A New Slant: The FD Hermann Lateral Serie 1

Daniel Hermann is a car guy and a watch guy. When he was young, a friend of his father’s came to their home and he was wearing his watch in a way that Hermann had never seen – on the side of his wrist. When he asked why, the friend replied, “Because it feels better and I can see my watch much more easily.”

That stuck with Hermann and he went about his business, which is a luxury car washing service, eager to one day make his own watch.

A few years ago, one of his uber-wealthy clients asked him what he wanted to do with his life, and when Hermann explained his concept for a new kind of watch, the man gave him 50,000 chf with no strings attached to pursue his dreams. His client’s belief in him resonated and Hermann decided to take the plunge.

And the Lateral Timekeeper was born. Hermann, a watch collector who loves Rolex, sold all his watches (and his AMG Mercedes) and pooled that money with what he received, and he has been working on this project for the last three years.

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Hermann recently stopped by the Revolution USA offices to show me the watch, and once I tried it on, the positioning on the wrist really does make sense. It’s comfortable and super easy to read – when you’re in a meeting, you don’t have to turn your wrist to see the time.

On my motorcycle, it’s perfect. Sure, I often get on my bike to forget about the time, but as a busy editor, it’s rare that I don’t have to keep my eye on what time it is, and the watch is perfectly positioned when holding on to the handlebars.

The Lateral Timekeeper features a quick and easy to use strap adjustment system, which is unique and a nice design (patented by Hermann).

Series 1 of the watch (limited to five pieces) is currently in production and the plans are for it to be finished and on the market in October of this year. The price ranges from $30,000 – $36,000, depending on materials.

The hand-wound movement is a special reversed caliber that LTM makes specifically for the Lateral Timekeeper. It is skeletonized and finished very beautifully, and is very attractive on the wrist.

Hermann plans, at least for the first series, to sell direct to end customers. “It’s been an amazing adventure,” Hermann says with a big smile. “I don’t know where this is going, but to see the result of all my work, I am so happy. If this works, great. If not, I tried. I made my dream watch and I hope it connects with people.”

Well, it’s already connected with me. Look for a true test of this watch, on a special motorcycle, in the not-so-distant future.

https://www.fdhermann.ch/

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