Back in 2016, the CODE41 project produced the first mechanical watch created in collaboration with a community of 57,000 members.
The brand’s first crowdfunding campaign raised in excess of 500K CHF which put them on the path to success. In under 12-months (Nov 2017), the first CODE41 watches were delivered to their happy owners. The founders decided to deliver them in person, which sums up the company and demonstrates the truly collaborative spirit that runs through the organisation.
This is a testimonial from a customer, that received one of the first CODE41 watches…
“Hello Claudio and team. I’ve been collecting watches for 45 years; I think I’ve had several hundred! I do not say that to ‘show-off’ but more to indicate to be a real ‘watch lover’! The message I wanted to send you is filled with great enthusiasm and respect. Bravo for this product. It is a very nice watch, well made, well-proportioned and very elegant despite its marked Design vocation. In other words, my most sincere congratulations! I was not expecting something so accomplished and so original.”
Olivier, France
Their mission is simple: to enable you to experience the fabulous adventure that is the creation of an exceptional watch, and allow you to contribute to its story.
Fast-forward to 2021 and CODE41 continued to grow its community to an astonishing 500,000+ members. The members have been an integral part of the development and design of their collections, including the most emblematic models X41 and NB24, a perfect reflection of what motivates all of us as watchmaking enthusiasts: creating manufacture movements. The success of these two collections has paved the way for more accessible Fine Watchmaking, removing the associated luxury connotations and focusing upon the excellent expertise of Swiss watchmakers.
The coming year looks to be an exciting one for CODE41 and its growing member community with the potential of a new extraordinary timepiece, named the Mecascape (short for ‘Mechanical Landscape’), that sets the mechanical beauty free by allowing the movement to ‘breathe’ in an unprecedented format. There is also the possibility of a Tourbillon complication, which is very exciting indeed.
Since 2016, CODE41’s mission has been to make fine and high-quality watchmaking accessible. In order to do so, they believed it was necessary to break from traditional sales methods and give the power back to the community.
The model they’ve applied is refreshingly simple, i.e. the removal of intermediaries (physical points of sale, distributors, resellers), total transparency on the development and production costs of their models (through their TTO label), and a very low mark-up to allow everyone the chance to own an exceptional watch without breaking the bank.
It looks like 2022 will be bursting with surprises, with many projects that they can’t yet talk about for now, but on which they’ll be ‘lifting the lid’ very soon! So if you’d like to join the CODE41 community and be the first to know you should sign up now.
If you’d like to find out more about their exceptional timepieces please visit the CODE41 website.