Sitting Down & Catching Up with Konstantin Chaykin

Russia was once a dominant force in the watchmaking industry, and it had a thriving scene during Joseph Stalin’s era of the then-Soviet Union. This continued past his death in the 20th century but has slowed down somewhat since the turn of the century. However, the world of watchmaking has since seen the emergence of Konstantin Chaykin, an independent watchmaker from Moscow who has set the scene ablaze with his creations.

Having started as an independent watchmaker in 2003, Chaykin produced his first clock in 2004, and only four years later, he was accepted into the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) as an official candidate. He would go on to become an official member of the AHCI in 2010 and, to this date, has become the only Russian to do so. He was also elected President of the AHCI in 2016, a position he held until 2019. Just two years ago, Chaykin was also accepted into the Temporis Hall of Fame via a jury vote from the Temporis International Awards.

Aside from being Russia’s premier watchmaker, Chaykin has also contributed to filing multiple patents over the years with the first being granted to him back in January 2007 for the RU2306618. This was the first complicated module that Chaykin had ever challenged himself to and it paid off as the orthodox Easter date indicator, which at the time was seen as something highly complicated to accomplish. Since then, he has owned more than 90 patents. In April 2020, Chaykin was awarded the WIPO Medal for Inventors due to his constant contributions to the field of technical sciences in the Russian Federation.

The Moscow Computus Clock is the most complicated instrument created in Russia, with 27 complications and mechanisms to accompany its four dials.

Some of his most fabulous creations also stemmed from his many patents, which aided the development of many complicated clocks over the years. This includes the Moscow Computus Clock, with its 27 complications and mechanisms, four dials, over 2,500 components in the case, and over 2,500 movement parts, which make it the most complicated clock ever created in Russia. Chaykin was also known for his imaginative and innovative take on specific handcrafted wristwatches, many of which were based on his patents and designs.

The Lunokhod watch is one such creation that came out in 2011 as it paid tribute to an unmanned Russian lunar lander that ventured to the moon in 1970. Aside from that, Chaykin has had numerous creations during the 2010s that also included the Levitas with its transparent dial in 2011, the Genius Temporis that showcased both the hours and minutes using a single hand in 2014, as well as the Joker watch that came with its Wristmons collection in 2017. This has only propelled his status as a watchmaker even further after the Clown Wristmons watch won the GPHG Audacity award in 2018.

We had the chance to sit down with Konstantin Chaykin in Singapore a while back to talk about his collaboration with Louis Erard on the Le Régulateur Dusk to DawN watch. We also had the chance to pick his brain on everything related to his creations, their philosophy, and everything else in between.

Chatting with Konstantin Chaykin

THG: You have a vast library of books on watchmaking and wrote a book about the history of watchmaking in Russia. What do you think people should know about Russian watchmaking?

Konstantin Chaykin: I think a lot of cultures have some experience when it comes to watchmaking. For example, in Chinese watchmaking, you can find a lot of examples of past work and plenty of significant experiences. While not so European, Chinese watchmaking had plenty of exciting timepieces like its liquid clock, which was created more than 1,000 years ago.

I was in Beijing a month ago and at the Imperial City, there is the Palace Museum, which has one of the largest collections of watches from the 18th and 19th centuries in the world with more than 1,000 pieces. Unfortunately for Russia, we don’t have that type of museum to visit. However, we do have experience in watchmaking that dates from the beginning of the 15th century, particularly in 1404 when the history of Russian watchmaking began. There were a few times before the 18th-century revolution when we tried Croatian manufacturing.

But it all started with Catherine II (also known as Catherine the Great), who was the reigning empress of Russia. And during that time, there were more than 20 famous Russian watchmakers who made very interesting timepieces and clocks. As usual, it was all pocket watches but the biggest history during Soviet times was when there were 19 watch plants, which produced more than 40 million pieces per year.

THG: Did it evolve into high-watchmaking? In the past, watches were seen as an instrument to tell time.

KC: No it didn’t evolve into high-watchmaking of course, but during the Soviet era, all eight million people at the time were given a watch. This includes everyday, ordinary people as well as experts within Russia and even in regions like China and Europe. Special timepieces were also produced for the army as well as other devices so it was a big industry but not with high-watchmaking. This was because most watches made in Russia didn’t have good finishing but at least it wasn’t expensive.

THG: Earlier you talked about visiting China recently. You have also been to Singapore quite a few times. What is your impression of the watch collectors and the watchmaking scene here in Asia?

KC: Of course, the people here are different (laughs). Southeast Asian countries are different because of different cultures, different people, and different collectors so no I can’t compare with my small view of it. But in my opinion, Singapore is very different. The customers are a lot more professional, they have more knowledge about the movement and how it works. I also want to say thank you to Michael Tay. I’ve talked with a lot of dealers and big business owners but for me, it’s really comfortable talking to him because he understands, not only about the model of the watch but also the movement inside of it.

And I think in Singapore, the people are very professional. In my opinion, this is part of its culture and magazines. For example, Singapore isn’t very big but it has a lot of watchmaking passion as the customers have a lot of knowledge about watchmaking as compared to other countries, it’s not the same level.

THG: You must really appreciate people who understand the interesting side of watchmaking as well as its history then?

KC: Oh yes absolutely because it’s really cool to know the history and what’s great about Singapore is that it focuses on independent watchmakers more and not just the big brands. It also helps that they want to understand watchmaking and what it is all about and how it works, no matter how difficult it can be to understand. It’s really cool.

THG: Talking about your collection for a bit, of course, we cannot escape the problem that is Wristmon. While it’s been a great success for both you and the brand, are you at all worried that people will see you for just the Wristmon watches and not for your entire collection?

KC: Not after Only Watch where people spoke about how it’s again another Wristmon release (laughs). But if you talk with other watchmakers, you will understand. And no, it’s my brand and I think I’m happy about what I can create, especially since I have a team now. I try not to stay in one place for too long and instead, I want to grow and increase.

Konstantin Chaykin created the Joker Sandmann in conjunction with the Only Watch charity auction.

But unfortunately, it was different back then. I had to make a choice back then on what I can create, and this was new to me because watchmaking is not simple, you need a lot of time when it comes to creating watches. For a simple watch, it can take up to six months to create and one year is needed just for the complications, which can then be extended to two, three, maybe five years. Workers also need money, and they need time to create, a lot of time.

I do have a lot of ideas and a lot of patents but it’s not easy, especially when I first created the Wristmon collection. A lot of people thought it was an easy job to create simple watches and that I’m only doing it for the money due to its high demand. From there, people think you must make something only when there’s a demand for it. But what people don’t know is that it is not so simple. But as an artist and a watchmaker, I’m happy to work with it because I love it. I love the Wristmon because it’s an infinite universe of characters.

These characters have also made my life different, not only for me but also for my grandchildren. Maybe I can make more variants the next time (laughs). It’s good for me but probably not good for business. People also have to understand that creating watches is heavy work. If you have seen my watches, you would think the Wristmon was easy to create by just putting a couple of eyes, a smile, and think it would be easy. But no, sometimes it takes more work to design a Wristmon than it does to create a classical watch.

My way of working is to focus on three angles: the movement, the design, and the idea every time. This is for every new character (for the Wristmon collection) as well as new watches. It’s very important as an artist. It requires a lot of time to create and work with the proportions, materials, and even the details.

THG: Is it safe to say that you are trying to show people that the Wristmon collection can be pushed to the limit with this level of creation as well as to show you are capable of more than just that?

The Wristmon collection of watches have been Konstantin Chaykin’s most popular series to date.

KC: In the traditional way of creating complications, if you are building a high-complication watch, you need to find the space within the case and from there you can include the new indication and function. But it’s a different issue for me because with the Wristmon, you have to also include a couple of eyes, the mouth and the nose, an additional crown, etc. etc. Including a new function is a different issue in more complicated watches, believe me; I have spent a lot of time on watches and it’s a challenge for me.

This is because certain things within a watch just cannot be moved, and you end up building the movement around it to ensure there’s no free space. If you were to create a classical complication and there’s free space available, you can include the date, the day, the month, perpetual calendar, maybe a minute repeater. But for the Wristmon, there isn’t any free space as I already have a template to work with.

THG: You are also famous for having an extensive collection of notebooks full of ideas in your library. How often would you say your ideas come to life?

KC: Every time. My principle is that if I have an idea, I will put it down on paper with a pencil and come up with a few versions and after that, I work on it on big paper for the proportions. My way is a little bit different because we produce everything in-house like the case, the dial, and a lot of parts.

It’s more difficult but a lot faster as well but it’s still difficult as you lose sleep, you work during weekends. It’s a long list of technical process that we go through. It was difficult back then as there really were no teachers. In the end, I had to teach people on how everything works. It took about five years for me to teach them everything.

THG: You have been flying the flag for Russia when it came to the international watchmaking scene. You were a member of the AHCI and you were the president for a while. What does the AHCI mean to you and to the watchmaking world?

KC: The AHCI was a really important moment for me in my life because it felt like finally, I get to take a big step and introduce myself to the world. They accepted me as a member at my first international exhibition, which was 15 years ago. Of course, this was really important to me, and I met a lot of friendly people and watchmakers who shared the same passion as me and they eventually asked me to join.

THG: There is a sense of feeling that you wanted to be part of a like-minded group of individuals who also understand your struggles. But what does the AHCI president actually do?

KC: Oh, it’s not an easy job as you have to deal with people a lot. And the participants of AHCI range from not only watchmakers, but also businessmen. And these people work all the time with half of it spent on a workbench so it’s difficult. As it’s also a democracy with people who are all different, we try to connect all interests to help with all the difficult work.

THG: The AHCI also has a very diverse background, right? There are members from different countries. Maybe people view watchmaking as predominantly Swiss.

KC: Definitely, there have been over 70 members with people from all over the world. But now it’s not easy, especially after COVID, it has been difficult because it’s hard to host activities and events. There was also a change of committee within the AHCI as there was a need for new blood to enter the scene and to have more activities. Both Sven (Andersen) and Vincent (Calabrese) are also getting older.

AHCI was built as an organisation to connect watchmakers together in one exhibition. But today, there are more modern ways of introduction and promotion like social media. The AHCI’s main mission is to help and support new watchmakers and one way we used to do it was through exhibitions. Today, there are many different ways for new watchmakers to promote themselves with a lot of other possibilities.

Konstantin Chaykin x Louis Erard Time Eater II

THG: Lastly, a collection like Wristmon, you did it for yourself and you have been pushing the envelope, trying to make it more and more complicated. But on the other end of the spectrum, you are also doing collaborations with the Wristmon collection, like with Louis Erard for the Time Eater and even a collaboration with BEHRENS. Was that a conscious decision that you wanted to grow the Wristmon collection in different directions: the higher-end and more complicated avenue as well as the simpler, more accessible route?

KC: If you ask me about my plans for the future, no. For the collaborations, it wasn’t a pre-planned move as Manuel (Emch) proposed some interesting notes, so we decided to give it a try. As for the BEHRENS collaboration, it worked out under good conditions. But for the future, I don’t know if I will be doing anymore collaborations like this or not. And I separate my art in three different ways. First, there’s Wristmon and second, there’s the complication watches and lastly, there’s the whole theme of space and maybe astronomical functions.

THG: You paint as well, right? How did that start? Do you paint anything other than your watches?

KC: It started from childhood actually. And sometimes I do paint other things.

THG: We were amazed by the paintings and how you managed to turn your art into merchandise as well. I think a lot of people really enjoyed it and it’s a good way to expand the universe. Okay, thank you so much for your time!

KC: Thank you!