British Watchmaking comeback?

Pleasantly surprised by this Farer Stanhope 2.  I've always loved their use of color and their interesting case shapes, and in hand, the build is very solid.

Got me thinking, are we witnessing a resurgence of British watchmaking?  What's your favorite brand from the old country?  

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That GMT is hot!  For 1k on the stanhope, you are getting a lot of watch 👌

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Love Farer too. Got 3: Farer IV, Stanhope II and an Erebus. Currently fighting a very strong urge to get one of their monopushers....

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The #bremont S302. Not normally into GMTs, but I'd make an exception for this one.

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S302 – Bremont Watch Company (US)

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Bobofet

The #bremont S302. Not normally into GMTs, but I'd make an exception for this one.

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S302 – Bremont Watch Company (US)

Wow, that's a striking GMT 👌. Bremont is a great suggestion

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ha! British watchmaking makes me think peak pocket watch era 😅 so as long as it isn’t it’s industrial era inspired with roman numerals I’m down. 

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Obsolete_Inventory

ha! British watchmaking makes me think peak pocket watch era 😅 so as long as it isn’t it’s industrial era inspired with roman numerals I’m down. 

LOL, you know the modern watch watch market is untapped

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Got mine a few days ago absolutely love this piece 

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I might be a bit biased as he’s based in my hometown of Edinburgh but the Clemence microbrand is something that’s got me interested and I might try to get a look at them when I’m there this summer. 

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Nice piece.  However, per Worn and Wound's review, "... Still designed in Britain and manufactured in Switzerland...", so that leads down to the question, is it really British watchmaking? But still, if I hadn't already recently made a purchase, I would've added Farer to my list of consideration.

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Got mine a few days ago absolutely love this piece 

Ooo, I almost went with that strap color. Love the thick full grain 👌

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Matt84

I might be a bit biased as he’s based in my hometown of Edinburgh but the Clemence microbrand is something that’s got me interested and I might try to get a look at them when I’m there this summer. 

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Very nice piece!  Kind of reminds me of a C. Ward. Very underrated skin diver 👍

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eddieincorona

Nice piece.  However, per Worn and Wound's review, "... Still designed in Britain and manufactured in Switzerland...", so that leads down to the question, is it really British watchmaking? But still, if I hadn't already recently made a purchase, I would've added Farer to my list of consideration.

Yes, still says Swiss on the dial 🤔. But gotta start somewhere

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AnOrdain! Movements may be Swiss but the handicraft on those enamel dials are definitely British. Even nominated for a GPHG. 
British watchmaking covers every price point from a few hundred pounds to Roger W. Smith money. Then there’s the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers. An initiative to bring all the British watchmaking groups together. After their initial commissioned bellweather report, it would seem that there’s plenty of scope to pool the industry together. We’re already seeing the fruits of some of these - Christopher Ward/Fears collaboration, Studio Underd0g using The Strap Tailor’s bands on the new watches. And it’s not necessarily just the watchmakers themselves - the Scottish Watches and Bark & Jack podcast/Youtube teams, Oracle Time magazine, A Collected Man‘s insightful articles all bringing attention via the various forms of media. It’s definitely by no means an exhaustive list and seems to be growing by the month. A re-awakening of a former slumbering giant of the watchmaking industry

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eddieincorona

Nice piece.  However, per Worn and Wound's review, "... Still designed in Britain and manufactured in Switzerland...", so that leads down to the question, is it really British watchmaking? But still, if I hadn't already recently made a purchase, I would've added Farer to my list of consideration.

I think the problem with British watchmaking being largely "manufactured in Switzerland," is that Britain never had an industrial base for manufacturing watches with British-made movements in any significant scale. Traditional British watchmaking was a cottage industry of small scale watchmakers making watches in small numbers to order. British watchmaking was also largely based on pocket watches and pocket watch movements. The industry died out at the beginning of the 19th century when the Swiss, American and German watch industries became industrialized for large scale production. Because of this, there is really no industry to revive in an historical sense like the Germans were able to do after reunification in 1990.

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Chunghauphoto

AnOrdain! Movements may be Swiss but the handicraft on those enamel dials are definitely British. Even nominated for a GPHG. 
British watchmaking covers every price point from a few hundred pounds to Roger W. Smith money. Then there’s the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers. An initiative to bring all the British watchmaking groups together. After their initial commissioned bellweather report, it would seem that there’s plenty of scope to pool the industry together. We’re already seeing the fruits of some of these - Christopher Ward/Fears collaboration, Studio Underd0g using The Strap Tailor’s bands on the new watches. And it’s not necessarily just the watchmakers themselves - the Scottish Watches and Bark & Jack podcast/Youtube teams, Oracle Time magazine, A Collected Man‘s insightful articles all bringing attention via the various forms of media. It’s definitely by no means an exhaustive list and seems to be growing by the month. A re-awakening of a former slumbering giant of the watchmaking industry

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I've been intrigued by Anordain, but I must say, not enough to buy one. It's almost too symmetric?  Or maybe the lack of any words on the dial just looks too sterile. I should try and find one in real life!

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fancy_man

I think the problem with British watchmaking being largely "manufactured in Switzerland," is that Britain never had an industrial base for manufacturing watches with British-made movements in any significant scale. Traditional British watchmaking was a cottage industry of small scale watchmakers making watches in small numbers to order. British watchmaking was also largely based on pocket watches and pocket watch movements. The industry died out at the beginning of the 19th century when the Swiss, American and German watch industries became industrialized for large scale production. Because of this, there is really no industry to revive in an historical sense like the Germans were able to do after reunification in 1990.

Very nice history recap. We can only hope that blokes in sheds can get things going!  I feel like I'm a design first guy, and even nomos used Swiss movements before going in house no? 

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Max
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I've been intrigued by Anordain, but I must say, not enough to buy one. It's almost too symmetric?  Or maybe the lack of any words on the dial just looks too sterile. I should try and find one in real life!

Maybe have a look at the original versions with the logo at 9 o’clock?

For me, there’s enough interest just in the enamelling (especially the fume versions) To negate the sterility. I can see your point though.

They are only a small group of artisans and are being tested with their long (and growing) waitlists

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Max
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I've been intrigued by Anordain, but I must say, not enough to buy one. It's almost too symmetric?  Or maybe the lack of any words on the dial just looks too sterile. I should try and find one in real life!

I personally think they’ve cracked it with the smaller dial model 2’s

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That’s a beautiful dial! I’ve never seen a texture like that; although I can already hear my partner in the back saying “it looks like a golf ball”

Bremont has some beautiful watches

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Max

Very nice history recap. We can only hope that blokes in sheds can get things going!  I feel like I'm a design first guy, and even nomos used Swiss movements before going in house no? 

That is a good point, but I wonder if Nomos originally did that to keep costs down. Of course, A. Lange & Sohne and Glashutte Original were always in-house and German, but at a price point 5-10x that of Nomos. 

I have no doubt that a company like Fears, Christopher Ward, Farer etc. could serially mass produce their own movements in the UK, but my guess is that the cost of doing so would push the cost of their watches to a much higher price bracket. Right now, I don't think those companies could sell a watch with an in-house, British movement for their typical $1000-$5000 price range. 

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fancy_man

That is a good point, but I wonder if Nomos originally did that to keep costs down. Of course, A. Lange & Sohne and Glashutte Original were always in-house and German, but at a price point 5-10x that of Nomos. 

I have no doubt that a company like Fears, Christopher Ward, Farer etc. could serially mass produce their own movements in the UK, but my guess is that the cost of doing so would push the cost of their watches to a much higher price bracket. Right now, I don't think those companies could sell a watch with an in-house, British movement for their typical $1000-$5000 price range. 

Yes, seems like a proven strategy to leave movement manufacturing after you've gotten other parts of the business locked and a fan base established.

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Max

Yes, seems like a proven strategy to leave movement manufacturing after you've gotten other parts of the business locked and a fan base established.

Yes, this would seem like a very plausible strategy going forward for any British watch manufacturer looking to offer higher-end pieces with in-house, British-made movements.

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Absolutely stunning

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I like these Fears cushion case design very much. 

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Got mine a few days ago absolutely love this piece 

Nice watch!! What's your wrist size?

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Oscarprahl

Nice watch!! What's your wrist size?

About 17cm