There is a lot happening on the dial of the Alexander Shorokhoff Karandash 2. Somehow, that's exactly what makes it work.

Bright yellow hands tipped in red stretch across a black dial. Green marks out the small seconds at nine, blue frames the openworked date display, and flashes of orange appear around the hour markers. Then there is that oversized “60” — an Alexander Shorokhoff signature that has become almost impossible to mistake for anything else.

Restraint was clearly never part of the brief.

Look beyond the colour, however, and the Karandash 2 becomes more interesting. Names associated with the avant-garde appear around the dial, while its different levels create an almost architectural sense of depth. Rather than decoration for decoration's sake, the composition reflects the experimental art movement that has long influenced Alexander Shorokhoff's approach to watchmaking.

The black IP-coated 43.5mm case works almost like a frame, allowing the colours to become the main event. A yellow fabric-covered rubber strap carries that idea onto the wrist.

A Different Story Around the Back

Turn the watch over and the visual noise suddenly gives way to traditional mechanics.

Behind the sapphire caseback sits the hand-wound 3105.AS calibre, partially hand-engraved, rose-gold plated and finished with hand-polished blued screws. It offers approximately 42 hours of power reserve.

It's an interesting contradiction: a watch that looks thoroughly unconventional from the front but celebrates rather traditional decorative watchmaking from the back.

Perhaps that's where the appeal of the Karandash 2 really lies.

It isn't trying to be the watch that goes with everything. Nor does it feel designed to win everyone over. It's colourful, slightly eccentric and deliberately expressive — qualities that can sometimes disappear when watch design becomes too concerned with versatility.

And with only 50 pieces being made, that individuality comes with genuine rarity.

The Karandash 2 may not be the sensible choice.

But then, the watches we really want rarely are.

Alexander Shorokhoff Karandash 2

Ref. AS.KRDSH-2
43.5mm | Manual-winding 3105.AS | 42-hour power reserve | Limited to 50 pieces

Discover Alexander Shorokhoff at Red Army Watches.

Pictures by Alexander Shorokhoff