Events

10.03.2025

Reflections on ‘British Watchmaking..Day 2’

For many of us playing a part in building British watch culture (me included), the first British Watchmakers’ Day last year was dubbed ‘Day 1’ for British watchmaking.

It was unprecedented and once the dust settled, and Katya and I dared to think forward to the next edition, it was hard to avoid asking ‘How do we follow that?’

Knowing the partial inspiration for the British Watchmakers’ Day concept was the music sector’s Record Store Day, our co-founder, Mike France described it perfectly as ‘The Difficult Second Album’.

The term hung there like a challenge, a threat.

Would 2024 be a One Hit Wonder?

In the build up the signs were good. As producers, you often forget that you can lean on your talented exhibitors to bring their own creativity to bear, to outdo themselves.

When we launched ‘The List’ at the end of January 2025, you could feel the buzz building around the Special Edition watches being announced by 26 of our exhibiting brands. There was something for everyone. No. Correction. There was something special for everyone.

Although our event is called British Watchmakers’ Day, our strategy is to make it a four month activation. It’s about crafting a relentless build-up to the day and then encouraging the day to last 24 hours with continued online sales from all over the world. Our brands have reported unprecedented online activity in and around the big day.

When general admission tickets sold out in 15 hours (it would have been 12 hours save for a solitary ticket that refused to budge until nearly midnight), we knew the buzz was translating into attendance.

But, still, as the Day came closer, despite Katya’s masterfully choreographed set-up for our 44 exhibitors and, despite the excited social media chatter, there was that niggling thought all organisers have… we’ve built it, but will they come?

At 5am, on show day, Saturday, 8th March, our head of security (who never seems to sleep) messaged us to say ‘There’s a queue building…’

And, by the time we were able to access our venue, The Lindley Hall, the queue was already round the block.

Game on.
Before doors opened our Chairman, Roger Smith joined me for a brief walkabout to meet and greet the queuing guests (I think it fair to say ‘fans’ in Roger’s case!)

For me, this is going to be tradition and, for selfish reasons, an opportunity to soak up the warmth and energy of what feels like an impromptu pavement party. Lifelong friendships are being made in our wonderful community of watch enthusiasts and within the first twenty of the ‘hardcore’ who had been with us from dawn, it was amazing to meet guests from New York City, Singapore and a couple from South Korea!

Just let that sink in. These are watch fans who had flown from all over the world to attend a British Watchmakers’ event. Our Alliance Club membership extends to 24 countries and we also welcomed guests from Costa Rica, all over Europe and the Americas.

Let me repeat the heartfelt thanks Roger and I gave to all those people coming from far and wide to queue from dawn to join us in celebrating British watchmaking.

I asked everyone which Special Edition watch had drawn them so early to be at the front of the queue. Apart from Marloe’s Morar, and a shout for Beaucroft’s Penfold, the overwhelming draw was ‘The Gimlet’. It says an awful lot about the campaign build-up that those asked didn’t even need to identify the watch as the collaboration between Fears and Studio Underd0g.

‘The Gimlet’ was already an icon.

As the doors opened and the headlong rush to form the second queue inside our large exhibition hall formed for Studio Underd0g’s stand I reflected on how this event has become Darwinism in a Day.

In our interview with Time + Tide later, Mike France generously commented on how phenomena like this have caused everybody to, as he said ‘up their game’.

There’s no doubt that this year our brands have spread their wings creatively to create ever more mouthwatering Special Edition watches. The quality and finish has improved as well. Micro brands have been forced on an accelerated trajectory to make watches which can compete with their bigger counterparts. Mike later revealed a new Christopher Ward watch to be released in April. The quality of finish is simply staggering. Make a note to look out for that.

‘Darwinism in a Day’ also means one or two exhibitors are bound not to enjoy the same sales frenzy. Like last year, though, this is essential learning. It’s the perfect opportunity to test concepts, aesthetics and prices on the most motivated buyers in the world. Our attendees are there to buy. It’s a 1,200 strong focus group with cash. If they don’t buy, there are reasons. Understand the reasons and you have gained the most valuable insights to take into your next year.

In each of the two sessions, The Gimlet sold out 100 watches at £1,000 each as quickly as the team could work the card readers. Do the math!

Motorsport watch brand Omologato sold out every single watch they brought - not just their Special Editions. Everything.

I also met visitors who were buying handfuls of watches - an advantage of the exceptional value proposition of so many of our makers is affordability
It means that, even though our brands are technically competing, they’re collectively providing watches for every mood, activity or day. If it’s Wednesday, maybe it’s your Elliot Brown ‘Holton Auto’. Thursday is time for that Nomadic ‘Fior 555’. Friday? Let’s rock out with a Mr Jones ‘Khaosify’…

New and developing exhibitors this year included Anoma (who are causing a real stir with their playfully asymmetric design) and Apiar who seemed to have as much interest from other exhibitors as the crowd with their future-casting approach to additive manufacturing and British supply chain.

One year on from our first show, Bōken returned looking like they had accelerated five years’ worth of evolution in 12 months.

These are all stars of the next generation and the future of our wrists is in great hands!

This year I was able to welcome and host VIP guests from our government, as well as one of our FCO trade attache’s who flew in from Budapest to make connections for export.

My counterpart CEO at France Horlogerie, Guillaume Adam travelled from Paris to see at first hand what is happening in British watchmaking.

It wasn’t just our exhibitors who upped their game this year. Our media partners Time + Tide joined forces with Bark and Jack to inject masses of fun and barista coffee to proceedings. In launching a Time + Tide Discovery Studio in London, Andrew McCutcheon has made a huge commitment to our sector and imbibed this with a unique blend of joie de vivre and masterful insight.
Music star James McVey hung out at Time + Tide and, adjacent to Bamford Watch Department, this was definitely the ‘cool kids’ corner!

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the Lindley Hall, Roger Smith was making his own commitment to education. Roger was hosting Susan Scurlock, the inspirational founder of children’s educational initiative Primary Engineer along with Mike Blaney, his co-trustee on the George Daniels Educational Trust. For the finest watchmaker in the world to lend his influence and insight to the quest to reboot Britain’s horological knowledge base is a game changer. Exciting times ahead.

There’s no doubt that this was ‘Day 2’ for the British watchmaking sector. Day 1 gave us renewed hope and excitement. But on Day 2, plans were being hatched.

What glued the days together once again was the sense of camaraderie. You have to be there to appreciate it. The laughter and joy shared by everyone; Exhibitors helping each other (Isotope’s José Miranda shared how, during relentless hours at their stand, it was Adley Watches’ Jordan Wang who quietly dropped off some lunch for his team); The way it’s hard to distinguish between collectors, brand founders and media.

We’re all watch enthusiasts. That’s British watchmaking.

I followed a father and son who had chosen British Watchmakers’ Day to purchase his first ‘proper’ watch to mark his 21st birthday.

“I thought I’d be buying him a Rolex” confessed his father, revealing that was the plan, until his son did his own research…

They ended up buying a Bremont, from none other than CEO, Davide Cerrato, who generously suggested marking the moment with a photo. Where else would a young man experience that sense of welcome in to our world of watches?

I doubt he’ll ever buy other than British after receiving enthusiastic advice from Mike France, Roger Smith, from Don Cochrane at his own crowded Vertex stand and after enjoying the usual masterclass of service you experience from Fears.

As he headed out with a beaming smile and his Bremont, it was thumbs up from all the brands. “What did you get?” they asked. “Great choice!”

Great British choice.