Living the Watchmaking Dream
Six watchmakers behind four new brands talk about the hard work and study it has taken them to produce their first watches.
Annelinde Dunselman was a social worker before taking up watchmaking.Credit…Anders Modig Davin for The New York Times
The Black Tulip
Annelinde Dunselman began her career as a social worker, directing plays with addicts and working with victims of domestic violence. “I was always into watches, and I wanted a change,” Ms. Dunselman, 50, said recently, “so I applied to watchmaking school.”
Initially she thought she would service watches, but the more she learned, the dream of having her own brand slowly grew. After graduating from Vakschool Schoonhoven, a vocational school in that Dutch city, she interned at Jaeger-LeCoultre and Philippe Narbel and then went to work at Grönefeld.
Three years ago she decided to create a watch with her own movement. But, as she had specialized in assembly and decoration, she had to ask colleagues in Switzerland to convert her designs into technical drawings.
She has the parts produced in Switzerland and has been bringing them back to her home in the Dutch town of Zwolle, where her workshop overlooks a pond. There she decorated, assembled, adjusted and tested the final prototype — and expects her Black Tulip watch to be ready for market in January, at 38,000 euros ($44,060). She already has sold all 10 in the limited edition.
The parts for Ms. Dunselman’s Black Tulip watch are made in Switzerland. The watches are decorated and assembled in her home workshop in the Netherlands.Credit…Anders Modig Davin for The New York Times
“Now the first prototype is finished, and the first two watches will be delivered shortly after New Year,” she said of the 38-millimeter watch with a zero-reset mechanism, which means that, when the crown is pulled, the second hand goes to 12 and stays there.
With a zero-reset mechanism, it is common for the balance, the wheel that controls timekeeping accuracy, to stop along with the second hand. But in the Black Tulip, the balance keeps oscillating, which she said is good for precision. “It is a beautiful, fun and practical complication,” she said.
The design has a concave bezel, decorated on the vertical side with Ms. Dunselman’s logo, which is a stylized tulip on its side and the letter D. The same pattern is laser-engraved on the dial, which has four layers. And engraved between the lugs is the label: Created in The Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Black Tulip is a Dutch legend; a black tulip cannot be created. “Things we cannot make are inspiring,” she said. “The idea of a black tulip reminds me that perfection is not possible. But I could be as close as possible.”
