Wrist Taker Magazine 2017 Issue
The 2017 issue of Wrist Taker lets you explore timepieces from lesser-known brands to luxury watches. Dive into the minds of independent watchmakers and find out what makes them tick. Or take a journey through 100 years of Baselworld and find out where, when and how it all began. Most important of all, feed your curiosity about timepieces whatever they may be!
The 2017 issue of Wrist Taker lets you explore timepieces from lesser-known brands to luxury watches. Dive into the minds of independent watchmakers and find out what makes them tick. Or take a journey through 100 years of Baselworld and find out where, when and how it all began. Most important of all, feed your curiosity about timepieces whatever they may be!
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16<br />
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA<br />
MEET JAN HEEGE<br />
THE MAN BEHIND ELEGANTLY DESIGNED WATCHES, BLACK WOOD<br />
Text by Azhar Ahmad; Images by Simon Baumann Fotografie<br />
First, tell us a little bit about yourself.<br />
My name is Jan Heege. I am an 18-year old<br />
German, live near Freiburg in the Black<br />
Forest region and founded two companies<br />
before I turned 18. I come from a<br />
middleclass family and my parents always<br />
encouraged me to work for it and to earn<br />
my own money if I wanted something. My<br />
two companies are BLACK WOOD and<br />
Watchley. BLACK WOOD is a watch<br />
brand which pursues the goal of selling<br />
fine watches which combine the most<br />
valuable assets in life - time and nature -<br />
in one timepiece. In addition to providing<br />
our great watches, we follow a big vision:<br />
We want to bring the dark forests back by<br />
planting many new trees in this world. We<br />
started early to turn our vision into a<br />
mission, namely to give the resources back<br />
which we take from nature to produce our<br />
timepieces. We intend to further develop<br />
this project in the future and to plant even<br />
more trees for every watch we sell.<br />
As a CEO, how involved were you in the<br />
brand, from design to manufacturing?<br />
As a CEO and company founder, I have<br />
been involved in everything - from the<br />
idea to the finished product. I am the<br />
designer of my timepieces and also<br />
responsible for all technical aspects. The<br />
only thing I did not develop myself was the<br />
logo which was made by a professional<br />
designer. When it comes to<br />
manufacturing, I have professional<br />
partners from various countries by my<br />
side. I visited most of them to check<br />
quality and skills. Things like design, brand<br />
concept, website, etc. were created by<br />
myself. I think it's not often that one<br />
person alone is doing all the work. The<br />
reason for this was that I did not have the<br />
money to pay a web designer or someone<br />
else.<br />
Tell us about your first product<br />
Our first product, the Rhine 40, was a big<br />
step for me. The design of the timepiece<br />
was clear for me right from the beginning.<br />
I realized early that there was no great<br />
timepiece in the store window displays or<br />
on the internet that showed the features I<br />
WRIST TAKER 17
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