Holzkern Watches Review | Can Wooden Watches Work?
Can wooden watches work?
Or is it all a bit of a fad?
Today I’ll be giving my full Holzkern wooden watch review, to see if these watches stand up to the test.
Wooden watches have been around for a while now. You’ve probably seen ads for them follow you around Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The brand I’m featuring today even sponsored my fashion YouTube channel a couple of years ago. Many of these companies are fantastic at digital marketing, but in this article, I want to see if these types of watches are actually worth buying. Many of you have requested this review, so here it is.
When it comes to wooden watches, there are a couple of different types that I tend to see. You’ve got the watches where the vast majority of their construction is purely created of wood. You’ve also got brands making watches where their construction incorporates both wood and other materials like stainless-steel to form the basis of the creation. In reality some are far better than others, however the marketing makes it clear that these sorts of watches are really intended to be fashion accessories, rather than any sort of horological collectors’ piece.
I agreed to do those videos with Holzkern because they generally seemed to be the best out of these ‘wooden watches’ that were available. I’ve been sent a bunch of emails from other brands like Jord, NuWood and some others, but to be truthful I was very sceptical about the quality of those. We’ll discuss that later, but let’s see what you get with a Holzkern.
The packaging these watches are supplied with are unusual and quite nice. Each comes in a magnetic bamboo box that matches the theme of the brand really well. While I’m unsure how functional this would actually be as a daily storage solution, it’s nice that some effort has been put into this area, so I figured it was worth highlighting.
In terms of the watches themselves, I’ve had experience with four of them in total, which the brand sent me. Three quartz models and one automatic. These were the ‘Charles’, ‘Vondelpark’, ‘Outback’ and ‘Manhattan’. Certainly, unusual names for watches. I’ll give a brief overview of how I’ve found each of them. As it’s not stated on their website, I’d guess the majority of these watches are made in China or another Asian country by some private manufacturer.
Holzkern Vondelpark Review
Design-wise, I think that most do offer a unique look among the sea of generic fashion watches. That being said there are a couple that I’ve come to dislike. The first of which was the Vondelpark. While the watch was a favourable one for my slim wrists, with its extremely thin depth, I got rid of it a while back for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was definitely the worst quality out of the four watches, which was no surprise considering it was the lowest retail price out of the lot, coming it at around £130 and about £110 with the easily found discount codes. This one also had the least original design, which I’ve seen countless times before from drop-shipping brands since. It looked better on the website compared to in person as well, the wooden dial really didn’t do it for me in natural light. Out of all of the watches they sell, this is the only one that I suspect could be drop-shipped or something similar – based on its appearance. The genuine leather strap included is nothing impressive; as such, I can’t recommend that one.
Photo Credit - Holzkern.com - Holzkern Vondel Park Watch
Holzkern Charles Review
Similarly, I’ve really not enjoyed the Charles over time. This is one of the few watches that they offer which is almost entirely constructed of wood, with very little metal involved.
As a result, the watch is incredibly light and feels quite susceptible to damage. It is comfortable to wear but the lack of weight also makes this watch feel cheaper than it should. I guess that may be a recurring theme with these wooden watches, and nearly unavoidable in these medium sized quartz pieces particularly. The design of this one hasn’t aged well for me; it bores me and I’ve completely lost interest in wearing it as a result. The marble towards the centre is quite cool, but I still think this one lacks purpose and personality. For a full retail price of about £150 at the moment, I would steer clear of this one.
This brand does offer other watches that I think are a slightly better value proposition if you want a wooden fashion watch.
Holzkern Outback Review
The quartz Outback is clearly a better watch compared to the previous two. While it’s still on the lighter side, the addition of stainless-steel sections of the watch does make the watch feel far more substantial.
The marble dial looks a bit better here, though the finish around the sub-dial is quite rough; this could be part and parcel of working with marble, I don’t know. The sub-dial lacks all indices, showing this watch prioritises form over function. It does come with a butterfly clasp, which is easy to operate and overall, I think looks quite cool.
As with the previous two watches, it has mineral crystal glass and features a cheap Miyota quartz movement. Does it offer the best value for money at this price point? Definitely not. Is it towards the better end when it comes to wooden fashion watches in particular? Probably. At least it seems to feature quite an original, attractive design that isn’t being pumped out by every watch brand on Instagram. It’s comfortable to wear and looks stylish.
Holzkern Manhattan Review
The only one I’ve tried that is likely to interest watch enthusiasts is the Manhattan. This features a Miyota 82S5 Automatic Movement and is noticeably larger than the others, coming in at 42mm in diameter and 13mm in depth. It also features sapphire glass and far, far better construction than the other Holzkern watches in this post. In fact, I’d say the build quality is surprisingly good, a lot better than I expected when they initially proposed sending it to me. Once more, this is one of the combination models, mostly metal, with some wooden sections too. To be transparent, I don’t wear this much at all, mainly due to the size; it’s just too chunky for my small wrists. However, if this were sized more conservatively, it would probably see a lot more wrist time. I do think the watch is expensive, coming in at between £250 and £330 depending on colour and sales; 15% less with a discount code. You can get a lot of watch for the money elsewhere for that.
Nevertheless, I love the dial on this watch. The marble works really well and looks just as good as in the marketing material, if not better. It has a unique texture and is a real contrast to the look you’d get with other big-name watch brands. This is definitely one of my most frequently complimented watches, when I do choose to wear it and I’m not surprised.
This is probably the best wooden watch I’ve come across and Holzkern do have a few other automatic models available these days; some which look better than others. Unfortunately, they are all 42mm or larger, which proves frustrating for someone with slightly smaller wrists. Many other brands pump out wooden watches that all look the same as one another, possibly drop-shipping their entire collection from the same AliBaba suppliers. I think for the most part Holzkern aren’t doing that and at least have some input in the designs.
Are Wooden Watches Any Good?
Realistically though, are wooden watches any good? Can they work? As a fashion watch, I think possibly, depending on how clean or gaudy your chosen design is. If you really want a wooden watch, for that quirky aesthetic, Holzkern is towards the better end of things.
As a piece of horology, nope. These brands don’t have the heritage or the build quality you can get for less money elsewhere. These pieces are built to suit a particular trend and after a year or so of owning one, I bet you probably won’t want to wear that watch very often.
