Finnish Watchmaker Kronowerk - watch not finished. Scam?

Back in May 2023, I ordered a watch from an indie watchmaker Kronowerk, run by Reima Koivukoski, based in Helsinki, Finland.
This is their Instagram page, and their website.

We had a good discussion in May 2023, I placed the order, paid in full, and the delivery was planned for Jul 2023. Knowing how the actual completion date would be longer than the purported 2 months, I was quite content to wait til the end of 2023 for the watch.

A few emails went to and fro from May - Nov 2023. Then radio silence. Emails from Dec 2023 to May 2024 went largely unanswered. Then there was finally a reply in May 2024, saying the watch was ready and being prepared for photography. I asked for some simple pics of the watch. No pictures were ever sent, nor was there proof of any actual watch. Then I was told in June 2024 that it was ready for shipping. But no news of shipping was ever given. I was getting increasingly concerned about whether the watch would ever be completed.

Meanwhile in Mar 2024, an article in Monochrome was published featuring Kronowerk and Reima. So I was briefly reassured that the company and the watchmaker both seemed to be healthy.

In Aug 2024, a UPS tracking number was provided. However, the number was never activated, nothing was shipped, and the number expired a month later. Meanwhile, I was met with radio silence mostly, except for one IG DM in Sep 2024 where Reima apologized and said 'it's been a difficult couple of weeks". Subsequent messages have gone without reply again. It appears I'm not the only one. There's a complaint in the Monochrome page linked above from a Dutch collector whose watch has been pending since Aug 2022, and there's also a question from another collector on his IG post asking about when his watch is arriving.

Perhaps Reima has issues - health, social issues etc. I certainly hope he is well. But to continually leave your customers in the lurch without communications is rather unprofessional, particularly for a person who says he's 'putting his customers first' on his website. I'd be happy to wait if there were say health issues that needed time to resolve, but some communications would help.

So if I may ask fellow OF members for advice:
1. Do you know anyone else similarly affected ?
2. What recourse do I have? I am in Asia, not in Europe. Can I get a refund? (I doubt it though)

Thank you in advance for your advice!

What sort of agreement did you make with this company? Is there a contract, invoice, or some paperwork associated with the purchase? If so, the terms should be stated there, which would dictate what was promised, and if that wasn't met you have a case for a refund possibly.

If it was all done casually by email or something, then it becomes a bit more complicated. Have you spoken to a lawyer? Sometimes just a letter from one is enough to get the ball rolling, but that might be heavy handed at this stage.

I was just on the web site. When I clicked on the "enamel" model, the page for the chronograph came up. When I clicked on the chronograph model, the page for the copper dial came up, etc. The "pricing and orders" button does nothing.

Looking at the "about" page it says this:

"Lastly, he returned back to Espoo to start KronowerK where his focus is on watch manufacturing, restoration, servicing, prototyping, and small batch precision manufacturing."

I am assuming this is a one man shop, and if so that is a lot of irons in the fire at the same time. One reason why I stopped making my own watch line is that trying to juggle customer orders for new watches, and meet any sort of schedule for the service and restoration work, was very demanding. These two things would often interfere with each other and throw schedules off, requiring me to work a lot of late nights and weekends. He has new watches, service, and then also prototyping and small batch precision part production, so I can see that he could easily get buried. Not an excuse at all, just trying to do too much at one time - I've been there.

In the end, you may just have to wait for him to Finnish...sorry don't mean to make light of the situation but that one I couldn't hold back. 😉

Thanks Al as always for your balanced advice, and no worries about the pun - it's in the title as well, I couldn't resist it too! 😉

Fortunately for me, yes, there is an invoice with company name, address, a delivery date, description of watch (eg. enamel dial, Ti case), order number and price. There's also a payment trail courtesy of Wise, so it's clear how and when payment was made.

I guess I'll just have to wait patiently. The lack of communications is frustrating, but given that the probability of a refund is low, I'll have to wait it out, unfortunately.

More happy customers on Insta: