They’ve gone Everywhere and Anywhere, but Krayon has decided to take on haute horlogerie again with the Anyday! This time, it’s coming in a rose gold case.
Ever since the boom period of the early 2020s, watchmaking has seen a massive rise in popularity. With it has come the opportunity for watch brands all over the world to step up their game. As demand for luxury watches grows, it becomes more important than ever to set oneself apart from the competition.
This is especially difficult in the world of independent watchmaking. With budgets almost as endless as imaginations, what are you to do? You could do what everyone else is doing: developing high complications from simple concepts. Or perhaps you could do what Krayon is doing, which is taking challenging concepts and making them simple.
They started this with the Everywhere model, a watch capable of showing the sunrise and sunset times of anywhere on earth. They followed this up with the Anywhere, capable of the same but fixed to a single point on earth, elegant yet accessible for the luxury-ridden homebody.
But their third collection, the Anyday, is the best representation of their ethos, taking on mechanical challenges and making them intelligible and practical. Encased in rose gold, Krayon’s latest Anyday model is a new offering in the line unveiled last year. Measuring 39mm in diameter and 9.5mm thick, the Anyday Rose Gold could be considered the afternoon or evening cousin to the original white gold version.
Both offer the same wrist presence, as the case construction is gold either way, but the Anyday Rose Gold benefits from the distinctive lustre of its case. On the other hand, the original model could easily be mistaken for steel to the untrained eye. I suppose it depends on how you want people to look at it! Comfort on the wrist is further enhanced by a black lizard leather strap and a matching rose gold buckle.
The design of the Krayon Anyday Rose Gold is as unique as the watch’s concept itself, but we will get to that shortly. The dial, in sleek dark grey, sharpens the calendar’s clarity through contrast. A guilloché central section features Krayon’s signature stylised “Y” motif, echoed by similarly shaped hour indices.
At the periphery, a lighter grey minute track frames the star of the show. In the lightest grey, the Anyday’s date wheel is displayed, with a gold crescent indicating the current date. Each number is cut out and filled with either dark grey or gold.
Why, you might ask? That comes down to the Anyday’s in-house movement. The Calibre C032, a manual-wind movement, powers the watch with a 3Hz (21,600VpH) beat rate and a 72-hour power reserve. The headline complication of the Anyday is, of course, that date wheel, but it does more than simply show 31 days. The Cal. C032 can also determine which days fall on a weekday and which on a weekend.
Two discs, one grey and one gold, progressively align once per month to show which is which. The four small dots between the 31 and the 1 at six o’clock help prevent confusion between the end and beginning of consecutive months, while also offering a preview of the first four days ahead.
This effectively sets the date display on a five-week calendar for improved clarity and readability. Wearers of the Krayon Anyday will only need to manually correct it during the five shorter months of the year, or if the three-day power reserve has run out.
Final Thoughts
It is perhaps harder to get noticed in the world of independent watchmaking compared to the wider industry. If you are a big brand or even a slightly smaller one that still sits within the mainstream, you have that added protection. You have an established, perhaps adoring, fan base.
Independent watchmakers do not have that luxury. Each venture faces an indifferent crowd, collectively saying, “Impress me”. Some have succeeded, but even then, their successes can feel gatekept. No other brand should be capable of what they are doing, and it forces them to go ever higher.
With the Krayon Anyday, the concept is simple, but the implications are significant. They do not chase that kind of hype or attention, yet by challenging themselves, they have managed to pull off a feat that no one else in the industry has. In that sense, you do not need ridiculous complexities or abstract materials to create a standout timepiece. Perhaps it is in the challenge itself that one finds the greatest success and satisfaction.
Reference: C032-02
Specifications
- Dimensions: 39mm case diameter x 9.5mm thickness
- Case Material: 18k rose gold
- Dial: Grey guilloché with rose gold & light grey accents
- Movement: Manual wind Cal. C032 with five-week date & weekend indicator complication
- Power Reserve: 72h
- Beat Rate: 3Hz (21,600VpH)
- Water Resistance: 30m (3bar)
- Strap: Black lizard skin leather strap with 18k rose gold buckle