British Watchmakers

[Riggernut]

Probably a strange question for all you watch aficionados, however, does anyone know if there any watches out there that use British movements and exclusively British made? Looking for companies bottom and top end if they exist.

I suspect they don't exist simply because they either we don't have the skills or the quality of our Swiss counterparts, but very happy to be proved otherwise.


Can only find these but they use a Swiss movement
http://www.haroldpinchbeck.co.uk/#/christopher/452...

Edited by Riggernut on Saturday 26th June 10:38

[LukeBird]

Daniels of London.

He designed the co-axial movement that Omega bought the rights to.

[Riggernut]

LukeBird said:

Daniels of London.

He designed the co-axial movement that Omega bought the rights to.

Bloody-el good effort

"A Millenium watch from George Daniels has provoked a great deal of interest, especially since a white gold example of the celebrated watchmaker's work has never before been presented in an auction. Of the very small series of Millenium watches made by Daniels, the majority were produced in yellow gold. Like all George Daniels timepieces, every element is crafted entirely by hand in the manner of the greatest 19th century masters. Pre-sale estimates have been set at GPB 50,000-80,000."

Well that's top, top, top end taken care of, anything else?

[enioldjoe]

Brit(ish)

http://www.dentlondon.com/

[Riggernut]

enioldjoe said:

Brit(ish)

http://www.dentlondon.com/

Cheers, Some impressive history there.

Having the time to surf around today, its not promising. Was hoping to find Bob who manufactures British timepieces in his shed, rather than handing over a wedge to the Chinese. Whilst its probably a naive(no horology expert) view I can't help wondering why nobody bothers other than its probably extremely complicated.

If Tao can pump out half decent watches (we'll see when it gets here) at reasonable prices why nobody here is doing the same.

<Naive first mech watch post off>

[ShadownINja]

Riggernut said:

If Tao can pump out half decent watches (we'll see when it gets here) at reasonable prices why nobody here is doing the same.

As with anything to do with manufacturing - cost of equipment, premises and staff. I'd love to see a full-on Made-In-England watch compete with the more popular brands.

[LukeBird]

ShadownINja said:

As with anything to do with manufacturing - cost of equipment, premises and staff. I'd love to see a full-on Made-In-England watch compete with the more popular brands.

Me too.
It's a shame there isn't somebody making a £200-350ish automatic that's fully UK made.

Hope you enjoyed the Daniels link OP, it's fascinating! I'd love one...

[ShadownINja]

LukeBird said:

ShadownINja said:

As with anything to do with manufacturing - cost of equipment, premises and staff. I'd love to see a full-on Made-In-England watch compete with the more popular brands.

Me too.
It's a shame there isn't somebody making a £200-350ish automatic that's fully UK made.

Hope you enjoyed the Daniels link OP, it's fascinating! I'd love one...

Yep. Impressive stuff. You might like this radio programme:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sdcfh

[LukeBird]

Thanks, I'd completely forgotten to listen to that (having seen it linked on TZ).
Cheers!

[glazbagun]

There's Roger Smith on the Isle of Man. He managed to land a job as George Daniels apprentice and now makes his own exclusive series of watches using a version of Daniels Co-Axial escapement. Not sure of the price, but I think they're about £30K~ish

http://www.rwsmithwatches.com/

The Frodshams company (famous, famous company who used to make chronometers and fine pocketwatches. More into restoration of priceless things of late) are in the process of developing the first all-British production watch in decades, using a version of a Daniels/Breguet double impulse escapement:

http://www.frodsham.com/news.html

Not sure of the price, but I'd be amazed if it was under £10K.

The other big names, Dent, Bremont, etc, use Swiss movements, as far as I'm aware. But Britain has a tradition of excellent individual watchmakers. Guys like Derek Pratt, Anthony Randall & George Daniels who have made stunning one-off pieces.

Speake-Marin is a Brit who worked in London a load and his movement designs are his own, but they're made in Switzerland, so I'm not sure if that counts as British enough for those who would buy on patriotism alone:

http://www.speake-marin.com/speake.asp

But basically, they're out there, but they don't do cheap watches.

Having said that- many of the Smiths watches were, I believe, entirely Brritish except perhaps for their springs (and rumoured LeCoultre movement design- prolly best to ask a SMiths expert) and can be picked up cheaply compared to modern swiss stuff, and many great old English pocketwatches, though expensive, are still available in good nick for sub-Rolex prices.

Edited by glazbagun on Saturday 26th June 22:47

[andy_s]

A bit of S-M porn...



I didn't know about Dent, thanks!

Edited by andy_s on Sunday 27th June 08:25

[ShadownINja]

Thanks for the links.

That Speake-Marin - you can zoom in using the "Discover" picture.

[jiber]

Peter Speake-Marin is based in Rolle in Switzerland.

His mouvements are amazing.

[Riggernut]

ShadownINja said:

LukeBird said:

ShadownINja said:

As with anything to do with manufacturing - cost of equipment, premises and staff. I'd love to see a full-on Made-In-England watch compete with the more popular brands.

Me too.
It's a shame there isn't somebody making a £200-350ish automatic that's fully UK made.

Hope you enjoyed the Daniels link OP, it's fascinating! I'd love one...

Yep. Impressive stuff. You might like this radio programme:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sdcfh

Thanks for that, it went some way into answering my original question. Interesting that Dent were looking into manufacturing parts in the UK but intrigued to find out why they put a timescale of 4/5 years on that process.

I suppose the question is weather there is a (mass)/market or for entirely British made? Maybe the recession can bring about a rebirth of cheap or cheaper manufacturing costs. I'm sure, just like cars, people buy on heritage, looks, Brand name. Whilst this is just idle musing, I can't wait for my cheapo Chinese watch to come

[Shuvi]

glazbagun said:

There's Roger Smith on the Isle of Man. He managed to land a job as George Daniels apprentice and now makes his own exclusive series of watches using a version of Daniels Co-Axial escapement. Not sure of the price, but I think they're about £30K~ish

http://www.rwsmithwatches.com/

The Frodshams company (famous, famous company who used to make chronometers and fine pocketwatches. More into restoration of priceless things of late) are in the process of developing the first all-British production watch in decades, using a version of a Daniels/Breguet double impulse escapement:

http://www.frodsham.com/news.html

Not sure of the price, but I'd be amazed if it was under £10K.

The other big names, Dent, Bremont, etc, use Swiss movements, as far as I'm aware. But Britain has a tradition of excellent individual watchmakers. Guys like Derek Pratt, Anthony Randall & George Daniels who have made stunning one-off pieces.

Speake-Marin is a Brit who worked in London a load and his movement designs are his own, but they're made in Switzerland, so I'm not sure if that counts as British enough for those who would buy on patriotism alone:

http://www.speake-marin.com/speake.asp

But basically, they're out there, but they don't do cheap watches.

Having said that- many of the Smiths watches were, I believe, entirely Brritish except perhaps for their springs (and rumoured LeCoultre movement design- prolly best to ask a SMiths expert) and can be picked up cheaply compared to modern swiss stuff, and many great old English pocketwatches, though expensive, are still available in good nick for sub-Rolex prices.

Edited by glazbagun on Saturday 26th June 22:47

Have you ever tried any of the above?

Here's what they all have in common, the inability to design a wearable case.

If I wanted a foot high thing, that picked my nose every time I glanced at my wrist, I'd strap 3 Seiko 5s together, one on top of another.

Watch making is more than just a pretty or clever movement. Some serious makers too, forget this. Watches are to be worn, to be wearable.

edit to add 'too'

Edited by Shuvi on Wednesday 30th June 00:52