It began with queues snaking around the block. It ended — and I have never before witnessed this at any watch show — with a round of applause from exhibitors in the room.
To call the first British Watchmakers’ Day (BWD) a success would be an understatement.
I’ve long been a fan of the Wind-Up Watch Fair in America, which brings together small independent watchmakers from around the world in admirably unpolished jamborees in several US cities.
BWD has achieved even more in a single event because it somehow harnessed the Britishness of every brand presenting, making them and the visitors to the show feel part of something bigger.
Even Bremont’s new CEO, Davide Cerrato, attended and said the business will be joining the Alliance of British Clock and Watchmakers, the trade body behind the event.
Retailers, which have become so averse to risk that they rarely consider taking a punt on an upcoming brand, should take note. This is a movement with genuine momentum that is both an opportunity and a threat.
An opportunity because these British businesses are becoming greater than the sum of their parts; a threat because rising demand for domestic direct to consumer brands shows no sign of slowing, and every customer buying a Nomadic, a Pinion, a Sidereus or a Schofield has made that choice instead of buying something Swiss, Japanese or German.
Christopher Ward is on track to almost double sales in its current financial year to around £30 million. Exports, particularly to the United States, have been rising twice as fast as here in the UK. Wind-Up Watch Fair, for which the brand has been a cheerleader and ever-present exhibitor, is part of this success, so having a show of similar scale and positioning in the UK could help in its home market as well.
Roger Smith, the driving force behind the Alliance of British Clock and Watchmakers, brought his star power in watch circles to the event, and was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm in the room. “It felt like a watershed moment for the trade,” he says.
Judging by the length of the queue as the show opened, Studio Underd0g was the biggest draw on the day. It had made a limited edition field watch for BWD, but that, alone, could not account for an astonishing 5,930 watches sold (in person and online) during the nine hours of the show.
StudioUnderd0g founder Richard Benc has warned it may take some time to fulfil orders, particularly since every watch is hand-assembled in the UK, but the brand’s fans have proved patient and are accustomed to waiting a while for his colourful creations.
Questions had been raised ahead of BWD — including by WatchPro columnist Robin Swithinbank — whether talk of a renaissance in British watchmaking is just that: talk.
StudioUnderd0g provides strong evidence for the defence. As Mr Benc points out, a business that is only three years old is already assembling in the UK, building out its operation in this country and expanding its watchmaking team.
These are new people with valuable skills entering the watch industry, and paid for by the success of an entrepreneurial business.
Another post-startup operation is Fears, which was launched in 2016 and assembles watches in the UK. It is also about to open a boutique in its home city of Bristol.
anOrdain, which may regret not taking part in the first BWD, has just consolidated several workshops into one in its home city of Glasgow so that it can increase production for its handmade dials, and examine what other horological disciplines it can put to work for the business.
Right now most brands are focused on design, marketing and sales while outsourcing production overseas, but many are on a journey towards assembling their own watches, which requires skilled technicians and capital investment.
Even if watches are entirely imported, businesses will still need to service and repair their products, which requires investment in people.
Most of the brands at the British Watchmakers’ Day sell directly to consumers through their own ecommerce sites, and promote themselves through social media and other digital means.
This may be the choice forever for highly successful brands like Farer and Christopher Ward, but others, including Duckworth Prestex, Elliot Brown, William Wood and Fears, are open to building a network of retail partners.
Retailers would be wise to take note of the zeitgeist that is building (or has built) for British watch brands and consider whether, in this country, it might be easier riding this wave of enthusiasm rather than trying to push water uphill with challenger brands from the continent that have little resonance in this country.
Hi Rob, sorry not to meet you at the show. Just want to highlight that for those who missed out The Watch Collectors’ Club are running The Manchester Watch Show in November on Saturday 9th, featuring 30 British brands. We’ve not launched the tickets yet but anyone on our mailing list will hear about it when we do!