anOrdain Teams With Hodinkee To Launch The New Model 3 Sunburst

Just last year we visited a fascinating young independent watchmaking company, set up in an old carpet factory in Glasgow, Scotland. This brand goes by the name of anOrdain and has made a name for itself through a series of well-crafted and fun time-only watches. Things started with the Model 1 and vitreous enamel dials, which continued into the more robust and sportier Model 2. Displaying real expertise in making very attractive enamel dials in a range of colours and styles. The craft is extremely delicate, as any mistake in building up the multiple layers takes renders a dial useless. But anOrdain isn’t deterred by that, and in fact, introduces a new model to the portfolio today. Launching with Hodinkee, this is the anOrdain Model 3 Sunburst, with a rather special and gorgeous new style of dial!

The Model 3 follows the Model 1 and Model 2 collections, which can be considered the dress and field watches for the brand. Each collection focuses on the dials, with distinct multiple typefaces and colours available in both ranges. The new Model 3, launched in collaboration with Hodinkee, introduces a third style for the small Glasgow-based brand.

The round case features wire lugs and is fully polished from top to bottom. At 39mm in diameter and 10.3mm in height, it sounds like it hits the sweet spot. Not too large, not too thick, just right! It’s topped with a dome sapphire crystal that follows the curvature of the bezel. And although the shape of the case is lovely, and in line with previous work by anOrdain, the Model 3 is very much all about the dial.

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And what a dial this is! To put things in perspective, do not mistake this for another run-of-the-mill sunray brushed dial. This is a sunburst 2.0 dial of some sort, as this is not finished with a spinning brass wire brush on a machine, but rather cut by hand one groove at a time. After the dial is cut, it’s covered by translucent grey vitreous enamel to create incredible depth. It’s a very time-consuming process, as each dial can take up to 100 hours to complete. The white numerals and indices are printed on top of the enamel and seem to float in mid-air. The syringe-style hour and minute hands are polished, and paired with a needle-like central seconds hand.

Hidden from view by the solid caseback, this Model 3 relies on an élaboré grade Sellita SW300 automatic movement. It runs at a rate of 28,800vph and uses 25 jewels. Usually, this comes in a time-and-date configuration but in this case, it indicates the time only. The power reserve is 42 hours, the standard for most Sellita movements. The caseback is decorated with a miniature map of New York, Hodinkee’s home base, and the inscription of the numbered limitation of the watch. Around the outer edge of the caseback, you can read anOrdain’s motto; “Old Crafts, New Hands”, a delightful nod to the young men and women working on these special watches using age-old techniques.

The anOrdain x Hodinkee Model 3 is a limited edition of 25 pieces, all exclusively sold through Hodinkee.com. It comes on a dark grey suede leather strap with contrasting stitching and a pin buckle, but we understand other strap options are available too. The price is set at USD 6,000.

For more information, please visit anOrdain.com or Hodinkee.com