We’re delighted to be hosting The Manchester Watch Show in November and can’t wait to host 25 British brands and over 350 people for an amazing afternoon where they can share their love of watches and see great timepieces up close. We’ve covered the emerging British Watch Industry in detail as we continue to be surprised by the level of interest and enthusiasm for the brands, watches, and events supporting British brands. Today we want to highlight some of the incredible diversity we find across the industry, and introduce some of the participants, explaining what’s driven them to start their own brand and what’s inspired them.

A Wealth of Watches

The incredible range of watches currently designed, marketed and sold by British brands is extraordinary. There are dive watches with 1000m water resistance, unusual design-led pieces with new ways of telling the time, sleek simple and elegant watches, and special complications unavailable anywhere else.
This incredible range has come from the passion and enthusiasm from the people behind the watches, and also from the strength of interest in the community of watch buyers. We at The Watch Collectors’ Club have had an incredible journey over the last few years helping brands meet there customers and we love introducing new timepieces to those who’ve not seen them before at our events, meetups and shows.

Jonathan Bordell of Helicon Watches has this to say: “We love the intimacy and camaraderie within the UK watch scene. From the enthusiasts to the other brands, there’s a genuine sense of support. We’ve enjoyed traveling to different parts of the UK and connecting with this passionate community.”

Incredible Design Depth

You might think you know how a watch should look, but there are some outstanding timepieces from British brands that will really make you think. Here are a few that have caught our eye over the last few years;

Not every watch is this complicated. A young brand called Sherwood is based in Nottingham and their designs are driven by the most simple philosophy; here’ what founder Glynn Reynolds had to say: “I love design. I’m a Graphic designer. On my Instagram, I Photoshopped how I would improve some famous watches. After a while, I thought I would take the plunge and design my own. Where I live is the influence for the brand I.D, the watches are just design watches I want to wear”.

Classic Designs that sell very well

At our Design focussed event in London last year we heard how Fears Watches founder Nicholas Bowman-Scargill makes his brand’s ideas come to life through the motto “Elegantly Understated”. Taking watches from the company’s long archive, they add modern touches and have had great success the world over. Duckworth Prestex follow the same model but with a different look and some exciting experimentation with colour. Both of these brands are going from strength to strength and we’re delighted to have them exhibiting at our show this autumn.

Tough Adventure Watches with a Twist

Tool watches are the biggest selling category of the watch market and British brands do not disappoint. Brands such as Bremont, Christopher Ward and Elliot Brown have done a fantastic job finding interesting design touch points for their watches and telling great stories to go with them. Smaller brands such as Monro Adventure have joined the party in recent years with affordable options offering something different.

elliot brown tool watch with a green dial and grey bezel on a wrist with a grey coat cuff

Conclusion

Whatever type of watch you like, we love the fact that you can find it from a British brand. There are so many things to see we hope we’ll continue to put on great events for many years to come to give enthusiasts the chance to get hands-on with these watches.