What does TUW Ruhla stand for? Well, it’s not that complicated. Thüringer Uhren Werke Ruhla – TUW Ruhla Watches, which means Thuringian Watch Works Ruhla, is a vibrant watch-making industry from Germany, for over 100 years. However, in 1991, the production of these watches stopped.
Let’s go back for a little while and check out some details about this story. Ruhla is a small town located in Thuringia, a central region in Germany. Starting with 1862, this city started to become important due to its watch-making industry. Because of its location, Ruhla was not the perfect place to start agricultural work. It had dense woods and steep hills. So, this is how the watch making industry found its way.
What’s so great about the TUW Ruhla Watches? The name always had the perfect combination in hand: an excellent price and a reliable and solid watch making. The company’s main purpose was to create watches that could be affordable for everybody.
In 1892, Ruhla pioneered Germany’s first mass-production pocket watch. A few years after that, in 1908, Ruhla also created the first mass-production wristwatch. In the early 1990s, the watchmaking factories in Ruhla were closed down given the “abrupt transition from a planned economy to a free market economy”.
That’s why on Kickstarter, Ruhla has started a campaign to revive this German watch brand by creating the unique watch design of TUW Ruhla Watches and by bringing this distinctive look into the 21st century. The idea was not just to simply copy the Ruhla designs, but to also help them cross over in today’s watch industry. Every idea needs support and by supporting this campaign, you could get:
- a great watch at a great price
- you can influence future Ruhla collection
TUW Ruhla Watches – The Thuringia Model
The campaign’s main goal is to bring back to life former designs and concepts, but for the moment, the focus is on one line: the Thuringia model.
Thuringia Ladies
Thuringia Vintage Ladies
Compared to the classic version, the Thuringia watch has a unique design. Every watch is going to be shipped into a beautiful looking box together with a printed manual.
No matter the colour, case, strap or bracelet, for any Thuringia ladies watch there will be just one flat price. Here are the Thuringia Automatic watches for ladies:
The watches with the red and green dial have a yellow gold case, the blue and black dial versions have a rose gold case. Any Thuringia Automatic watch, of your choice, costs around 290 USD. Next, we have the Thuringia Quartz version for ladies:
Ladies Quartz White
Ladies Quartz Vintage
The watches with the red and green dial have a yellow gold case, the blue and black dial versions have a rose gold case. Any Thuringia Quartz watch, of your choice, costs around 185 USD.
There is also a couple’s package at a very good price!
#1 The Automatic Couple Package
Get two Thuringia watches at a discounted price (250€ per piece rather than 275), maybe a gents and a ladies version, or a vintage and the regular version. You decide how to combine them!
#1 The Quartz Couple Package
Get two Thuringia watches at a discounted price (150€ per piece rather than 175), maybe a gents and a ladies version, or a vintage and the regular Thuringia. You decide!
The Thuringia Model Specifications
- 32 mm diameter
- 10 mm height for the quartz model
- 11.5 mm height for the automatic model
- sapphire crystal (scratch proof) for quartz and automatic versions
- Japanese Made automatic movement, 41h of power reserve (NH-35, made by Seiko): rotor winds in both directions can be hand wound and the second-hand stops when crown is pulled (‘hacking’)
- Swiss Made Ronda Movement (Quartz)
- Screw Down Stainless Steel Back (Quartz Version) or Crystal Back (Automatic Version)
- 100 m / 10 ATM water resistance
- genuine leather straps (handcrafted in Germany) or stainless steel mesh bracelets
TUW Ruhla Watches Campaign Timeline
Although there can be registered some risks such as delays or some parts that are not up to the standards, the project has set its following timeline and people can also benefit from some rewards. For those of you who like the idea of this project but do not have enough money to invest in watches, there are also smaller rewards that can offer support.
For example, there are still some development costs that need investment, so every penny counts for something. Here are some rewards that might help with the development of the TUW Ruhla Watches campaign.
Limited Early Bird offer: For 100 backers we reserve a special deal:
Get any Thuringia at 150€ (Quartz) or 250€ (Automatic) rather than the later kick starter price of 175€ (Quartz) or 275€ (Automatic).
Thank you note on our Website. 1€
We will put your Kickstarter Alias in the special section of the TUW Ruhla website.
Notebook 25€ (approx. 27,50 USD)
Coffee Mug 15€ (approx. 16,50 USD)
“Every supporter will not only get an early production model of TUW Ruhla, but will also contribute to realising our dream of bringing back this classic brand”.
Every campaign needs some support. It’s important to know that the people behind this project have almost 10 years of experience in the watch industry business, that’s why they feel confident in taking this task and trying to revive the brand TUW Ruhla Watches.
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Feature image: Pexels.com
Source: Kickstarter
