen, the bottom lens takes the shot.
Favored by photojournalists, fashion photographers and street photographers, those stacked lenses made it one of the most recognisable cameras ever made. And now that distinctive look has been shrunk down into a stylish watch design.
Made to mark 100 years of Rollei, the Camera Dual Rolleiflex is the creation of Hong Kong company ARTRA. It’s officially licensed by RCP Technik, the German company that owns the Rollei trademark.
That makes it stands apart from ARTRA’s Camera One watch, launched about a year ago, which was inspired by cameras in general. Don't rush to find your credit card, though: no release date has yet been announced, keeping this firmly in "coming soon" territory.
Lovely little details
The Rolleiflex influence on the watch, which measures 47 x 30mm and is 11mm thick, isn't just seen in the shape. The two sapphire crystals have anti-reflective coatings inspired by the camera’s lens optics (violet-tinted on top, amber-yellow below). The case has fine vertical grooves inspired by the camera's body, along with an aluminium brand badge.
Two small knobs on the case work as a day indicator and a leap-year indicator. A crank-style winding lever on the side echoes the film advance crank on the camera. And even the steel strap buckle is engraved with a vintage Rollei logo.
According to ARTRA’s launch materials, the watch runs on a Seiko NH05 automatic movement with a power reserve of 40-plus hours. A custom module drives the two dials. Note that some early reports said it uses a Miyota movement instead. Featuring a quick-release Italian leather strap, it's water-resistant to 30m and comes in six colors, white, green, black, red, gold and navy; only 100 of each will be made.
The standard edition costs HK$13,800, which is around $1,780 / £1,350 at the time of writing. There’s also an exclusive edition for retailer The Lavish Attic, limited to 30 pieces, which boasts a mirror dial and heat-blued hands and costs HK$15,800 (around $2,030 / £1,550). That might sound like a lot, but it's still quite a bit cheaper than the Leica watches we saw released last year.
For full details, visit www.watchik.com.
