Versuchen GOLD - Frei
SECOND ACTS
WOW Singapore
|Issue 68
Once a hotbed of horological activity, British watchmaking completely collapsed in the 20th century. As demand for mechanical timepieces surges past the capacity of Swiss brands, weird watch people have already turned to the British isles for alternatives

Nicholas Bowman-Scargill wants to draw your attention to the Alliance 01 jumping hour watch. It is a model launched earlier this year and made in partnership between Fears, the watch brand he founded, and fellow British watch company Christopher Ward, for the Alliance of British Watch and Clockmakers. This young organisation, launched three years ago, has so far brought together some 73 brands with the aim of promoting the nation’s watch and clockmaking around the world. It champions British provenance and job– creation for the sector in the UK. Funds from sales of the watch (unfortunately, the image of the watch did not make it before press time - Ed) will go to this end.
“And just look at that watch,” enthuses Scargill-Bowman. “It’s just weird, in a good way. There’s all that negative space, the cyclops hour window, and yet it is the watch that everybody picks up. Its design is playful but stops short of being outrageous. And I think that’s a quality specific to British design. There’s an understatement to it, with very classic proportions, but also with an irreverence.”
Scargill-Bowman concedes that to ascribe a specific design ethos to a nation is to stereotype – “but I’m ready to own that,” he laughs. It puts the aesthetic of British-designed watches – sometimes also part-made and, much less often, more or less entirely made in the UK – into the realm of the Mini Cooper or the Jaguar E-Type, the Spitfire or Concorde, the Burberry trenchcoat, Dr. Marten’s boot or the Anglepoise lamp. It is a disparate bunch of icons but maybe there is something in the idea that a certain sensibility lies behind them all, as might be behind the more sensuous, more pop classics of, say, Italian design.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 68-Ausgabe von WOW Singapore.
Abonnieren Sie Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierter Premium-Geschichten und über 9.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Sie sind bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
WEITERE GESCHICHTEN VON WOW Singapore

WOW Singapore
GENERATION HISTORY
If there is one word Zenith CEO Benoit de Clerck is obsessed about today, it must be authenticity. On the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the brand and the manufacture, de Clerck explains how Zenith keeps it real
8 mins
Issue 78

WOW Singapore
RACING TIMES
As TAG Heuer resumes its partnership with Formula 1 as Official Timekeeper, we trace the evolution of a five-decade-long relationship that has helped shape both the sport and the brand
5 mins
Issue 78

WOW Singapore
TRUE BLUE
The Chanel J12 collection embraces the deep blue this year by presenting the J12 Bleu, nine novelties dressed in this newly developed emblematic colour. We dive into the position this hypnotic shade holds in the maison and the deceptively complex process of creating it
8 mins
Issue 78

WOW Singapore
CONQUEST OF ELEGANCE
Longines CEO Matthias Breschan appears positively prescient about future challenges
7 mins
Issue 78

WOW Singapore
14 MINI ME
The Tissot PRX collection debuts five small but mighty 25mm novelties
2 mins
Issue 78

WOW Singapore
16 LEGACY RENEWED
The Zenith El Primero is commonly associated with the round-shaped Chronomaster. However, its first-ever iteration was a tonneau-shaped watch. We explore the most faithful reproduction of the timepiece yet, the Chronomaster El Primero A384 Revival
2 mins
Issue 78

WOW Singapore
06 TIME MACHINES
Bell & Ross BR-01 revolutionized watch design with its square shape, functional aesthetic, and pilot-driven precision
2 mins
Issue 78
WOW Singapore
THE Watchmaker's CANVAS
From minimalist poise to daring innovation, we examine how eight leading watch maisons are redefining creativity in contemporary horology—one dial at a time
8 mins
Issue 78

WOW Singapore
02 ENDURING LEGACY
First launched in 1994, the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 has become a modern icon of German watchmaking. With its asymmetrical dial, in-house movement, and uncompromising Saxon craftsmanship, the Lange 1 redefined mechanical watch design and continues to set the benchmark for luxury timepieces from Glashütte
2 mins
Issue 78

WOW Singapore
15 ROUND TONES
Franck Muller updates its Cintrée Curvex collection to yield the audacious Curvex CX
2 mins
Issue 78