Fine Watches Berlin was the brainchild of the father-daughter tandem of Wilfried Liefer and Mia Phyllis Liefer.
The company is fairly young as it was established only last 2017.
Their watch designs reflect the places, events, and personalities that represent the city of Berlin.
They specialize in developing Bauhaus-style watches which emphasizes simplicity and functionality.
Their Teufelsberg collection is the first in line and definitely not the last they’ll be producing.
Check out the exclusive interview with Wilfred & Mia Liefer at the end of the review to get an insight of the father and daughter masterminds behind Fine Watches Berlin.
The Teufelsberg Black
The Teufelsberg Black is made of 316L stainless steel and measures 40.5mm wide and 11.4mm thick.
It weighs only 75 grams, so you can wear it comfortably at all times.
The plain-colored dial is protected by a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.
A sapphire crystal is also installed on the caseback so you can clearly see the engraved rotor and the blue movement screws inside the watch.
The Teufelsberg Black comes with a handcrafted leather strap measuring 20mm wide.
The strap has blue stitches on the edges for improved durability.
An extra, brown leather strap is also included in the package upon purchase.
You can easily switch the straps, thanks to the quick-release spring bars on the lugs.
You don’t have to worry about the watch getting wet accidentally because it’s water-resistant up to a depth of 50 meters.
You can’t swim with it for prolonged periods, but it can handle water splashes and quick submersions.
The Teufelsberg Black comes encased in a classic bamboo box that’s secured with a magnet closure.
Design and Movement
The word Teufelsberg translates to “devil’s mountain” which explains why the watch dial has a deep black color.
It also presents a minimalist design similar to the Bauhaus style seen on brands like Nomos and Junghans.
It has large Arabic numeral hour markers on the 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock positions but aside from these, all the other markers are represented by thin lines.
Between the 4 and 5 o’clock position, you can see the small seconds subdial with a running red hand.
This enables you to clearly see that your watch is still working and you don’t have to wind it yet.
The Teufelsberg Black has luminescent hands and markers which you can clearly see in low-light conditions.
The Teufelsberg Black runs on a 21-jewel, Miyota calibre 8218 automatic movement which makes 21,600 vibrations per hour.
If you like Dufa, Nomos, Junghans then the Fine Watches Berlin Teufelsberg is minimalist watch enthusiasts.
Its elegance and sophistication without punching a hold in your pocket.
Those who are looking for a Bauhaus style watch from a German microbrand that not many know of should definitely add this to their collection.
Wearing Experience:
Fine Watches Berlin is the pearl in the rough of the bauhaus watch industry.
They are little known to many, yet they illustrate the raw fundamental love of watches and the attention to detail that seems to be disappearing in this industry no thanks to Kickstarter and large corporations.
Fine Watches Berlin offers is a classy and sophisticated designed watch, offering a new flavor to the Bauhaus moniker with the Teufelsberg Black, pushing the boundaries of your traditional Bauhaus watches that offer eye candy details for the wearer to be content.
I absolutely adore the design and the small details on the dial and case back with extra points given for the packaging and extra leather straps.
It makes a perfect everyday and casual formal wearer that is sure to draw the right attention.
Pros and Cons
Here are the advantages and disadvantages you can expect from the Teufelsberg model:
Pros
- Quality leather straps
- Attention to detail
- It has luminescent hands and markers
- Power reserve of up to 42 hours
- Water resistant up to 50m
Cons
- I think the branding like on the side of the case is not needed
Conclusion
The Teufelsberg Black is priced at $770 and for its quality, design, and durability, you can consider this German-made timepiece a good deal.
You can wear it in business meetings and even on formal occasions and people will think you’re sporting a hard-to-find luxury watch.
The fine finish and excellent craftsmanship displayed by the Teufelsberg will make anyone think that it’s way more expensive than it actually is.
Click here to check out Fine Watches Berlin Watch Website
Thank you for joining me for this interview.
You have a beautiful watch and I think people are going to enjoy this unique style of bauhaus design like I am.
1.What got you (both) get into watches?
W.: Thanks for inviting us, and glad you like our watches. My fascination with watches started when I became a jeweler.
My professional occupation quickly turned into a personal passion.
At the time, I was particularly interested in the young, bold, and less-established small brands.
In the 1990s, new brands such as Nomos, Jörg Schauer, Chronoswiss, Alain Silberstein, Jacques Etoulie and many other newcomers tried to find their place in the market.
I was particularly impressed by their boldness, creativity, innovation, and enthusiasm.
We were one of the first places in Berlin to stock almost all of these brands.
It was through my contact with these courageous watchmakers that I first came upon the idea of designing my own watch.
However, it never made it past the drawing board.
M.Ph.: I pretty much grew up with watches.
My bedroom was directly above the jewelry shop, there was a wonderful small cuckoo clock hung on the wall… What do you expect?
2.
How did Fine Watches Berline come to fruition?
W.: Long story short, after some twisting moves in my personal and professional life during the last 30 years, in 2017 this almost forgotten idea showed up at the surface again,: What about having my own watch-brand!?!
At that time we just had sold another business and as an Aquarius you need something to work on…
So I had a look at my old drawings from 30 years ago, started with some research, bought many micro brand watches to check there quality, made some new drafts….and somehow it started to flow.
M.Ph: I was observing this process more from a distance at the beginning.
Wondering what my dad is up to this time…
But after a while I was thinking: Wait, I am a professional marketier and his daughter, wouldn’t it be a good idea to jump on that train…
Asking him, his response came immediately,: That’s what I am waiting for since a while!
3.
As a daughter and father team – what talents do you each bring to FWB?
W.
Mia-Phyllis is a professional marketer and well connected to the music and art scene. She brings a kind of freshness and new ideas into the company in addition to her professional skills.
I am more into the design and technical part.
Having been an entrepreneur for more than 35 years I am taking care of the financial and operative side of our project.
4.
What’s your vision for FWB for the future, what would you like to be known for?
W.: We would like FineWatchesBerlin to become a well-known watch-brand from Berlin with a small number of different mechanical watches, made out of passion.
An ambassador for Berlin, German design and traditional entrepreneurship…
M.Ph.: FWB will be a brand for design lovers and people how are appreciate good quality and clean workmanship; love functionality.
Who is very interested in the new and very open to innovative ideas.
And also stick to what is tried and true…..
W.: Our aim is to create one or two new watches each year, maybe adding some extra dials to already existing models as well.
Always looking for special details with the movements and design.
FWB will stay a niche product for a very special crowd.
5.
There is a lot of noise in the watch industry right now with the influx of new micro-brands brands coming onto the market.
How do you differentiate yourself from the rest?
W.: You are right, there is a lot going on these days around so-called micro-brands.
The main difference with us is, we are a privately owned family based company.
Just wasting our own money…
Taking the fully the risk of starting a new business.
The kind of „normal way“ these days with starting a micro-brand is, showing up at Kickstarter with some nice pic of your prototype watch, collecting other peoples money and so on…Or finding an investor and do some spectacular gorilla marketing at Basel World…
And at the end, the backer gets what he paid for…
another copy and paste Diver-watch.
Almost no risk, anyone can easily give it a try.
And there are many big Chinese watch manufacturer on the field, just pretending to be a micro-brand.
M.Ph.: For us, and especially for my dad, creating our own watch-brand is more like fulfilling a long existing dream.
We spend a long time researching the right supplier chain, finding small manufactures how a willing and able to work to our expectations.
One of the hardest parts was to find someone how could make the changes at the movement as we requested.
As far as I know, we are almost the only company however refined/elaborated a movement from the Miyota 8…
series.
And the feedback shows that we did a very good job!
W.: As I mentioned earlier, we are not trying to make quick and easy money.
We are working on building a serious long-lasting watch-brand with recognizable, stand-alone watches.
Certainly, you can not reinvent the wheel, but if you have an eye on the details, there is so much you can do…
M.Ph.: And overall I am happy that all these micro-brands are stirring up the traditional watch business routine.
The whole buzz around the micro-brand market makes it a lot easier to get recognized from customers.
6.
What has been your biggest and proudest moment for FWB to date?
W.: There has been a few so far…You know if you start such a project almost every step feels somehow overwhelming.
But one of the biggest moments was, holding the first prototype in my hands…
Just this feeling that your idea has become a reality.
From your mind on your desk into your hands, this is like: WOW !!!
Also getting all the positive reviews and feedback, not only from customers and specialized journalists.
M.PH.: There are so many story’s to tell already….
We have received some very supportive and positive feedback from highly ranked technicians and designers out of the German watch manufacture scene.
An engineer who works at a well-known watch company in Glashütte and even from a top-level designer at LEICA ( Cameras and Watches ).
Getting this kind of recognition and compliments, has made us really proud.
7.
If you were to describe FWB in only 4 words what would it be?
W.: FRESH – STRIKING – BAUHAUS – TIMELESS – PURE – TIMELESS – STRIKING – MECHANICAL
M.Ph.
: FROM – BERLIN – WITH – LOVE!
