Atelier Holgur is an independent watch brand fully funded by its three co-founders and backed by a group of investors, including the former DBS Bank CEO, former senior partner at Booz-Allen & Hamilton and others.

Matthew de Bakker

Completely passionate about horology and the ocean since young, Matt has been an ardent collector of watches and avid scuba diver for many years. Through his collecting journey and appreciation of horology, he was inspired to start Atelier Holgur with his childhood friend and Co-Founder with a dream of creating unique and thoroughly wearable watches. No safe-queens here! While watches are Atelier Holgur’s main focus, it was also created to play a role in supporting ocean conservation efforts to protect our precious oceans.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdebakker/

https://www.instagram.com/matt_de_b/

Asbjørn Simonen-Andersen

Coming from a family with a history in watchmaking in Denmark, Asbjørn grew up around his grandfather’s tools. Indeed, the Atelier Holgur name is a homage to his grandfather. With an interest in tinkering with mechanics and technology, he has built a career in technology consulting. A keen outdoorsman, you’ll find Asbjørn exploring the wilderness and collecting vintage sports watches during his free time.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/asbjoern-simonen-andersen/

https://www.instagram.com/asbjoern.s.andersen/

Ferdinand de Bakker

Ferdinand de Bakker, referred to by his friends as Ferry, acquired his first watch, an ultra-slim Baume & Mercier, in 1970. His watch collection focuses on the ultra-elegant, such as the 1981 Concord Delirium. He teaches at Nanyang Tech University Singapore, is active as a coach, mentor, investor and story-teller, and actively supports the arts & culture, as well as education sectors.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferdinand-ferry-de-bakker-97171a1/

The company is registrered in Singapore with cofounders Matthew and Ferdinand living there. The third co-founder Asbjørn lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Frømand comes equipped with a beautifully hand finished micro-rotor movement from Schwarz Etienne. With the integrated strap bars of the case, a standard NATO strap or Single Loop would have blocked the view of the movement. This is why we developed a special Hook-and-loop strap with pin to be able to wear the watch and enjoy the movement. We also included a single loop strap that can be used in more serious environments like diving.

Atelier Holgur has fully funded the production of the Frømand watch for two main reasons, reducing wait times for customers and to eliminate the risk of customers not receiving a watch. Everyone who places a deposit is guaranteed delivery of a Frømand watch.

The co-founders of Atelier Holgur built the brand from a passion to build exciting and beautiful mechanical timepieces. With backgrounds in investment, management consulting and brand building, the co-founders also pooled together a senior investor group to ensure the success of Atelier Holgur. With strong financial backing, we have fully funded the first 100 production pieces to ensure delivery of the watches and give customers peace of mind.

The entire watch, case, bezel and buckles are all made of Grade 5 Titanium.

Atelier Holgur was founded at the beginning of 2021. Co-founder Asbjoern has a family history in watchmaking through his grandfather and great-grandfather, who started working in watchmaking in 1896. While our brand does not date back to 1896, it pays homage to Asbjoern’s grandfather, Holger, to which the company name pays tribute to. 

Shipment starts in March 2023 and runs until September 2023.

With a full Grade 5 titanium case, and a shock resistant ASE 200 movement from Schwarz Etienne, the Frømand is a pretty durable watch. It is rated to 300m / 30atm so can be taken diving. Remember to ensure the crown is screwed down and to rinse off the watch after diving in clean water.

The micro-rotor is made out of tungsten.

Atelier Holgur was created to build thoroughly wearable and eminently beautiful watches for watch collectors and enthusiaststo enjoy. With conservation and exploration close to the hearts of the founders, Atelier Holgur will also be looking to support conservation projects in Asia-Pacific and around the world.