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

A club for everyone who likes watches.

It's been a while since we have provided an updated on our Club Plans, so this week is the perfect time to tell you what's coming next and more about the amazing events we have coming up! We'll also give you an early insight into our plans for 2023.

There is still time to sign up for the incredibly exciting event with Watches of Switzerland focussing on the Omega Watches of James Bond. This is in partnership with Britain's biggest James Bond collector, and will feature props, memorabilia and watches from the Daniel Craig films. You are welcome to join us anytime from 5:00PM on Wednesday, October 12th, but you must sign up.

There'll be plenty to look at, watches from the latest Omega range to try on, and three short talks to help you explore more about the world of Omega watches and James Bond.

This month we are also hosting two further exciting events; 

On Thursday 20th October we are having our first event solely for Women who are interested in watches. There are now enough women who come to our events to allow us to put on an event just for them, and we'd greatly appreciate it if you could highlight this event to anyone you know who might be interested. It'll follow our usual fun, friendly and informative Meetup structure, and whether you are new to watches or a seasoned collector, it'll be a great chance to come and learn more about the watch world. Sign up here.


On Thursday 27th November we are hosting a small and intimate event with IWC Schaffhausen. We have only 12 spaces for this so if you are interested let us know ASAP by signing up here.

We have a fun and varied series of events lined up for November, including with Bremont, Breitling and Oris, and a day at WatchPro Salon, where we'll be hosting tours of the show for our members.

We'll help you get up close and personal with as many watches as possible, from the simplest dive watches to the finest handmade timepieces. 

    Oris South Molton Street Store: November 24th

The Holiday Season is coming up and you might be thinking of buying someone a watch as a gift, but you aren't exactly sure what to buy them. We can help! Fill in our short online form and we will send you a list of watches that fit what you've asked for. It's called The Watch Shortlist, it's completely free, and we have had great feedback on the watches we recommend. If you'd like to try it, you can find it here.

Finally, we have mentioned it a few times already, but we will be undertaking a fundraising round over the next few months. This is to enable us to build the Club further in 2023, with the main goal of launching a paid membership. We always want your feedback so if you have any thoughts or ideas around this please let us know! We will also be conducting some more deliberate surveys to find out what you will find most useful and valuable from a watch club. 

The best thing you can do for us right now is to tell people who might be interested in our events, bring them along, and spread the word. We are here to provide accessible, fun and friendly events focussing on watches. If you know of any event partners who might like to work with us, please let us know or put us in touch with them.

Thanks for helping us build such a fun Club, we hope to see you at an event soon,

read more about upcoming events and club plans for The WCC

Upcoming Events and Club Plans September 2022

What to look our for from The Watch Collectors' Club

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

ALL SPACES AT THIS EVENT ARE NOW TAKEN. PLEASE JOIN US AT A FUTURE EVENT.

Join us on Thursday 27th October for an intimate exploration of three of IWC Schaffhausen's Core ranges; the Portugieser, Portofino and Pilot. This event for just 12 guests will help you understand what each range offers, the heritage and design history behind the watches, and more about IWC's fantastic technical strengths. 

Expect warm hospitality from the IWC Boutique located within Watches of Switzerland Regent Street, three short talks on the watches, and a large amount of time for you to try on different watches from each range.

You'll leave with a thorough understanding of what IWC stand for, which watches might suit your collection, and what are the greatest attributes of this brand.

Please note that all guests must be registered with us to attend, and you can sign up using the link below.

An intimate watch event exploring IWC Watches

The Watch Collectors Club x IWC

Join us for a watch event run solely for women. 

As the watch industry continues to focus their marketing and products primarily on men, the number of women attending our events is increasing with each month.

Our next event will bring together women who are new to the world of watches, and those who already collect watches, with the aim of learning from one another.

The event is hosted in a private area of a central London wine bar, and the event will follow our inclusive, informative and fun structure.

If you have a watch or two to bring along please do. We are interested in all types of watches – from the simplest Casio all the way to complicated Swiss watches, and everything in-between.

A Fun and friendly Watch Meetup for women in London

A Watch Meetup solely for women in Central London

Watch Meetup for Women October 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.

Club Plans

Make the watch world simple