By Steve Huyton
Introducing Enera and a Purple Skull
Over the last decade , I ’ ve dealt with many talented craftsmen worldwide . Mostly , fine watchmaking is associated with Switzerland . However , I recently connected with a gentleman named Andrey Shishov who is located in Riga , Latvia . His brand Enera is very popular on social media watch forums , and I was intrigued to discover what motivated Andrey to establish a cool micro-brand . Very kindly he agreed to unpack his back story , which is absolutely fascinating .
Shishov is a certified bodyguard and shooting instructor . He is also a member of the EBSA , which is an organization for security professionals . This experience inspired the conception of many of Enera ’ s models .
Since 2018 Enera has released six models : the Marine , Bodyguard , Pilot , Asymmetrix , Samurai and Desert Rose . All of these timepieces have oversized cases and are designed for people who like to make a bold statement .
Enera also offers a ten-year guarantee on all its watches . Additionally , any damage to the case ( including crown and glass ) incurred during the warranty period is repaired free of charge . Regardless of the cause , this is a pledge unheard of in the industry . Certainly , this illustrates how confident Shishov is about the overall quality of his watches .
Another notable point is each timepiece is assembled by hand in Riga from components entirely sourced in Europe .
CUSTOM WORK When I initially spoke to Shishov , he explained his individual approach for each of his customers .
Effectively clients can choose dial color , strap ( from a handmade collection ) and even personalized engraving . This gave me the idea to create a particular unique watch with Enera called the ‘ Purple Skull ’.
For this collaboration , we decided to use Enera ’ s Bodyguard model as it is synonymous with the brand . The initial concept of the Bodyguard is inspired by the design of armored vehicles . This is reflected in the brutish geometric angular 48mm 316L stainless steel case .
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