Next we meet Martin Klocke, Founder of Sherpa Watches. He is a passionate engineer, Buddhist, and long-time admirer of iconic watch brands like Roamer, Certina, Bulova, Enicar, Junghans and Favre-Leuba.
He studied the now classic Sherpa watches from the past and is dedicated to have these celebrated models reborn and made available to a world-wide audience.
We hear Martin’s thoughts on his fledgling business and the exciting future ahead for the Sherpa brand.
MWM: How is business?
MK: As Sherpa Watches are a very young brand and we are just preparing production in May for our first two models, the OPS and the Ultradive (see above). So far we are not selling watches, thus it is difficult to say how business is. But, we have a growing number of pre-orders and the reception amongst watch aficionados and passionate collectors has been extremely positive! Already we are recognised as a brand with a special story and interesting features, something quite difficult to achieve in such a short time-frame. So in short we may say: Business is great, especially considering how young Sherpa really is.
MWM: What are you currently working on?
MK: Currently we are really, really busy ensuring the supply chain for the start of our production. This has been increasingly difficult over the period of the last two years and 2022 proves to continue being difficult in that regard. This is not confined to us being a relatively small and ‘young’ player in the market but rather seems to be a general problem. Once this supply issue is in quieter ‘waters’, I have several ideas for upcoming models, and I hope we can work on these in the second half of the year.
MWM: Tell us something we don’t know about Sherpa watches?
MK: This is a difficult one, as I don’t know how much you know! Maybe that Sherpa Watches is not a result of careful planning, business model fine-tuning and marketing campaigning, but rather the result of a spontaneous idea and pure passion. The passion to bring back several cherished old watch models led to the first step. And then it was a succession of tentative further steps, each leading to another step, and then forming a path and a direction, which is now called Sherpa Watches GmbH. In hindsight quite amazing to see, but in actual fact it was more of an exploration ‘into the blue’.
MWM: Which watch do you wear?
MK: I do not wear our own watches daily, but currently I actually do wear a Sherpa Ultradive on a prototype metal bracelet. As a vintage watches lover, I value the modern tech and resistance that the new models offer, while really preserving the essence of the beauty of the originals.
MWM: Which watch would you like to own?
MK: Oh, tough question. I would really love to own a vintage Enicar Sherpa Super Graph (above). I just love that watch, especially in its special form for the Olympic games in Tokyo. Very rare, very beautiful, very special. And completely off-the-track and out of financial possibilities – I have somehow fallen in love with several Urwerk models. Strangely enough, as I never considered them intriguing before, but recently I found them very appealing. Maybe it’s me dealing with watches and movements more in detail? Don’t know. In anyway, a far away goal, as out of my budget for watches.
MWM: What do you like best about the Watch business?
MK: I really love the aesthetics of watches, the attention to detail (how much farther intro micro-detail can you go in any industry?) and I love the complicated yet at the same time simplistic aspect of watches: In the end it is a series of gears and levers which will run for decades, if not centuries to come if looked after accordingly. This is sustainability for me! Many everyday tools which we use today will cease working within 3-5 years from now and cannot be repaired. Quite a contrast! I prefer the concept of serviceably and long-term products.
MWM: What don’t you like about the Watch business?
MK: It seems to me as a newcomer, I have to be a bit careful. Currently I do not like the hype, the financial craziness. People flashing off their watches without any sense of what it is all about. While I love that watches get a lot of attention and while this enables many companies to get the funding to thrive the business and technology, this has put an unhealthy spin on it, too.
Also, there is a sense of dishonesty about origin and provenience of components. A lot of this is more appearance than reality, and many customers are not aware or do not want to be. For many watches of European descent proudly written on the dial, most, if not all, visible parts are from China or India. This is a general trend in our European societies, to have goods for a low price from Asia, but I wanted to go against this and decided to be transparent and stay in Europe with all our components. This, of course, has a price.
MWM: What is next on the horizon for you?
MK: As you probably know by now, I have a great passion for the watches of the 1950s to 1970s Sherpa series of the old Enicar Lengnau SA company. I think that these watches deserve a place in today’s market. So I would love to continue this path and bring several more of them out in high quality, beautifully and technically finished to the highest standards. So this is what I will focus on next, apart from of course expanding my company and ensuring that it is here to stay and steadily slowly grow.
Martin Klocke is a Friend of MrWatchMaster