ochs und junior, the niche Swiss brand that eschews capital letters, has released a handsome new watch with a fresh take on the centuries-old day and night moonphase complication.
The luna sole – or moon sun – has a 40mm titanium case and a grey dial made from sandblasted anthracite.
The watch gets its name from the little sun and moon in the centre that rotate to display their relative positions in the sky.
The luna sole also has markers, a date disk and date dot in gold leaf, gray gold or rhodium and comes on a leather strap.
The watch is powered by an ETA automatic movement.
If you are wondering why a watch with a fairly run-of-the-mill calibre finds itself in the 5k+ category, it is all about design and finishing.
ochs und junior was co-founded in 2006 by Ludwig Oechslin, who created the Freak movement for Ulysse Nardin and restored the Farnese Astronomical Clock in the Vatican.
Its mission is to make simple and useful mechanical watches with a unique style.
Production runs are small and standards of finishing are exacting.
And that’s what pushes into the territory where you could be buying something with a fancy name that everybody recognizes.
Which of course you are free to do.
But ochs und junior is offering something different.
A brand you probably haven’t heard of, that uses a confusing mix of German and Italian in its branding.
And it doesn’t even have capital letters. Beyond that, ochs und junior is well worth a look.
The watch is available to pre-order and costs CHF 6000 plus local taxes ochsundjunior.swiss