Linde Werdelin THE ONE 2.2: The Only ONE You’ll Need

Linde Werdelin The One 2.2. It’s an elegant title for a watch that pares Linde Werdelin’s brand signatures to their bare essence. With a polished and brushed 44mm steel case, a honey-brown ostrich leather strap, and cool silver guilloche dial, The One 2.2 is Linde Werdelin’s most versatile offering. And it’s “One” of only 88 produced.

Launched in 2002, Linde Werdelin combines Danish design with British business sense and Swiss craftsmanship. The brand’s signature models generally express unreserved love for the nuance and intricacies of machines; the Linde Werdelin The One 2.2 turns this practice on its head.

The One is a 44mm stainless steel homage to the simplicity of mid-century dive watches. Its crisp “inbox” facets preserve the core style of Linde Werdelin’s oversized sports watches, but The One 2.2 employs only contrasting brushed and polished facets to entice admirers. Linde Werdelin’s customary fixation on CNC relief etchings is conspicuous by its absence. A unique ostrich/calf leather strap in golden honey-brown softens the imagery and adds warmth to the cool sheen of the steel.

Inboard of the lugs, Linde Werdelin equips The One with a traditional flourish conspicuous by its absence on the brand’s Oktopus and Spido models: a unidirectional dive bezel.

As a watch between two worlds – the “tool watches” of the mid-twentieth century and the “oversized” sports watches of the twenty-first, The One departs from Linde Werdelin’s practice of relying on its modular sports computers to impart functionality. While The One 2.2 remains compatible with Linde Werdelin’s “Reef” and “Rock” surf and turf computers, respectively, The One also benefits from the convenience of an analog dive-timing bezel. And the style of this classical element endows The One 2.2 with a look and neoclassical character that is unique in the Linde Werdelin catalog.

The unidirectional bezel frames a silver dial with minimalist guilloche around the outer circumference. Applied hour indices and broad trapeze hands are finely finished and generously coated with Super LumiNova for nighttime visibility. A discreet date window replaces the index at four o”clock, and the general absence of extraneous details completes the image of a surprisingly refined effort from the pen of Linde Werdelin’s flamboyant design director, Morten Linde.

With a 300-meter (1000ft) depth rating and a slim 12mm-thick case, this Linde Werdelin The One 2.2 is equally at home beneath the waves and beneath the sleeve of a dress cuff. Thanks to The One’s minimal frills and classical color palette, it enjoys versatility share with few models in the Linde Werdelin catalog. As a true work-play two-way player, The One 2.2 really is “the one” watch for all occasions.

Linde Werdelin is able to achieve The One 2.2’s svelte girth thanks to a thin and fine ETA 2892-A2 automatic movement. While most models from the Spido and Oktopus lines employ variants of the thick ETA/Valjoux 7750, the use of the compact 2892-A2 enables The One 2.2 to enjoy all of the 7750’s renowned durability with a distinct advantage in proportions. Hacking (stop) seconds and a 42-hour power reserve are standard specification.

See this versatile, handsome, and rare Linde Werdelin The One 2.2 in high-resolution images on www.watchuwant.com.
Video and content by Tim Mosso