If you've been following me, you know I've loved the AuroChronos Festival since its first edition in 2017. This year, it was back after several shutdowns (damn Covid), and what we can say is that the show was a huge success. More than 1,200 attendees, over 40 brands from around the world, unique timepieces unavailable in mass distribution, and prestigious awards presented by an international jury — this was AuroChronos Festival 2025, the largest event in Poland dedicated to independent watchmaking. This was the first edition of the festival held in Warsaw (Poland) — and also a return after a six-year break. Despite coinciding with an election weekend and the event being ticketed, attendance exceeded 1,200 people, which the organizers unanimously consider a great success and a clear sign that…
After several years of hiatus, the AuroChronos Festival is back. The show will take place in Warsaw on May 17th and 18th 2025. As some of you know, I participated in the last three editions, both as a brand representative and as a jury member. To give you a little more context, initiative of this festival came from two friends who love watches. Maciej Mazurkiewicz – a professional doctor specializing in oncology, and Paweł Zalewski – a translator and lecturer with over 13 years of experience in business training. The first edition took place in 2017, and as I said at the time: "I have participated in a lot of watch events but honestly, Aurochronos is in the top 5. The crew was really cool and everything has been well…
Excitation is growing up as the 3rd edition of Aurochronos Festival (Lodz / Poland) will be held on the next 5th and 6th October. Watchisthis is proud to be their partner from the first day and of course we will be there for this new edition. Our editor in chief, Jonathan Kopp, will be part of the jury and this year it’s going to be hard to choose the winner for each category. For this year it’s more than 50 brands that will show their work. We will have microbrands, more established brands and high luxury like Arnorld&Son. The visitors will have the chance to see brands like Aevig, Brellum, Crafter Blue, Gavox, Havaan Tuvali, Alfa Flag, Anonimo… and so many others. With all these brands we can easily say…
The second edition of the International Festival of Independent Watch Brands AuroChronos 2018 will take place in Lodz in the last weekend of September (29th - 30th). For two days, visitors will be able to see, try on and purchase unique men's and women's watches from around the world. For the second time Watchisthis Magazine is proud to be one of the media partners of this show. Initiative of this festival came from two friends who love watches. Maciej Mazurkiewicz – a professional doctor specializing in oncology, and Paweł Zalewski – a translator and lecturer with over 13 years of experience in business training. They are two very charismatic guys with an enthusiasm that is very infectious. Stay with them 1 hour and you will be amazed by their ultra…
We are thrilled to present to you an interesting and still quite an “exotic idea” of a festival that promotes micro brands and independent watch producers. The International Festival of Independent Watch Manufacturers Aurochronos originated in Poland, a country in the central part of Europe. In our opinion this one has a good chance to fill a niche which really need exposure. It's a good initiative to promote uncommon and less-known watch brands. The event will take place from September 30th to October 1st, 2017 in Łódź, Poland, at the modern venue of Expo-Łódź; the largest exhibition center situated in the heart of the city. We believe that this will be a fantastic and unique experience with a chance to meet a wide group of independent watch manufacturers both from Poland and from…
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to discover the work of Oriorwaith J. Sarnowski during the AuroChronos Festival in Warsaw, Poland. I was immediately captivated by his pieces. Honestly, given the price, one might have doubted it, but to my great surprise, the quality is undeniable. I took the opportunity to interview Janek (Founder of the brand), and I'm very happy to share our conversation with you today. Janek and his wife Emeline during AuroChronos Festival 2025 Could you tell us a bit about you and about your story with watches? My name is Jan, I’m a mathematician by education, teacher by trade and a watchmaker by passion. My watch collecting started almost by accident, when I was around 13 years old. When visiting a car boot sale…
Today I'm going to introduce you to Kneijnsberg Watches. The brand was founded by Brendan Horneman, a Dutch watchmaker whom I've known for a very long time. I first met Brendan in 2017 during the first AuroChronos Festival in Lodz, Poland. At that time, he was already developing his brand, but with an added twist (Kneijnsberg & Van Eijk). Today, he's moving forward and presenting his latest creation, called Hugenius. This one is a tribute to the Dutch scientist and inventor Christiaan Huygens. Before talking more specifically about the watch in a future article, I invite you to learn more about Brendan through this interview. Here we go… Enjoy reading ;-) Brendan Horneman - Founder of Kneijnsberg Watches Could you tell us a bit about you and your story with…
It's no secret I love Eric Yeh's work and what he creates for his brand Havaan Tuvali. I met Eric for the first time in 2017 during the Aurochronos festival in Lodz. And since then, we have seen each other several times a year at various watch fairs around the world. Eric is a bit like my brother from another mother and from another country… Something like that lol. In any case during all these years we have established a real friendship. Today he will introduce himself to you and tell you about his brand in this little interview. Come on, let's go! Could you tell us a bit about you and about your story with watches? My name is Eric Yeh and I’m the owner/founder of Havaan Tuvali Watches.…
The Formmeister Sport is the newest watch of the Vratislavia Conceptum, a young microbrand from Wrocław, Poland. The independent polish watchmaker has now several years of experience with limited series collections. The new watches are the successors of the Formmeister collection released in 2016 and it can be considered a good example of brand maturity. The Formmeister Sport is an elegant wristwatch, despite the "Sport" nomenclature. It has the elements of the former collection but with several improvements. The 40mm diameter steel case has the same slender, Bauhaus design inspired case. The highly polished case has long, inward curved 20mm wide lugs. The delicate lines are enriched by the excellently polished round bezel. The case's proportions are perfect. The case attractiveness is increased by the compelling steel crown. Shaped as a cone's trunk,…
