British Watches - which one?
Discussion
Pupp said:
You’re right in that they are good looking (in my view; I have the Roman bezel one, which is not to everyone’s taste). And Lorne was, indeed, a PHer; a fine generous and funny fellow too, to boot.
Sadly, however, and I’m very sorry if you were unaware, Lorne passed away a while ago now
I’m really not sure what the prospects of buying a new FE might be consequently; I have never seen a used one come up but that doesn’t mean they never do.
If I wanted one now, and assuming he’s still going, best bet might be to contact Darius at the Clock Gallery. He did most of the building for Lorne and might just have the ability and parts to pull one together.
There’s over 100 out there, which is a great legacy
Just out of interest, if one were to become available, have you any idea what might be a reasonable asking price?Sadly, however, and I’m very sorry if you were unaware, Lorne passed away a while ago now
I’m really not sure what the prospects of buying a new FE might be consequently; I have never seen a used one come up but that doesn’t mean they never do.
If I wanted one now, and assuming he’s still going, best bet might be to contact Darius at the Clock Gallery. He did most of the building for Lorne and might just have the ability and parts to pull one together.
There’s over 100 out there, which is a great legacy
Christopher Ward would be my choice if I was looking for a British brand, but everyone likes different things.
I think CW have got to the point where they have nailed the quality, the design, and at the right price. I would like to add a C60 Trident Pro 600 to my collection at some point.
I think CW have got to the point where they have nailed the quality, the design, and at the right price. I would like to add a C60 Trident Pro 600 to my collection at some point.
Not sure what style of watch OP are after, but https://www.scurfawatches.com/ has to be worth a look.
Great value for money, and the company is run by a bloke who actually was a professional diver and tested his original prototypes himself. I've got a (now very battered!) early Diver One and really like it. Tempted by one of the current crop as the designs are now quite a bit more refined.
Great value for money, and the company is run by a bloke who actually was a professional diver and tested his original prototypes himself. I've got a (now very battered!) early Diver One and really like it. Tempted by one of the current crop as the designs are now quite a bit more refined.
walamai said:
Not sure what style of watch OP are after, but https://www.scurfawatches.com/ has to be worth a look.
Great value for money, and the company is run by a bloke who actually was a professional diver and tested his original prototypes himself. I've got a (now very battered!) early Diver One and really like it. Tempted by one of the current crop as the designs are now quite a bit more refined.
Really like Scurfa, they definitely appeal to me and if I needed another diver (everyone needs at least one more diver, don’t they?) then I would definitely give Scurfa serious consideration.Great value for money, and the company is run by a bloke who actually was a professional diver and tested his original prototypes himself. I've got a (now very battered!) early Diver One and really like it. Tempted by one of the current crop as the designs are now quite a bit more refined.
Lord Marylebone said:
Christopher Ward would be my choice if I was looking for a British brand, but everyone likes different things.
I think CW have got to the point where they have nailed the quality, the design, and at the right price. I would like to add a C60 Trident Pro 600 to my collection at some point.
I was lucky enough to get taken the CW office in Maidenhead to pick out a watch for my birthday last year. I went big and chose a C60 Elite GMT 1000. Very impressive for the money, Mrs P had picked a £100 voucher (from signing up to their mailing list I think) plus they threw in a free rubber strap too. I think CW have got to the point where they have nailed the quality, the design, and at the right price. I would like to add a C60 Trident Pro 600 to my collection at some point.
It was good to take a look at their full range, I quite like their smaller dial retro watches, despite going to a more modern looking 42mm (which is not in itself massive, but quite thick) blue titanium diver. I usually keep a look out for their 50% sale, and will probably buy one i fancy, as these would be great value.
I've had a look at Bremont, i think they look like decent designs, maybe overdoing the British heritage thing, but may be what their buyers want. Plus I find them too big for me. I still wouldn't mind a trip around their new factory in Henley though.
Mezzanine said:
Really like Scurfa, they definitely appeal to me and if I needed another diver (everyone needs at least one more diver, don’t they?) then I would definitely give Scurfa serious consideration.
Hah, indeed. I needed a blue watch and I'd like one of the blue with yellow hands models. I just went to copy the link of the one I was talking about to put in this thread, and they had one in stock! https://www.scurfawatches.com/product/diver-one-d1...
Next thing you know...
(And now they're out of stock again)
prand said:
Lord Marylebone said:
Christopher Ward would be my choice if I was looking for a British brand, but everyone likes different things.
I think CW have got to the point where they have nailed the quality, the design, and at the right price. I would like to add a C60 Trident Pro 600 to my collection at some point.
I was lucky enough to get taken the CW office in Maidenhead to pick out a watch for my birthday last year. I went big and chose a C60 Elite GMT 1000. Very impressive for the money, Mrs P had picked a £100 voucher (from signing up to their mailing list I think) plus they threw in a free rubber strap too. I think CW have got to the point where they have nailed the quality, the design, and at the right price. I would like to add a C60 Trident Pro 600 to my collection at some point.
It was good to take a look at their full range, I quite like their smaller dial retro watches, despite going to a more modern looking 42mm (which is not in itself massive, but quite thick) blue titanium diver. I usually keep a look out for their 50% sale, and will probably buy one i fancy, as these would be great value.
I've had a look at Bremont, i think they look like decent designs, maybe overdoing the British heritage thing, but may be what their buyers want. Plus I find them too big for me. I still wouldn't mind a trip around their new factory in Henley though.
I have no doubt their watches are good from a quality and design point of view. A friend of mine has one and it looks great, but I'm not sure I like the brand.
Christopher Ward, as a brand, just seems a lot more honest and straightforward to me.
walamai said:
Mezzanine said:
Really like Scurfa, they definitely appeal to me and if I needed another diver (everyone needs at least one more diver, don’t they?) then I would definitely give Scurfa serious consideration.
Hah, indeed. I needed a blue watch and I'd like one of the blue with yellow hands models. I just went to copy the link of the one I was talking about to put in this thread, and they had one in stock! https://www.scurfawatches.com/product/diver-one-d1...
Next thing you know...
(And now they're out of stock again)
Well done
Lord Marylebone said:
Personally I'm not keen on Bremont, purely because they don't seem to be able to get their own story straight about their brand, and have a tendency to make things up, and assume that watch buyers are somewhat gullible. I just don't like all that kind of thing, and I don't really like their endless collaborations.
I have no doubt their watches are good from a quality and design point of view. A friend of mine has one and it looks great, but I'm not sure I like the brand.
Christopher Ward, as a brand, just seems a lot more honest and straightforward to me.
That's the tricky thing with watches, they are just complex pieces of wrist adornment at the end of the day which some people like to make a statement about themselves by buying and wearing them. I guess when you are relatively recent entries to the game in an industry that plays large on its heritage that has to be authentic and credible. Something about Bremont doesn't quite sit right to me, despite them producing nice looking watches, I have no doubt their watches are good from a quality and design point of view. A friend of mine has one and it looks great, but I'm not sure I like the brand.
Christopher Ward, as a brand, just seems a lot more honest and straightforward to me.
CW Ward is not without fault (they do struggle with the logo/name design, positioning and branding), but at least they are providing watches with interesting features at a good value price point, which although is going up in price, isn't trying too hard creating a motorsport/aviation/exploration backstory.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The OP asked for ‘British brands’. He didn’t ask for watches that are manufactured in Britain.Christopher ward is a British brand, based in Britain, with British owners, and is listed as one of the UK’s top 100 exporters for small to medium sized business.
If we only included British watch brands who manufactured their watches in the UK, we would be left with just a few, and of those, I think there is only Bremont that claim to use an ‘British in-house’ movement, all the others buy their parts from outside the UK and merely do ‘some assembly’ in the UK.
I say Bremont claim to use an in-house movement, because if Bremont told me it was raining, I would go outside and see for myself.
Lord Marylebone said:
Mezzanine said:
I think the only genuinely ‘British’ watch is Roger Smith as they hand-make almost every component.
A very good point.Stunning watches, however I think the £120k price tag and 3 year waiting list will put off most people in this thread, including me!
If only we hadn’t almost completely destroyed the strong watchmaking industry in this country and sold everything down the river, it wouldn’t need to be quite so rare or expensive to buy a ‘British’ watch.
Mezzanine said:
Indeed.
If only we hadn’t almost completely destroyed the strong watchmaking industry in this country and sold everything down the river, it wouldn’t need to be quite so rare or expensive to buy a ‘British’ watch.
Its an interesting one. From reading a little around the subject (watches and clocks), Britain was a pioneer in watchmaking, that then went i to decline, Asia took 9ver mass manufacturing 9f quartz movements, and the Swiss carved a niche with mechanical watches. I guess this went the way with all UK industry over the last 100 years, poor management, quality control and cheaper competitors shut the whole thing down.If only we hadn’t almost completely destroyed the strong watchmaking industry in this country and sold everything down the river, it wouldn’t need to be quite so rare or expensive to buy a ‘British’ watch.
Its good to see a resurgence though, UK is good at design and innovation and has its own brand cachet, worth exploring and exploiting.
Edited by prand on Wednesday 16th June 10:51
prand said:
Its an interesting one. From reading a little around the subject (watches and clocks), Britain was a pioneer in watchmaking, that then went i to decline, Asia took 9ver mass manufacturing 9f quartz movements, and the Swiss carved a niche with mechanical watches. I guess this went the way with all UK industry over the last 100 years, poor management, quality control and cheaper competitors shut the whole thing down.
Its good to see a resurgence though, UK is good at design and innovation and has its own brand cachet, worth exploring and exploiting.
Britain was the ‘Switzerland‘ of watchmaking at one point, a pioneer and a world standard.Its good to see a resurgence though, UK is good at design and innovation and has its own brand cachet, worth exploring and exploiting.
Edited by prand on Wednesday 16th June 10:51
Roger Smith and the guys from Christopher Ward have started a grass roots organisation to promote and enhance a return to more British-centred manufacturing with the industry.
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