The Kopf watch is the brainchild of German Polosin, a self-taught independent watchmaker who left Moscow for Bristol, England, where he runs Horological Underground. Conceived in 2016 and still in (limited) production today, the Kopf watch embodies the belief that a watch should be a form of mechanical sculpture. Its design feels more cybernetic than classical, combining an anthropomorphic ‘face’ with a hinged, jaw-like crown guard, hammered metal surfaces, and tritium-lit eyes.

While the Kopf’s aesthetic recalls science-fiction icons like The Iron Giant or Futurama’s Bender, its construction reflects a deeply traditional craft ethos.

In terms of style, German Polosin is far removed from the biker or heavy metal aesthetics one might expect from the creator of the Kopf watch.

Initial thoughts

It’s been more than six years since I first saw the Kopf while visiting German Polosin, the Russian [now English] independent watchmaker, who was still working in Moscow at the time. I was impressed that from the outset, the concept behind the Kopf watch was to express the art of metalworking.

In this respect, he shares similarities with another independent watchmaker, the Finn Stepan Sarpaneva, who drew inspiration from biker subculture for his own creations. Mr. Polosin conceives watches as mechanical sculptures, with their shape and finish reflecting their functionality: “I would love to see it finished like… a Beretta or a Desert Eagle.”

Kopf watch – the aesthetics of gunmetal.

The initial visual impression of the Kopf watch suggests an angular, bulky timepiece that will protrude from the wrist. However, this is not the case. The watch’s width of 34 mm and height of 13.2 mm make it quite wearable, and the 53 mm case length does not seem excessive thanks to the articulated lower jaw, which serves as a protective element for the winding crown (Kopf hardly needs protection, but still).

Mr Polosin wisely uses a simple and reliable ETA 2892 base movement, which will not cause future headaches with technical maintenance and also allows him to keep the price within reasonable limits, well below what is typical for a watch from an independent watchmaker.

Kopf watch. No digital scale markings, time is read intuitively – hours on the left, minutes on the right.

The origins of a species

The Kopf watch is often compared to the alien robot from The Iron Giant, the animated science fiction film released in 1999, as well as to Bender, the cynical robot from the animated television series Futurama, which debuted the same year.

For his design, Polosin did not choose a name that would be instantly recognisable as that of a sci-fi robot, but instead settled on the unusual, short, and harsh name Kopf, which sounds like metal striking metal. In German, this word means “head”, even though Mr Polosin originally conceived the watch as a skull watch, and even – by his own definition – as a conceptual skull watch. He does not dwell on this, saying: “It was conceived as a skull, but it turned out like a robot – this is normal.”

The Kopf watch is genuinely conceptual. Traditionally, skull watches evoke the vanity of all worldly things and the transience of human life; in short, everything associated with the vanitas style, a fashionable 16th-century phenomenon that undoubtedly inspired the creation of this genre in watchmaking. However, I would characterise Kopf as something much closer to futuristic steampunk.

In 2016, Polosin sketched Kopf’s design, which was intended for two quartz movements, to show his friends. He recalls that everyone said, “The idea is rubbish.”

Mr Polosin initiated the Kopf project in 2016, unaware that another Russian watchmaker, Konstantin Chaykin, was simultaneously developing a similar idea, the now-famous Joker watch, which would become Mr Chaykin’s star product at the 2017 Basel fair.

Mr Chaykin began developing it in November 2016 after realising he would not be able to complete his previous idea for a Game of Thrones-themed watch in time for Basel. In early 2017, Mr Chaykin started showing his colleagues the prototype.

This is how Mr Polosin learned about the watch, which, like his Kopf project, featured the same distinctive element: the time display through the eyes of an anthropomorphic dial. Apparently, this was a case of two watchmakers independently arriving at a similar idea.

Ready to abandon his concept, Mr Polosin went to Mr Chaykin with a ready-made plastic model of Kopf, produced on a 3D printer, saying, “I have such a project, but I wouldn’t want you to have any complaints about me using a similar design – what do you think?” As Mr Polosin recalls, Mr Chaykin replied, “Of course, it’s worth continuing.”

These early design sketches of Kopf show a gradual shift away from the traditional perception of the skull watch genre.

This unusual meeting did not sour the relationship between the two watchmakers; on the contrary, after that conversation, Mr Polosin moved his workshop to the Chaykin manufacture on a bend in the Moskva River, where he worked until 2019.

The analogy between the two designs is obvious, although on closer inspection, the Kopf concept is as far from the Joker as it is from a traditional vanitas-style skull watch.

Illustrations from Polosin’s patent for the Kopf design, registered in Russia in 2018.

A self-taught watchmaker

German Polosin entered the watchmaking industry as a collector and self-taught watchmaker in 2006, leaving behind a career as a banking IT specialist: “One day, I discovered my father’s abandoned, broken Raketa watch. I remembered from childhood how it broke after a month, and was thrown into a drawer. Many years later, I opened the watch case and saw that a screw had come loose from the bridge and was stuck in the wheels. Two minutes later, the watch started working. It was such a delight, such a contrast to virtual IT achievements.”

In 2006, he launched the website german242.com, which became the leading resource on the topic in the Russian-language segment of the internet, which he filled with information about collecting, vintage watches, and movements, noting that, “in 2006, it was not obvious why an independent watchmaker would even need a website”.

He also began restoring antique and modern collectible watches, as well as fulfilling custom orders, including ‘marriage’ projects building wristwatches with old pocket watch movements.

Time display module of the Kopf watch, developed by Polosin and produced in-house.

His portfolio includes some rather unusual commissions, such as upgrading a Jules Audemars Minute Repeater Tourbillon at the request of an owner who wanted a larger case. Unlike many other startups, especially those that have emerged in recent years, Mr Polosin’s passion for vintage watches and movements has not led him to a fixation on vintage style or a desire to replicate the achievements of the brilliant watchmakers of the past.

Mr Polosin explains, “I spent many years making watches based on vintage pocket movements, and they all turned out as classic as you might imagine. Several hundred classic watches with classic enamel dials and classic vintage hands, each one a one-off. It’s popular, and I still occasionally take on such commissions. It’s no surprise that, over time, my desire to move as far away from the classics as possible – into the realm of wild watches – has grown stronger.”

He adds: “The idea for a skull watch began as a joke, but it quickly went too far.” Learning from the watches he restored and serviced, and from the minds of previous generations of watchmakers, the Kopf watch suggests that Mr Polosin is a good apprentice: he is not simply repeating the achievements of the past.

Kopf watch.

Therefore, in the Kopf project, he aimed to move as far as possible from the prevailing preference for neoclassicism. Mr Polosin calls this approach “perpendicular design” and states:

“It was crucial to design a case that no one had ever made before. A dial that no other watch had. Hands that are not placed anywhere else. A pleasant bonus – if you follow the principle of perpendicular design, then somehow the product itself becomes harmonious and individual, acquires primacy (not being a derivative of something else).”

Building the robot

As is often the case with a startup business, the start was slow. The need to earn a living took up most of Mr Polosin’s time and energy, so the pre-production bronze prototype was not ready until November 2018. He tested it on his wrist until March 2019, while work continued on the first piece in stainless steel, which involved subtle but significant design changes.

Mr Polosin still occasionally wears the bronze pre-series Kopf prototype.

The list of upgrades included eliminating the polishing on all large surfaces of the case, retaining it only on the polished chamfers; replacing the flat faceplate with a pronounced relief version featuring a raised, brushed, wide outline and elaborate hand-hammering in the recessed area; and making minor adjustments to the shape of the large winding crown.

In addition to hammering, a mix of decorative techniques was employed, including longitudinal and circular brushing combined with intricate sandblasting, resulting in a textured finish that transitions from subtly grained to deeply coarse. Finally, he added a calligraphic logo to the Kopf nosepiece.

One of the intriguing features of the Kopf watch is its glowing eyes, which are comprised of tritium gas tubes that glow a faint green at all times (an will continue to do so for decades). The glowing eyes enhance the character of the dial, which can, unironically, be called a face.

In the inscriptions engraved on the case back and inside the Kopf eyes, Mr Polosin uses the exotic De Stencil font, proposed in 1917 by Dutch poster designer Vilmos Huszar. It has not been used for over a century – perhaps Kopf watches will give it a new lease on life.

In June 2019, the first stainless steel production model, Kopf No. 01, was completed. In September 2019, he finished work on No. 02, and the process continued at a steady pace of about one piece per month for next six years. By the end of 2025 he will have produced and delivered more than 60 of the planned 100 pieces of the Kopf First Serie to customers.

While the Kopf is recognisable from afar, it still requires close inspection. The extremely dense hand-hammering, which leaves no surface untouched, gives the design a particularly non-flat character.

Time to relocate

Around the time that production began in 2019, Mr Polosin sensed the increasing tightening of the political regime in Russia and realised that, among other consequences, this would negatively affect his career as an independent watchmaker and his private life. He decided to emigrate:

“When the British learned that I was leaving wealthy Moscow for the English provinces ‘for political reasons,’ they looked at me strangely and couldn’t understand what kind of political reasons I had, what kind of whim. Some strange Russian had arrived…”

He gradually moved his business from Moscow to England and helped other watchmakers who had collaborated with him to emigrate to Europe. The Moscow workshop closed in 2022, and that same year he founded the Horological Underground workshop in Bristol, where, in addition to offering repair and restoration services, he also manufactures components and carries out final finishing, assembly, and adjustment for Kopf watches.

The Kopf First Serie is still in production. What awaits us in the second episode is unknown to anyone, perhaps even to Mr Polosin himself.

Key facts and price

German Polosin Kopf Watch

Diameter: 53 × 34 mm (53 × 37 mm including “eyes”)
Height: 13.2 mm
Material: Stainless steel
Crystals: Sapphire crystal
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: ETA 2892-A2 with in-house module
Functions: Hours, minutes
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 40 hours

Bracelet: Stainless steel bracelet

Limited edition: 100 pieces
Availability: Direct from German Polosin
Price: £9,600 including UK VAT; export price is £8,000 excluding taxes.

For more, visit kopf.watch