Artra’s Incredible New Watch Looks Like a Rolleiflex TLR
Lens and watchmaker Artra is teaming up with the legendary camera brand, Rollei, on a limited-edition Rolleiflex-inspired watch.
Designed to celebrate 100 years of Rollei cameras, the new Artra Camera Dual: Rolleiflex watch looks remarkably like a classic Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera. It is extremely stylish, very cool, and coming soon.
As Digital Camera World reports, Artra and Rolleiflex haven’t announced availability yet, but the timepiece is far too cool not to show off, even without all the details.
“We condense the soul of the classic TLR camera onto a wrist-worn timepiece,” Artra writes. “Dual dials faithfully recreate the twin-lens layout of Rolleiflex. Every rotating disc and engraved badge pays tribute to the mechanical romance of film photography.”
The watch will be limited to just 100 pieces worldwide, one for each year since Rolleiflex’s founding. Technically, Rollei didn’t launch the TLR camera that inspires the watch until 1929, but the company’s first camera, the wild Rolleidoscop, launched in 1926.
Watch blog, Watchik, writes that the Artra Camera Dual Rolleiflex made its public debut at the 45th Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair. Watchik notes that the watch features a Miyota automatic movement, dual sapphire crystals, and six enamel color options: white, green, black, red, gold, and blue. However, Digital Camera World claims the watch instead features a Seiko NH05 automatic movement.
While Artra hasn’t disclosed pricing on its social media channels or shown the new watch on its website, Digital Camera World also reports the watch is priced at HK$13,800, about $1,760 at current exchange rates. Artra itself says the official release, including pricing, is coming in “late October,” so it should arrive soon.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first Rollei-inspired timepiece to hit the market in recent years. Tacs released the ATL Rollei, a $980 watch that puts the Rollei’s iconic TLR look entirely inside a traditional circular watch face. While it’s out of stock, it is still a cool piece. It’s definitely not as Rollei-like as Artra’s new watch, though.
In any event, this is one to keep a close eye on. Artra’s previous photography-inspired watches have been extremely stylish and very detail-oriented. The company has clearly found an interesting niche beyond making photographic lenses.
Image creditsArtra
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