Thomas Prescher is building this prototype for Aegir watches. It will be using the Mhvj cal 2005, the same movement that will be in the LE model.
The involvement of Thomas Prescher in the LE, is restricted to assembling, regulating and doing the QC.
This below, is something i had written weeks ago for when someone spotted that it was his workshop. No one did, so i slipped in a case back pic. Only one has noticed on WUS so far!
This will answer your question to Adam.
The CD-2 LE was something that had been thought about some time ago, but had no real direction until, during the mid-summer 2010; I attended the open work shop held by Thomas Prescher.
It was during this visit I showed a video of one of my Dutch colleagues, at 40M depth with a Dutch flag and an Orange Vuvuzela, which we had made several hours before the kick-off for the World Cup Final as Thomas Preschers’ colleague Mark Postmus is Dutch.
I had then told of Aegir watches and the planned models, explaining the diving aspect.
It may have been a joke or just a passing comment, but Thomas Prescher said “I could make the prototype”.
A few hours later, sitting in my hotel room I couldn’t shake the comment from my head and knew it was the way forward. It’s all about the watch to me after all, and to have such an opportunity was a very big moment in my brands direction.
From that moment on, I never let it go, many, many emails and a few calls later, he either gave in, or liked the idea, I never asked which.
It was a fortunate meeting for me, as in the end Thomas Prescher agreed to assemble, and regulate, a limited amount of these watches.
So I looked around, found a suitable movement for the prototype. The Mhvj cal 2005.
It was decided to use these movements for the entire planned LE model as well. Fortunately Mhvj dealt with me direct and these movements are currently in production.
In my search for the right strap for the standard watch, I came across leather straps from a ship wreck. The wreck was called the Metta Catharina; a 100 ton brigantine went down in a storm in the waters of Plymouth Sound. It was December 1786 and she had been bound for Genoa from St Petersburg. One of the goods it carried was Russian Deer leather. It had been preserved in a mixture of silt and whatever it had been tanned with for all those years.
Russian leather was widely regarded as the finest in all Europe in the 18th century.
This seemed a fitting strap for such a watch and so Robert L Ross was commissioned to make them after having seen some of his other work. His sample was a beautifully crafted example.
The straps are handmade in the United Kingdom and supply of this leather is now down to tiny stocks, and these will be among the last straps ever to be made.
The LE model sold out quickly some time ago for the first 15 to be made.
The association with Thomas Prescher was not known to the buyers either, so this will be a huge bonus for them. I am very proud that Thomas Prescher was willing to be associated with Aegir Watches on this, and I am also very fortunate as he is true master of his craft and a gentleman too.
Attention to detail on the CD-2 and CD-1 seems to be off the charts... definitely raises the bar for other small operators out there.
