Surprise NWA - Kudoke Infinity

[WatchEater666]

Figured I’d do a detailed review of this watch since I’ve been able to spend more time with it.

I was at Sydel in Chicago looking at some other independents when Jonathan there pulled this out. My wife really loved it and I have been a long time fan of Kudoke’s work, plus I am a bit of a sucker for aventurine.

It was the most excited I’ve seen her about a watch so decided to pick it up on the spot.

We actually got to check out a handful of Kudoke models which I was surprised by. I never expected to see on in-person let alone 3! Personally, if it was my choice, I would have gone with one of the models featuring the hand-engraved day/night indicator :)

Jumping into the review…

The dial design to me is really beautiful. Elegant and sleek. It’s a little bit on the larger side for my wife but imo it works.

This is one of kudoke’s pricier models but you still get a lot of value for the dollar relative to other new watches in the same price band. An in-house movement is quite rare for something in this range, and there are a variety of finishing techniques utilized - some well and others ok.

This can likely be explained by the fact that Kudoke is a very small independent and doing a lot of the work himself.

Examples of the above:
-Both the name plate on the dial side and the chapter ring have anglage on them. The name plate is also grained.
-Numerals and logo engraved then filled
-Hand guilloche on the plates on the back. Personally, I like his openworked movements that feature the interior angles more, but this is nice too and fits the theme. I do wish the pattern was tighter though, it's a little too "big" if that makes sense.
-Another engraved name plate on the back. The engraving is good but not flawless.
-Wheels are finished, but imo not really that impressive. A little bit of a let down for a watch in this price point. This is probably the biggest weakness.
-The frosted bridge thing is well done, and the anglage on it is nice. This was surprisingly well executed. Check out the sharp parts on it.
-The hands are BEAUTIFULLY sculpted and polished. They are outrageous. I love them.
-The stacking of hands is very tight and well done which is rarer than you would think.
-The stock strap is pretty stiff and default size quite large. I have 7.2 inch-ish wrists and I use the smallest size hole! Not really sure why it’s sized the way it is? Maybe it’s a large strap? Quality of it isn’t anything special. I ordered a replacement from Terrycrafted already and in the interim I put the watch on a babele strap I had sitting around.
-I like the case design. Execution wise, nothing crazy going on, but it is nice getting something different VS some of the more generic cases you see used by other German independents.

Overall, I like the watch a lot. If you’re a fan of the design and aventurine, I would pull the trigger.

If you don’t love both of the above, then I would go with a different model and save a lot of $. Maybe something that emphasizes Kudoke’s engraving skills over the guilloche, because I think his engraving is a big draw.

My pictures are taken with an iPhone + some Lightroom abuse. This watch is a pain in the rear to photograph due to the aventurine dial lol. Sorry about all the reflections etc!