Meet the photographer and watch enthusiast Raffael Frenner

The photographer and watch enthusiast Raffael Frenner has developed his own visual language where light, materials, and small details often take precedence over the watches themselves.

When looking at his images, it is rarely the reference to the watch that captures attention first. Often, it’s something else. The light against a brushed case. Small scratches that indicate the watch is actually being worn. Or how a dial changes depending on the time of day and the surrounding environment.

A dress watch from Chopard in gold, for example, can feel warm and soft in the morning light, but significantly more mundane later in the afternoon. It’s this kind of detail that Raffael seems drawn to.

The images rarely feel particularly staged. There is something calm and natural about them, as if the watches just happened to find themselves in front of the camera at the right moment.

It All Started with a Alarm Clock

The interest in watches began early for Raffael. When Raffael was ten years old, he received a small desk clock from his mother, shaped like a classic alarm clock. The clock was mechanical and needed to be wound up every day.

A few years later, he did what many curious watch enthusiasts inevitably do: he took it apart.

– That’s where it all really began, he says. I found it fascinating that everything worked completely mechanically.

When Raffael talks about watches, he often returns to the construction and the details behind them. The interest seems to revolve less around status and more around the feeling that someone has truly thought through every part of the process.

Images That Feel Natural

There is a clear difference between simply photographing a watch and creating a feeling around it. Raffael clearly works with the latter.

An older Omega Seamaster in the early morning light. A Cartier Santos where the brushing of the case becomes almost more important than the shape itself. Or a Patek Philippe Nautilus photographed in a way that feels relaxed rather than staged.

– I don’t want the images to feel like advertising, he says. It should feel more like you’re discovering something for yourself.

Many of his photographs are stripped down without feeling empty. The focus is rarely on perfection. Instead, it’s the materials, the light, and the small details that take center stage.

Four Hours for a Cartier Santos

Everyone who collects watches has a story that might not sound completely reasonable in hindsight. For Raffael, it’s about a Cartier Santos. He saw the model online one morning and almost instantly made up his mind.

He laughs as he recounts how just a few hours later he was sitting in the car. Four hours later, the watch was his.

– It just felt right, he says. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

It’s also clear that he doesn’t view watches purely as investments. For him, they seem to become something you build a relationship with over time.

When Details Make the Difference

When the conversation turns to what truly makes a watch exceptional, the answer is thoughtful yet straightforward.

– Intention, he says after a while.

Then he begins to talk about proportions. How a case sits against the wrist, how a dial is balanced without feeling overworked, how the crown feels when winding a manual movement.

He also mentions A. Lange & Söhne as an example of a brand where the technology takes center stage without the design feeling loud. For Raffael, specifications are rarely the most important. It’s the overall experience, the proportions, and the feeling behind the details that truly matter.

From Podcast to Photography

Before TimeByRaf took shape, Raffael was involved in starting UhrTalk, which during the pandemic grew into one of the larger German-speaking watch podcasts.

– Covid was a strange time. Everyone started new projects, and we began talking about watches, he says with a smile.

What started quite spontaneously grew quickly. After many conversations with collectors, dealers, and enthusiasts, the same pattern began to emerge.

– People rarely buy watches just for what they are, he says. They buy them for what they mean in their own lives.

The same feeling is also present in his images. The watches rarely feel entirely separate from the individuals who wear them.

Taste That Changes Over Time

When Raffael describes his own taste, he doesn't talk about a specific turning point, but rather about a gradual transformation.

He started with classic models from Rolex, Omega, and Tudor. Watches that many discover early in their interest. Over time, his expression became more stripped-back and personal.

Today, he seems equally interested in an older Corum with fine patina as he is in more well-known models from Cartier or Patek Philippe.

It's not about finding the rarest piece. Rather, it's about finding what feels right to wear.

– You have to impress yourself a little more than others, he says.

The People and the Watches

Although watches are at the center of much of what he does, Raffael often returns to the people surrounding them.

He shares stories of encounters with collectors and dealers in various parts of the world. Among them is Ho Chi Minh City, where a connection that initially started online later developed into a close friendship beyond the world of watches.

It is also there that TimeByRaf becomes more than just a photography account. The platform serves equally as a way to connect people with the same interest.

For Raffael, watches often seem to be the beginning of something greater.

A Personal Visual Language

What started as images of a personal collection has over time evolved into a distinct expression. TimeByRaf is still about watches, but perhaps even more about how they actually feel to wear and live with.

The light. The materials. Subtle signs of use. The surrounding environments.

Maybe that's also why the images resonate. They rarely feel overworked, but rather personal and intimate.