Valerii Danevych Caliber WOOD-1

The caliber number of these handmade wooden watch movements is not really WOOD-1, but they are really carved out of wood by Ukranian wood crafter Valerii Danevych. This cabinetmaker turned watchmaker made his debut at Baselworld in 2012 (watch the video here), presenting the first wooden tourbillon the world.

Functionality:

What makes these exquisite creations even more incredible is that they actually work! You can wind and set them, then admire the beautiful wooden gears ticking away. Other complications include small seconds, retrograde hours, even a flying tourbillon. The watches don’t appear to be equipped with an anti-shock device, so don’t drop them or wear them to mow the lawn!

Accuracy:

The watches store up to 20 hours of power reserve. Fully wound, these wooden mechanisms are said to maintain accuracy of about 1-2 minutes per day. That’s almost as good as some of the popular mass-produced affordable metal movements on the market!

Materials:

Valerii Danevych makes the movements almost entirely from wood, with exception of the springs and crystals.

“This retrograde wristwatch is packed with power in a retrograde indicator, flying tourbillon, 4 metal springs, and two sapphire crystals. The rest of the watch is entirely wood, handcrafted using 8 different woods, with a total of 188 parts (154 of them in the movement). The smallest wooden parts are 0.9mm in diameter, and the bearing pin of Australian Guaiacum only 0.12mm. Guaiac wood is special because it’s self-lubricating, so it doesn’t need horological oils.” –source

Here is an example of a detailed materials list for one of his flying tourbillon watches:

• Australian Guaiacum (wood)
• Palisander (wood)
• Birch (wood)
• Applewood (wood)
• Bamboo (wood)
• Spring (metal)

It’s something different that we wanted to share with the CC community, hope you enjoy it!

Additional Resources:

• DanevychWatch shop on Etsy
• Valerii Danevych’s Amazing Wooden Watches