Hands-On: Xhevdet Rexhepi Minute Inerte

It feels like it’s well past the time to talk about Xhevdet Rexhepi. Maybe it’s the perfect time. When we last talked to him in February 2023, Rexhepi was launching his eponymous brand and first watch, the Minute Inerte. But there were a lot of questions about the watchmaker and his product, as the piece only existed in renderings, and the concept was somewhat confusing to explain via text.

Rexhepi isn’t the most common name, so it will come as no surprise that after apprenticing at Patek Philippe, he joined his older brother Rexhep Rexhepi at Akrivia in 2015. But eventually, after seven years, Xhevdet found it was time to go his own way, and he announced his brand and the Minute Inerte.

As with a lot of complicated things, the concept was deceptively simple. Make a mechanical wristwatch that replicates the function of a Swiss railway clock that completes a revolution of the seconds hand in 58 seconds before rocking forward in synchronization with the minute hand.

There was a lot of interest from collectors of independent watchmakers. But then nothing much for a while. The watch was delivered to the 2023 GPHG jury, but members told me that the watch didn’t work. I didn’t see it in person until late last year and, due to some confusion, I thought the watch was still not working. The keyless works didn’t set the time, but when I saw Xhevdet in Geneva before Watches and Wonders, he told me that it was by design on the prototypes – he had so many people looking at his watch, he just didn’t want to put it through the extra wear.

So you could say that this story is unnecessarily late. But at the same time, Rexhepi is going to start delivering his first pieces later this summer and, unusual for the current young generation of indies, he’s chosen not to be sold out. He told me that he hates the idea of meeting an honest collector that he really clicks with and not being able to have an allocation left. Because of that, he’s held a few watches back.

Which is a surprise, because the Minute Inerte is remarkable. Really remarkable. I’ve started to go deep on independents in the past few years, but as easily excitable as I am, after a little cooldown period, I find that most independents fall short of a product without some kind of flaw. Sometimes dials miss the mark, prices feel arbitrarily high, or the movements are missing something – finishing, a complication, elegance, that kind of special touch. Just something. Lately, my biggest qualm has been case design, which seems to slide under the radar as something young watchmakers miss. I can’t say Rexhepi has missed the mark on any of it.

Judging by the wall in his office (recently turned into a seating area), Xhevdet considered every part of the design. There are two ways to approach a watch design, in my view: dial down or movement up. François-Paul Journe works from the dial concept and makes a movement that works with the dial. Other brands (big and small) often seem to think of the dial as an afterthought. Logo font and placement, index length, the inclusion of an aperture or none at all – it all can feel arbitrary. Not the case with the Minute Inerte.

I’m generally not a fan of apertures on dials. They can often come across as very “open heart” in the way that feels like it’s trying to satisfy a first-time buyer and make them feel like they’ve got a mechanical watch. While there’s not as much going on here as on a tourbillon or the remontoir on F.P. Journe’s Chronomètre á Résonance, through the aperture, you can see the architectural inspiration that carries through the rest of the watch. Rexhepi chose a brick finishing inspired by his love of architecture (different from the Zenith G.F.J.), but it’s not the only architectural inspiration.

In addition to the stepped dial and singular “1” at 1-o’clock (to symbolize his first watch in a series of 12 he plans to make), you’ll notice the 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock hour indices (6-o’clock doubling as a bridge for the second hand) are designed like the keystone you’d find at the top of an archway. They’re mirror-polished and incredibly finely crafted and that aesthetic carries over to the movement side.

Beyond the shape of the bridges and the semi-symmetrical layout, I just love the aesthetic of the Minute Inerte movement. The Geneva stripes on the top plate of the movement are wide, with really deep and accentuated anglage on the plate and finger bridge near the oversized balance. The watch features a frosted mainplate underneath. All the flat surfaces, including the keystone bridges, are black polished. The movement reminds me of a mix of French and Swiss styles of finishing, but you can also see that Xhevdet shares his brother’s affinity for a level of symmetry. The engraving on the plate brings a bit of handcrafted feeling to a watch that otherwise might feel too perfect. Beyond that, I’ll let some gratuitous movement photos speak for themselves.

Then there’s the case – the final piece many makers take for granted. Take a look at other big names in the indie space right now, look at the case shape and lugs, and then look at releases from microbrands and consumer products across the industry. There’s a dearth of creativity, replaced with the standard round cases, sloping lugs with brushed surfaces and maybe a bit of a chamfer, and not much more. Rexhepi instead has taken inspiration for his platinum case from a vintage Ebel pocket watch that he picked up from Joël LaPlace.

The main section of the case is stepped, with a sloping convex bezel flattening to the main section of the midcase, which is also concave but narrows to a UFO-style point that’s really only visible when viewed from a profile. From the side, you can also see that the lugs look like a cross-section of that same case, with the same stepped design, then truncated to attach to the case. Rexhepi sketched the design out in front of me to show how it evolved, and it was great to see the process on paper.

After experimenting a bit with color, Rexhepi will maintain his original plan of releasing 50 pieces in platinum with the pastel blue dials, plus 10 more in the green shown here. There will also be 10 last pieces in a yet-to-be-announced color (though he’s teased it on Instagram). He also plans to redo the scale of the subsidiary seconds dial. Currently, the subdial is subdivided into 60 seconds, but the hand makes a rotation in 58 seconds, throwing off the actual legibility or usefulness of the seconds hand. He told me he will adjust the scale to 58 seconds so you can use the hand to see how much time has elapsed. It’s a clever and thoughtful change, but I think that’s beside the point to the overall wearability and appeal of the watch.

The Minute Inerte fits incredibly comfortably. The 38mm by 8.5mm case shape trends more toward modern sizing without being too big, but with longer, sloping shape that reminds me of a Vichet case on a Patek ref. 2497 or 2499. The lugs are also long enough that the watch sits slightly off the caseback when laid down on a table. It’s one of the most comfortable watches I’ve worn in a while.

At CHF 89,000, you certainly get a lot of bang for your buck with the Minute Inerte, and I don’t think that’s gone unnoticed. Next to Simon Brette, Xhevdet Rexhepi has become the man I’ve gotten the most inquiries for introductions. It reminds me of the days when Ben talked about the number of shameless requests he got from distant acquaintances asking about getting a Patek Nautilus ref. 5711/1A. But, in some ways, maybe that’s a good thing. If the interest in this new generation of independents is genuine and not market speculation, it gives me a lot of hope. 

For more information, visit Xhevdet Rexhepi on Instagram.

​Hodinkee 

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