This time last year you had probably never heard of Elliot Brown, unless you were one of the first to see the British watch brand’s debut offering at the London Watch Show 2013. Just 12 months later word of mouth, and business, has exploded.
Elliot Brown now has customers on every continent except Antarctica, and founders Ian Elliot and Alex Brown promise they are working on that final frontier too. It has been another tough year for the duo, who both love nothing more than fixing up cars when they’re not selling watches, but one that has been highly rewarding, and for them life is pretty perfect right now.
“If you’d asked us a year ago if we’d be happy to open doors with high-quality outdoor and watch multiples whilst supporting a strong core of independent retailers we would have said yes, and that’s exactly where we are,” says Ian, who before setting up Elliot Brown founded lifestyle brand Animal in 1988, where Alex also worked as head of watches for 17 years. “But we’ve reached a far greater audience with Elliot Brown’s story than we originally thought possible. That’s really helped to start conversations with a variety of buyers, but that’s nothing without the backup of a superb product and in that respect we wouldn’t change a thing. We set out to create a new niche, a long-term project not a fashion fad, and we’re ahead of target.”
Elliot Brown is undoubtedly a more grown up brand than Animal but the boys are still a couple of surf bums at heart, and ranked equal with future plans to “relentlessly support the brand in the media and build more relationships with like-minded retailers” is to “play more” and get in some quality paddle board time with their families in Dorset’s Kimmeridge Bay.
