MICRO-MONDAYS: The Wolkov W22 shapes up with a truly innovative design
Fergus NashYou’ve heard of square watches and rectangular watches. Even octagonal watches are essentially common these days. With around a century of experimentation since wristwatches were popularised, there’s not a lot of room left for brands to find something truly original, and yet Wolkov have managed it across all aspects of design. There must be hundreds of new watches listed on Kickstarter by microbrands every week, but the Wolkov W22 offers that rarest of things, a genuinely different look.
The case
The Wolkov style of case is immediately distinguishable as unique, both from its ovular shape and the extravagant lugs. Jumping right into the main quirk of the Wolkov W22, the long snaking lugs are friction fitted onto the sides of the case where they can freely pivot. This means that no matter what size or shape your wrist is, the lugs will conform to its curvature for a more comfortable fit and leaves the watch face sitting flush. The overall look of the watch is intriguing, because even though it’s a completely new concept it also has an air of Art Deco about it. The gentle twist of the lugs make the case look like it’s framed by two longbows, projecting an air of regality and old-world charm.
The size can be a little bit deceptive, with a 37mm diameter and 47mm length of the case, but the lugs do tend to reach wrist extremities fairly easily. Thankfully, this provides no comfort issues thanks to the aforementioned pivoting, but you can see from wrist shots whether or not the visual effect is an issue for you or not. Another oddity is the crown at 12 o’clock, although its thin profile stops it from looking too distracting.
The dial
The originality of the Wolkov W22 isn’t just isolated to the case design, with a rather gorgeous approach to the dial and hand-set too. Small applied indices and a minute track skirt the perimeter of the dial, with numerous thin lines extending into the centre to provide an almost Bauhaus-like approach to intentional minimalism. The central section has the Arabic numerals in a ring to denote the hours, with a 0 prefix to the single digits to keep things symmetrical and balanced. The hands break up the vintage cues with a fairly cute set of shapes — the hour hand being a large stubby teardrop and the minutes hand extending out further towards the printed markers. The seconds hand reaches out as far as the case’s width will allow it, painted in Wolkov’s signature red colour on all three of the references.
Speaking of the three references, and there’s something for everybody in the Wolkov W22 range. The most classical is a white dial version called the W22 ‘Neige’, with grey dial details that let the red on the seconds hand and 6 and 12 hour markers stand out vibrantly. Next is a rather versatile dark grey finish called ‘Onyx’, with slightly less contrast on the black minute markers but more emphasis on the bright white Arabic numerals, hour hand, and the Wolkov logo. The third ‘Fumé’ is something for the colour lovers, with an incredibly deep blue dial that crosses over a wide spectrum of hues thanks to the sunburst brushing and outer black gradient.
The straps
Although the modular lug system is perfect for wearability and originality, it does invalidate the use of third party straps, making it slightly less versatile if you’re the kind of collector who likes to swap them out regularly. The watch comes standard with two supplied straps, the first being a casual light brown leather and the second being a two-piece nylon strap in the Wolkov red colour, nicely picking out the red in the dial. If your strap preferences lie elsewhere, Wolkov do offer extra straps ranging from other nylon colours to crocodile and ostrich leather. Plus, they offer custom strap options should you wish to contact them directly and have something special made up at extra cost.
The movement
The Wolkov W22 uses a Swiss-made Sellita SW200 automatic movement, hitting the nail on the head for reliability, accuracy, and affordability. The 38-hour power reserve and 28,800 vibration per hour beat rate make for a great luxury watch experience that you can wear daily or on occasion without worry. You can see the movement through a sapphire display caseback, though it has been tinted red to add some character without disrupting the view.
The Wolkov W22 pricing and availability:
The Wolkov W22’s Kickstarter campaign was successfully funded within its first day, and you can pre-order your own from the Kickstater campaign page here with delivery estimated around November 2022. Each colour variant is a limited edition of 250 pieces. The Early Bird special comes at a cost of $460 USD, or the Late Bird costs $540 USD if you’ve missed that deadline. The final RRP upon release will be $990 USD.
| Case Material | Stainless steel |
| Case Dimensions | 37mm x 47mm x 12.3mm |
| Water-Resistance | 30m |
| Dial | White, black, blue |
| Straps | Leather, nylon, custom |
| Movement | Sellita SW200 |
| Power Reserve | 38 hours |
| Complications | Hours, minutes, seconds |
| Price | $460 USD – $990 USD |