Hello, today I would like to tell you about a new family watchmaking project led by Philippe Narbel, his wife Natacha, and their four children. It is Klanic, presented on October 16 in New York during a watch event. Before introducing this first introductory piece, I would like to reintroduce Philippe Narbel, whom I already featured in my article on his other brand Narbel & Co, and of course tell you more about the essence of this project.
Before creating his first own brand in 2021 and Klanic in 2025, Philippe Narbel began his career as a self taught jeweler. At the age of 29, he joined Audemars Piguet, first as an intern, then as a watchmaker for six years, and finally as a finishing specialist for two years. Fascinated by the complex art of skeletonization, he notably worked on Audemars Piguet’s calibre 3132 and on skeletonized movements with grand complications from the same maison.
In 2015, he founded Manufactor SA, a company dedicated to high end watch decoration, and fulfilled his dream in 2021 with the launch of his first creation, the Narbel & Co Roots, then his second creation, the Narbel & Co SKEL-1, which are still available on request. However, for several years, together with his wife and their four children, he wanted to bring together everyone’s complementary know how to create a family clan project and bring people together. Klanic was born.
Located in the heart of the Vallée de Joux in the village of L’Abbaye, cradle of a rich Swiss watchmaking heritage, the Klanic brand seeks to create bonds, to unite around a shared passion for horology, and to open itself to all who share these values and this vision. It is an approach founded on respect for well executed work, attachment to Swiss watchmaking tradition, and the desire to create with sincerity, commitment, and fair prices.
The name KLANIC is inspired by the word “clan” and the adjective “clanic.” It embodies unity and the strength of family ties, but also the communal and companionable spirit that is passed on to every client and partner. Each letter of KLANIC comes from the first name of a member of this six person family. But its scope goes far beyond that: it is a name that brings together all those who wish to belong to a circle animated by shared commitments, a common passion, a sense of belonging, and the transmission of a living heritage. This first series therefore sets the tone with an inaugural iteration that combines creativity and exclusivity. Now it is time to present this watch.
Table of Contents – Klanic KLA-001
What are the features of the Klanic KLA-001?
Case
The Klanic KLA-001 has a stainless steel case alternating several surface treatments: polished on the face of the watch, brushed on the caseband, and satin finished on the section of the caseband between the lugs. With a diameter of 39.40 mm and a thickness of 10.00 mm, this case with screwed bezel and screwed back sits perfectly on the wrist. To add comfort and follow the curve of the wrist, the lugs are more curved and come below the line of the caseback. Once the watch is placed on a table or stand, it rests on its four lugs, also protecting the lower crystal from potential scratches. Only small disappointment: a very standard crown without a logo.
Dial
The Klanic KLA-001 features a contemporary dial in sandblasted German silver, colored by rose gold PVD. As for the hands, they are also in German silver and stainless steel. This aesthetically unique dial reminds me of a certain Czapek Promenade Goutte d’Eau. It comes from a collaboration with designer Sébastien Mettraux. This multidisciplinary visual artist is based in Vallorbe. Based on a moodboard submitted by the members of Klanic, he proposed a grainy, textured aesthetic full of relief that conveys the values, the brand vision and direction, and expresses identity, family history, and the spirit of the clan. The dial is inspired by concentric waves, alternating sandblasted textures and polished surfaces, seeking balance between rigor and functionality, poetry and organic lines.
This ever moving dial offers subtle contrasts, where light reveals the nuances and depth of the material. At the heart of the design, six concentric waves: a nod to our six person family clan, but also to the resonance they hope to create with those who will join the project. These six lines also embody the strength of the circle, continuity, the trace left by time and by those who live it together (first circle, the family; second circle, friends, etc.). The concentric circles also evoke time, connection, belonging, and nature, inviting each person to project their own story. It can therefore resonate differently depending on who wears it. What I really liked on this dial is the integration of the indexes, which is just perfect, and also the shape of the hands whose shadows play with the 3D side of the dial and the different color nuances it can offer.
Movement
The Klanic KLA-001 houses a hand wound mechanical movement, a modified Unitas 6305N. Produced between 1961 and 1965, this movement was selected for its functional robustness, precision, and mechanical beauty; it is a true witness to a time when everything was done with passion and rigor. This choice reflects their desire to highlight artisanal know how by bringing a very contemporary life back to a historic Swiss calibre. Beating at 18,000 vibrations, it offers a 50 hour power reserve.
Here we find a movement fully disassembled, reworked, and hand decorated. The central seconds bridge and the balance bridge are entirely rethought and newly machined to designs by Philippe Narbel, while the other components are meticulously restored through deep artisanal work and elevated by high end hand decoration. The mainplate is rose gilded 5N and the bridges are rhodium plated. The three pockets of the central seconds bridge are cut with a bocfil jeweler’s saw, then refined with a file, before executing the bevelling, also entirely by hand.
True to a resolutely traditional approach, the watchmaking method here favors fully manual work, particularly for the decoration of the angles, deliberately prohibiting any use of CNC pre shaped bevels in order to preserve and transmit authentic watchmaking know how.
Strap
The Klanic KLA-001 is delivered with an original brown calf leather strap. It is striated a bit like tree bark and closes with a finely worked pin buckle bearing the brand name.
What is the price of the Klanic KLA-001?
The Klanic KLA-001 is a limited series of 12 numbered pieces offered at a price of 14,000 Swiss francs, excluding taxes, which is quite reasonable given the manufacturing quality and hand decoration of this watch.
Klanic KLA-001: a contemporary watch that spans generations
The Klanic KLA-001 is a strong proposal that offers both a unique dial and a movement that needs no introduction. For me, this watch symbolizes all the parties involved in the project: a unique and poetic character in the face of the watch while preserving the traditional side of an emblematic movement with hand decoration that Philippe Narbel likes to highlight. Indeed, it is these small details that we do not see with the naked eye that make collectors’ hearts resonate.
Each watch is designed, decorated, assembled, and finished within the family workshop. If needed, production also draws on the technical expertise of the family company Manufactor SA, also based in the village of L’Abbaye, which shares the same commitment to excellence and transmission. Each proposal, present and future, will be in limited series depending on the models, thus leaving room for new ideas. In parallel, they keep the freedom to collaborate with other artists and watchmaking artisans for special series, as well as to produce unique pieces as they wish.
For what comes next, the Klanic team has already proposed a simple and effective complication, the jumping hour on the KLA-002, already sold out. Designed by Philippe Narbel, the additional plate was built by Florent Lecomte. In the spirit of the clan, Florent is among the watchmakers with whom they maintain a privileged relationship, founded on shared human values: a sense of family, the pleasure of simple things, and respect for well executed work. I look forward to discovering it for Watches & Wonder in April 2026.
I would now like to personally thank Philippe and Natacha, who allowed me to discover and grasp this first piece which, I should emphasize, is a prototype. I preferred this version to the grey version, preferring this slightly more striking color contrast with the light and perhaps also because this dial reminded me of sand dunes that transform with the wind and the seasons, like our circles that expand and contract over the course of a man’s life.
Klanic KLA-001 – Watch Specifications
- Brand: Klanic
- Model: KLA-001
- Case Material: Stainless Steel
- Dial: Sandblasted German silver dial, finished with rose gold and light grey PVD accents
- Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds
- Movement: Modified Unitas 6305N, Manual-Winding, 18’000vph frequency (2.5Hz)
- Power Reserve: 50 Hours
- Water Resistance: 3 ATM
- Crystal: Sapphire
- Caseback: Sapphire
- Case Dimension: 39.4 mm (Diameter) × 10 mm (Thickness)
- Strap: brown leather with Stainless Steel Pin Buckle
- Availability : Limited to 12 pieces
- Retail Price: CHF 14,000 (excluding VAT)
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Had you come across this new brand? Do the words watchmaking and family resonate with you in connection with this project? Do not hesitate to share your opinion in the comments section.
For more information about Klanic, click here.
You compare the dial of this watch to the Czapek goutte d’eau, which in my opinion is completely wrong.
Sure, they have in common this « ripple effect, but the Czapek goutte d’eau is a trompe l’oeil. It’s
enamel, It’s completely flat.
The dial of this watch is 3D, which gives it a REAL depth, and transforms the shadow of the hands in some zigzag.
Thanks a lot for your comment, I really appreciate you taking the time to share this.
You’re absolutely right on the technical side: the Czapek “goutte d’eau” effect is essentially a trompe-l’œil on a flat enamel dial, while this watch uses a genuinely three-dimensional, wavy architecture. The result is a very different kind of depth, with the dial changing noticeably depending on the angle and the way it catches the light, and it also allows the hands to cast those distinctive zigzag shadows across the surface.
My mention of Czapek was meant as a distant aesthetic reference, more of a first visual association from afar than a statement of equivalence in construction or technique. Once you look closely, the execution and the reality on the wrist are clearly in another direction.