ELKA x HEROES

https://www.elkawatch.ch/order-online-free-shipping/elka-x-heroesThe young Swiss company ELKA Watch Co has teamed up with Heroes Media to produce a watch combining its genetic codes with those of the "Heroes" magazines. A limited edition of 25 pieces.From the first glance, there is no doubt that the "Heroes" spirit is there. Black, white, a raven hidden on the dial and a chic adventurer's face. This is the new ELKA Watch Co. watch made in partnership with Montre Heroes. A 40.8 mm diameter case in sandblasted and blackened stainless steel with "gun" PVD treatment, a matt black dial with a neo-retro design, white hands and numerals: the "Heroes" graphic DNA is fully respected. Powered by a Swiss movement manufactured by La Joux-Perret (G100) with a 68-hour power reserve, this already collector's watch is issued in an ultra-limited series of 25 pieces. And it is precisely on the number 25 of the dial that the raven, the historical emblem of the magazines published by Heroes Media, has been subtly placed. This watch is special for many reasons. It already has a history; that of the meeting between the founder of ELKA Watch & Co and Montre Heroes. On our side, it embodies a history of several years of friendship with Hakim El Kadiri, former artistic director of Hamilton and Rado watches. In 2022, the latter decided to go it alone. "I dreamed of developing my own brand, which I wanted above all to have a story, a truth and credibility," he explains. "I chose to call it by my nickname, ELKA. As I love the 60s, I decided to use it as inspiration for my collections. When I wanted to protect the name, I realised that a brand called ELKA Watch had existed but disappeared in the 1970s, precisely during the period that influenced the design of my creations." Founded in 1877 in Amsterdam by Eliazer Kiek, inventor of the tactile watch for the blind and watchmaker to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, ELKA Watch opened a Swiss branch in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1949 where it produced wristwatches, of course, but also pocket watches, Braille watches, chronographs, chess clocks and signal clocks... before being dropped from the lists during the quartz crisis. In 2022, thanks to a successful launch on Kickstarter, ELKA Watch Co was resurrected via two series: D and X. The Heroes model is inspired by the X Series and the design of a pocket watch. "The objective of this design is to have an organic object in your hands, like a pebble, something you want to touch and feel," says Hakim El Kadiri. Several prototypes were necessary to arrive at the final result.  A watch in "Heroes" colours with a very fifties style and a Café Racer spirit.

 This model is also the first from ELKA Watch Co in a sandblasted "gun" colour version, with the famous raven engraved on the case back and discreetly printed in white between the two inner strands of the black Nato strap that covers the watch. A must-have.