Dietrich

Jasmine Dy

There’s already so much to tell from the clothes and accessories we choose to wear. From your array of clothes and jewelry, the right mix-and-match of fabrics, styles, and hardware accents come naturally and are changing every day. That’s exactly what Dietrich watches are not.

Made to be an extension of your body, it acts like an externally-attached organ that provides an additional function of measuring time. It’s not a piece of accessory you choose to wear one day and leave off the next. Dietrich has made their products to have the value of necessity to their customers.

A little bit of history

Emmanuel Dietrich, the man behind the brand, is a self-confessed object-obsessed daydreamer. Just by the definition, you can tell that people of that sort have got a loaded imagination. That’s definitely the case for Emmanuel for having seen so much from birth in the watch capital of France, Besançon, to his time as an Interior Design student in Paris, to the 20 years spent being a product designer for different brands of furniture, watches, and jewelry. Those included Hèrmes, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, and Tag Heuer. The biggest takeaways from these brands would be the foundation of his own: function, technique, and ergonomics.

With inspirations derived from the human body and Mother Nature, the talented designer was going to create something out of the ordinary backed by almost 10 years of hustle and a lifetime’s worth of visual influences.

Organic time watch series

Dietrich OT-3 Watch.
Dietrich OT-3 Watch. Photo: Abtw

Out of a wild and free imagination and a technical mind, the concept of Organic Time came to life. It came out in the form of a collection of four watches with two more and a special edition piece promising to come.

If there could only be one thing to represent the brand, any of their Organic Time watches would be the most reflective of Dietrich’s visions. From their own definitions, the watches emulate “life, sensuality, and pleasure.” Things you’d never imagine would describe timepieces, but these products are deeply ingrained with a dramatic and personal touch for the individual customer.

Each of the Organic Time watches, the OT-1, OT-2, OT-3, and OT-4 are assigned different colors: red, green, yellow, and blue, but they all share the same details in the rectangular cases, four-layered dials, magnetic case lid, 24-hour indicator, sapphire glass cover, and the number 69 etched on the crown’s flat surface at the side, indicating Emmanuel Dietrich’s birth year.

To emphasize the specialty of the OT watches, the OT-1’s features would be an impressive sample. The watches are made up of 27 components, not including the movement. The four-layered dial may be common in the realm of luxury watches, but Dietrich’s show an artistic appearance with the different textures through the smooth and matte PVD, brushed PVD, Geneva stripes, and tiny crystal accents. Additionally, there’s an illusion of depth in the diamond-cut edge that exposes part of the automatic movement.

It’s large and quite heavy with a 46 x 49mm size and 14mm thickness, never ceasing to let you forget its presence on your wrist but still delivering on the comfort with the rubber strap.

The unique advantage

Breaking into the luxury watch business would take serious work and a very unique edge distinct from what’s already in the market. Dietrich found their advantage through incorporating the artistic with the practical. The case is free of any attachments connected to the complex mechanical innerworkings of the watch, allowing flawless comfort and the option to change straps whenever. The brand also offers limited edition watches in some countries, making some of their products attractive to new visitors of the place.

Aside from that, Dietrich has made it so that their watches are the most affordable ones in the high-end stores that sell their watches. This makes their watches the most complex ones in their price range.

Thriving with competition and the future of dietrich

Dietrich Time Companion Watch

The increasing popularity of smartwatches and the strong competition of longstanding luxury watch brands should pose some serious challenge to the fairly-new brands today, but Dietrich is not the least bit threatened about it. If anything, it only makes way for a wide variety of options that Dietrich could expand to.

For Asia, where Dietrich has a strong customer base, the goal is to establish mono-stores that are distinct to each location. You’ll find no two Dietrich stores that look alike or that use similar materials, but more importantly, they wouldn’t only offer watches. Coffees, wines, cufflinks, accessories, and leather goods are in Dietrich’s foreseeable future. Ultimately, we’ll see it transform into an avant-garde luxury brand that has a complete range of interesting, artistic, and functional products. From what we’ve seen so far, it’s okay to expect a delicate yet statement brand in the making.

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