Our next General Meetup will be on Tuesday, October 11th from 6:30pm in Central London, and we will release the venue details early in the week of the event. It will be a relaxed evening in a private space where you can come and share your passion for watches with like-minded people. We will give two short talks to help you learn more about this fascinating space, and there will be refreshments available.

We assure you that the venue will be COVID-compliant, and there will be plenty of sanitiser available. We ask that you please either be double vaccinated or have a negative test result from earlier on the day.

Everyone is welcome, whether you have been collecting for years or are just getting started. We are creating a place to share knowledge and help each other out, and you don't even need to own a watch.

Please register using the link and if you have any friends how might like to come please also ask them to register.

Join us in Central London to share your watches and watch stories.

Our Watch Meetup in Central London for watch lovers collectors and enthusiasts.

WCC October Meetup 2022

We are very excited to present a Joint Event between The Watch Collectors' Club, Britain's Largest Bond Memorabilia Collection, and Watches of Switzerland. We will have props, costumers and watches from the most recent four Bond films to look at, watches from the current Omega range to try on, and three fun and informative talks to introduce them all.

Watches of Switzerland will provide their usual excellent hospitality and you will have the opportunity to try on watches from the latest Omega range.

SPACES WILL BE LIMITED so please sign up using the link below to avoid disappointment. 

Join us with Watches of Switzerland to look at props, costumes and watches of the recent Daniel Craig films.

See props constuerm and watches from the James Bond films, as well as the current Omega Bond watches.

James Bond Watch Meetup

The Props, Costumes and Watches of James Bond

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of James Bond first appearing on our screens, Christie's Auction house in London are selling some high value memorabilia from the most recent film, No Time to Die. We will go and see this memorabilia as the two watches worn by Daniel Craig (playing James Bond) are for sale. We will hopefully be able to try them on and you can even leave a bid! 

Following our visit to the Auction House we will walk up to the Watches of Switzerland Store on Regent's Street to look at more watches and possibly even have a Martini; shaken, not stirred of course! 

Please sign up to let us know you are coming, and then we will meet outside the main entrance of Christie's at 2:00PM.

A visit to Christie's to see the Bond watch worn in No Time to Die

Join us to see and even try on the watches worn by James Bond in No Time to Die

Watch Collectors'Club trip to the James Bond Auction

Join The Watch Collectors' Club at Bremont Birmingham on Thursday 22nd September from 5PM for an evening exploring the fantastic Supermarine range. We'll be looking at the history of this range, the features, and the associated benefits of buying a Tool Watch like this. You'll get to hear all about how it came about, the main functions, plus tips on when and when you can wear it. The Boutique will provide their usual excellent hospitality, and there'll be loads of watches for us all to try on!

A joint watch Event at the Bremont Birmingham Bullring Store

Watch Event at Bremont Birmingham, Bremont Collectors Event

The Watch Collectors' Club and Bremont Birmingham

The Watch Collectors' Club at Bremont Birmingham

NOW RESCHEDULED DUE TO THE FUNERAL OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II

The Watch Collectors' Club are delighted to welcome Richard Benq, the founder and CEO of Studio Underd0g, one of the hottest new microbrands to come onto the watch scene in the last two years. We will introduce the range of Bicompax colourful Chronographs that have been causing excitement across the watch world, we will hear Richard's story of how he turned a lockdown project into a full time job, and we'll hear all about his design inspirations.

You'll be welcome to join in, ask questions and let him and us know what you think of this amazing range of watches. It's free, on Zoom and you can sign up right here.

We talk about their fantastic range of colourful watches with the founder of Studio Underd0g

Have your questions answered with Studio Underd0g Founder Richard Benc

Virtual Event with Studio Underd0g

POSTPONED - Virtual Event with Richard from Studio Underd0g 

Our next General Meetup will be on Thursday, September 16th at 6:30pm in Central London, and we will release the venue details early in the week of the event. It will be a relaxed evening in a private space where you can come and share your passion for watches with like-minded people. We will give two short talks to help you learn more about this fascinating space, and there will be refreshments available.

Please register using the link and if you have any friends who might like to come, also ask them to register. 

Join us for our monthly in-person Meetup to share your watches and watch stories

Join The Watch Collectors' Club meetup to share your watch collection and watch stories.

WCC General Meetup September 2022

The Watch Collectors' Club runs regular events where we teach members a little about watches, watchmakers, watch

A club for everyone who likes watches.

Many people want a watch they never have to worry about, even if they are doing something really quite adventurous where the watch may get wet, muddy, or even take a few knocks. Today's Blog Post will highlight some of the watches that will remain waterproof, take a battering, and deliver reliable performance throughout.

Military Watches and Military-Inspired Tough Watches

The evolution and adoption of the Wristwatch were driven by the needs of soldiers in World War I, and timepieces designed for military uses have a very interesting history. The common format was landed upon in the 1930s, with a dark dial and matt finish case to prevent unwanted reflections, large luminous numerals and hands to allow for easy use at night, and often a very strong strap that sometimes wrapped twice around the wrist.

There was ongoing development for military and commercial pilots that shared similar features, and these directly led to the Pilot's watches we see today. In World War II the invention of Scuba diving led to the need for specific tough watches for underwater missions. Both pilot's watches and diving watches are very interesting places to look for tough and rugged watches that could be used for all sorts of adventurous activities. 

Some brands still make watches issued by the military, such as CWC of the UK and Marathon of Canada, and some brands create watches in partnership with the military, such as Bremont. The most recent watch developed for James Bond in the film No Time to Die draws on many of these military influences, while still remaining a Dive Watch from Omega's Seamaster Professional Range. If you join our events this month with Omega and Bremont, you can see these watches up close.

The term field watch literally means a watch that can be used in the field, meaning the field of battle. This tradition comes from watches issued in the Second World War and afterwards to soldiers serving in various wars from the 1950s to the 1970s. 

The design has similar hallmarks of military use, with the main distinction being the addition of the 24 hour numbers on the dial, and increased use of luminous material. 

Today we see a variety of watches available with the Field Watch Design from multiple brands. Arguably the most famous are from the US brand Hamilton, which manufactured and produced a huge number of them for issue to US Soldiers in the Vietnam war, and today sell an up to date example. These watches remain very popular and are often seen as a very affordable everyday watch.

Today's watchmakers have a huge amount of different technologies and tactics they can use to make their watches stand up to any activity. Some even market themselves as unbreakable watches. We see Dive watches that can reach incredible depths, and these would also stand up to most activities above ground. The last few decades have seen many new approaches to making a watch tough, such as the famous Casio G-Shock which encases the entire movement in rubber. 

Some companies make extra tough cases, using a single piece design known as a Monocoque case. One very famous example of this is the Citizen ProMaster Tough, well-loved by outdoor enthusiasts and divers since its introduction, and it has a high-grade Titanium case. Many watch brands offer extra tough titanium cases for their more adventurous watches, often with high water resistance ratings to reassure buyers that the watch can withstand anything that can be thrown at it.

Today, some brands such as Rolex, Montblanc, IWC and Bremont sponsor endurance athletes and mountaineers who take their watches into the most extreme environments.

While smartwatches are only the latest evolution of nearly 50 years of digital watches, they are still regarded as fragile by many. We have now reached the point where even the most complicated smartwatches are made to be tough and suitable for many outdoor activities.

The new Apple Watch Ultra has a titanium case, a new bezel designed to help protect the screen, larger and sturdier buttons, and an amazing array of features. These include a depth gauge down to 40m allowing its use as a Dive computer, microphones designed to be used in bad weather, and a speaker to sound an alarm in an emergency. 

Samsung also makes a Pro version of their top Smartwatch, also with a Titanium case and increased protective crystal thickness. Other brands such as Suunto and Garmin make very complex smartwatches for specific sports, and these are tested to destruction by their featured athletes. 

Modern watches from reputable brands are often very well made, with high standards of reliability and able to withstand knocks and blows pretty well thanks to good movement and case design. If you want a tough timepiece to accompany you through all kinds of outdoors activities, then we recommend exploring the types of watch mentioned above. At our Meetups we often see watches of all kinds from the toughest field watch to a fancy gold dress watch, and many digital watches too. You can find more details on our Events page, and if you found this article interesting, please share it with anyone else you know who likes watches.

Which watches are tough? Which watches are good for outdoors activity?

Adventure Watches for Any Activity

We explore watches that can take a beating.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland sadly passed away last week. We at The Watch Collectors' Club offer our deepest condolences to her family and we want to add our deepest respect and admiration for her legacy and hard work over a lifetime of service.

Her Majesty the Queen was rarely seen without a watch on her wrist. On both formal occasions and on daily outings throughout her life, she was known for wearing some very fine timepieces. Today's Blog Post will look at some of her most famous watches. 

This watch is not just interesting because it was worn for Her Majesty's coronation in 1953, but also because it is a technological masterpiece. Created by Jaeger LeCoultre in 1929, it was for a long time the smallest mechanical movement ever made for a watch. It measures just 14mm long, 4.8mm wide and 3.4mm high. It is hand wound and despite it's tiny size has a power reserve of 33 hours. 

Her Majesty's example is a fabulous example that highlights the watch's incredible thinness by matching it with an elegant gold bracelet with applied round diamonds. Queen Elizabeth wore this watch on her coronation day as the white diamonds complimented her regalia (and the crown once it was on her head!), and she wanted to keep an eye on the time. Presumably this was because the coronation day schedule was so long!

Over the years of her reign, the Queen has been pictured wearing Cartier watches on many occasions. Since they are often regular occasions such as visits to watch horse races, one of her favourite hobbies, or visits to various places around the country, good pictures are not easy to find. One recently rediscovered photo was of the queen wearing a fantastic Cartier Cintree Dual Time Zone in Gold, which is both a classic piece of 1980s jewellery and a Classic Cartier watch. She is also known to have worn various Cartier Tanks and gifted them to other family members.

Queen Victoria was one of the first Royal customers of Patek Philippe buying a fantastic blue enamelled pocket watch for herself at the Great Exhibition of 1851. 

Queen Elizabeth is famous for wearing a pearl and diamond set Patek Wristwatch on many State occasions, as it suits the fine diamonds and white dresses she most often wore. This watch is the reference 4975/1G. Here is a fantastic image of it created by a friend of The Watch Collectors Club, InkDial, who can be found at www.inkdial.co.uk

Queen Elizabeth is famous for many things, and her outstanding watch collection befit her status and majesty. It will be interesting to see if the future King Charles is as adventurous as he begins his reign. We wish him all the best wishes and hope that you have enjoyed this Blog Post. If you know anyone else who might find it interesting, please send it to them.

We explore some of the watches in Her Makesty's Collection

Almost everyone wants their watch to be waterproof. We all expect that a new watch will be waterproof whatever the price point or watch type. But what makes a watch waterproof? 

Modern advertising laws mean watch companies cannot advertise their watches as waterproof. A watch made of lots of different case parts means there are gaps that water can get into, especially if the watch is old or hasn't been serviced for a while. Watch companies instead use the term Water Resistant. Use of this term is now limited only to those watches which conform to the International Standard 22810, explained further below.

Water Resistance ratings are measured in units of Atmospheric Pressure, known as Bar. When you stand at sea level on the surface of the Earth you are experiencing, on average, 1 Atmosphere of pressure. The Symbol for this is "atm". Since pressure is measured with a device called a Barometer, units of pressure are also often called "Bar", and you experience 1 Bar of pressure from the atmosphere.

Very roughly speaking, there is a ratio of atmospheric pressure to water pressure of 10m equals 1 atm. So if you go 10 metres underwater you are experiencing an additional 1 atm or Bar of pressure.

Watch designers can choose how waterproof to make their watch. The design requires the case construction and gaskets to create a very tight seal, whatever its shape. It is the strength of the case material and the use of these gaskets (usually made of rubber), that determine the water resistance of the watch. A gasket is usually just a rubber ring that helps press into the gaps between the metal and create the seal. The important thing to know is that these gaskets degrade over time and need replacing regularly to ensure your watch remains fully water resistant.

Here is a table of use that people have traditionally referred to when thinking about the different uses, which will apply to vintage watches that have been fully serviced and tested. For example, Rolex will service a 60-year-old Submariner that is rated at 200m so that it is equal to that rating today if it can. However, if you have a vintage watch and do not know its service history, it is a very bad idea to use it as the table lays out below. Rolex is an interesting example as there are many professional divers who successfully used the same Submariner dive watch across their whole career without problems, although they did get it regularly serviced.

To clear up the confusion that historical water resistance ratings created, and also to make sure that watch companies do not claim their watches are fully waterproof, the industry adopted two ISO standards for water resistance. These standards are now required for any watchmaker to meet to claim their watch is water resistant. The standard applies regardless of what the watchmaker writes on the dial. 

The ISO Standard for Water Resistance and Divers Watches

The International Standards Organisation exists to set industry-wide standards for all aspects of manufacturing and services. It has a range of standards for watchmakers including some on Water Resistance. They are very helpful and were last updated in 2010. Most notably, they include tests of activity, and the watches are tested up to 2 Bar. This means that they will be useful for almost any water-based activity other than deep scuba diving. The Standard for Water Resistance is ISO 22810:2010.

The Divers Watch ISO standard is conducted including activity to a depth of 10 Bar, or 100m or below, thus also including almost all leisure and commercial diving activities. The Standard for Diving watches is ISO 6425: 2018

You can ask a manufacturer if they make these watches to these standards, and if they do then you can be sure your watch will be water resistant for almost any activity you require. If the watchmaker claims it has a Depth rating of 1000m for a Dive Watch but it does not also claim the watch meets the Divers' Watch standard, then caution is advised if you wanted to use the watch for diving.

Almost any watch that is sold with a water resistance rating today should be held to a decent waterproof standard. You should ask if you are unsure, and if you want to really make sure of a Dive Watch's status, look for one expressly marked Diver's 200m on the dial. There are an enormous range of different watch designs and water resistance ratings out there, and a small amount of action could save you a lot of money. We at The Watch Collectors' Club recommend you check before you dive! If you are interested in learning more about how watches are made waterproof and what dive watches look like, please join one of our regular watch events, or send us any questions you may have.

Learn what water resistant means on a watch, and what different depth ratings mean for a Dive Watch.

We explain how waterproof your watch is and what activities are safe to do while wearing it.

We have a wide range of events, both online and in-person. You can browse our upcoming events and sign up directly by clicking on the Register link within the event page

Events

October General Meetup 2022

The Props, Costumes and Watches of James Bond

James Bond Auction Visit September 2022

The Watch Collectors' Club at Bremont Birmingham

POSTPONED - Virtual Event with Richard from Studio Underd0g

WCC General Meetup September 2022

Make the watch world simple