Creating New Standards: R-Werk and the Typ-01

There’s such immense focus on watches for collectors, almost everything else seems to be an afterthought. The safe, the watchstand, these are not things that we often associate with beauty. They often occupy the position of necessary, practical accessories – infrastructure for a collection.  

When we first encountered R-Werk, a Canadian manufacturer of an automotive-inspired watch stand, the company’s founder, Nelson Wu, was moving against the grain of industry norms. R-Werk’s first creation, the TYP-01, is much more eye-catching than your “typical” watch stand. A watch stand that sits in the realm of art-object, the TYP-01 showcases an elevated design and finish – an attention grabbing watch sits on a beautifully crafted stand. 

We recently partnered with Nelson and R-Werk as their exclusive retail partner in the US, and were able to sit down with him to talk about how he combined his passions for watches and cars, as well as what guides the design of the TYP-01.

The stunning silhouette of the TYP-01

The definition of a passion project

The TYP-01 is a passion project. Nelson is both a watch and car collector, captivated equally by both worlds. “My background is in tech startups and I really wanted to go deeper into the world of automotive design, as something I love. This project is a natural extension of that,” said Nelson when we spoke before the holiday season. 

Exquisitely finished and designed, the TYP-01 elevates the watch stand to an art-object

One glance at the TYP-01 and the eye is immediately captivated by its curves, its finish. It feels like an object in motion. This is a dramatic reinterpretation of the equal-length racing exhaust header of the flat-six engine, the ducktail spoiler of the Carrera RS 2.7, and the spartan interiors of racing cars with new vibrancy. Behind the design is Mo Morassafar, a German automotive designer based in Pforzheim, Germany. Having worked in design for both Smart and Volkwagen, Nelson was able to tap into Mo’s vision for the TYP-01. The design philosophy is one of contrast, juxtaposing the desire for the watch stand to feel both machined and hand-finished, abstract and literal, weightless and rooted.

Early sketches of the the design concept for the TYP-01 – movement in mind from day one

Through the tension in different design elements, this juxtaposition in the TYP-01 creates the watch stand’s harmony. The dancing pipes give an impression of weightlessness, secured by hidden screws on the mirror-polished base. It’s floating, but also comes across as a monolithic mass. It came no surprise when Nelson mentioned, “the design process took more or less a year. There was a lot of prototyping and fine-tuning after we came up with the concept.” 

Confirmation of the careful attention to detail, the TYP-01 comes across as well-designed even at a quick glance. With a deeper dive into the concept and the specifics, it’s clear that this is a translation of automotive design excellence into a new sphere. 

New form, new spaces 

We’ve discussed previously that there’s often no place for creations that work against convention. Max Büsser has the infamous story of how the Horological Machine 1 was trapped in no man’s land – watch retailers recommended trying to showcase in art galleries while art galleries suggested trying to sell through watch retailers. 

Here, there is a level of design care that pushes the TYP-01 into a similar, somewhat ambiguous new realm for a watch stand. When we close our eyes, imagine to ourselves what a “watch stand” is, the TYP-01 is leaps and bounds beyond the image that comes to mind. It feels as if it can, for automotive enthusiasts, be its own standalone object – no particular need for a watch to complete the TYP-01. 

One of the primary markers that this ought to be considered a bonafide art-object is where it appeared at the end of 2023. Through R-Werk’s partner for the fabrics and leather (one of the premiere upholsterers for Porsche), Nelson was able to showcase the TYP-01 as an art-object in Daniel Arsham’s solo exhibition at the Perrotin Gallery in New York. The automotive connection comes from part of the exhibition including a live performance – the assembly of Arsham’s Porsche 911 Carrera – as a part of the artist’s general evolution of his twenty-year career. 

All the beauty, elsewhere 

There’s an adage that goes “good design is unnoticed.” This is not the case with the TYP-01. It is immediately noticed. It’s jarring, in a good way. There are many questions to be had, the primary one is, why strive to achieve art-object status for a watch stand? Nelson provides a simple, guiding answer. 

“I wanted to find a way to take the beauty of a great car, something normally seen only in the garage or on the road, and bring it into new spaces,” said Nelson in passing while we spoke. This insight comes across as something minor, but this sits at the center of the TYP-01. It’s a serious piece of automotive culture, fused seamlessly with the practicality of a watch stand.

With great range, the TYP-01 looks great in all different types of finish and color

We spoke at length about the concept of care – what it means to care about design, what it means to design and create carefully. TYP-01 is an art-object, specifically because of the care and attention to detail afforded by Nelson and Mo. It’s very difficult to create an object, functional and beautiful, that fuses together any two collector cultures – here with automotive and watch cultures. In watchmaking, we have observed some exceptional timepieces that fuse both worlds – the HM8 Mark 2 or the HM5. Outside of watchmaking itself, it’s extremely rare to find “things” that synthesize cultures and traditions as well as TYP-01 has for automotive and horology. 

For us, it’s for this reason that the partnership was a no-brainer. R-Werk sits in an unusual position, tied to both the watch and automotive industries, designing and creating art-objects with immense attention to detail. R-Werk and the TYP-01 simply stand out.