From a Workbench in Tveita, Oslo to Europe’s Largest Dedicated Watch House

Radium Instruments began on a bench in Tveita.

No investors.
No parent group.
No retail network.

Just prototypes, testing and gradual improvement.

Now, the Oslo manufacturer has secured placement inside Urmaker Bjerke’s Bjerke-huset — Norway’s most established watch retailer and what it describes as Europe’s largest dedicated watch house — positioning the small Norwegian brand alongside names such as Patek Philippe, H. Moser & Cie., Blancpain, Jaeger, LeCoultre, Omega, Hublot, Breitling and Tudor.

For an independent workshop brand, it is an unlikely address.

Joakim Bjerke, Managing Director and fourth-generation owner of Urmaker Bjerke, welcomes Norwegian companies that are willing to take risks — and succeed.

“Radium Instruments is a brand we have followed for several years, and one we have always liked. We now see that the brand has grown, and with today’s collection it is a brand we believe will add something positive to our selection at Bjerke-huset,” says Managing Director Joakim Bjerke.

“The fact that the brand also has clear Oslo roots, which we share at Urmaker Bjerke, makes the collaboration feel very right,” Bjerke adds.

Built the slow way

Since first entering dialogue with Bjerke, one question kept surfacing internally at Radium: Are we good enough?

The company answered it the only way it knew how — by testing.

“It quite literally started on a bench with a few ideas and prototypes. No group behind us, no investors — just development, testing and stubbornness. We’ve experienced plexiglass exploding, cases that leaked under water pressure, paint peeling off dials and hands falling off,” says Sjur Stangebye-Hansen, CEO of Radium Instruments Norway.

Instead of launching new collections each season, the team kept refining the same core models — tightening tolerances, improving materials and solving one failure at a time.

By 2026, the watches were certified to MIL-STD-810H, a NATO-recognised standard for mission-critical equipment expected to function in Arctic cold, desert heat, shock and vibration. Independent third-party testing in Kongsberg validated the results.

“Radium was started to honour the Norwegian resistance fighters of WWII. Meeting NATO’s strictest equipment tests was never the plan. But that is where the quality has taken us,” says founder and designer Thomas Cappelen Malling.

“By continuously developing our core models instead of producing short-lived novelties, we have been able to improve quality steadily and measurably over time,” adds Stangebye-Hansen

First physical presence

Bjerke-huset will be Radium’s first physical retail location.

A small workshop brand, now sharing floor space with the industry’s largest names.

“We are proud to be the first physical store where customers can finally come and see
and experience Radium. An exciting Norwegian addition that, together with our established brands, will create an interesting mix,” says Joakim Bjerke.

For Malling, the move is practical rather than symbolic.

“People who like Radium watches will undoubtedly enjoy exploring other fantastic brands at the same time, and we strongly encourage that. I love Breitling, Tudor, IWC, Omega and Panerai. You’ll find them here too. It’s exactly this overall offering that makes Bjerke a very special watch destination,” he says.

Now, click to visit Bjerke-huset in the heart of Oslo: