Whether you believe that Brexit was the best thing that ever happened to the UK, releasing the shackles of European betrothment, or you are adamant that it left the UK the poorer party in the Euro divorce, there can be no arguing that the British watchmaking industry is in anything but rude health. Over the past years, more and more independently run watch brands have blossomed to cater to the incredible surge in demand for watches both in Blighty and across the entire globe. We talk to the leaders of four very different UK-based brands about the companies that they run and take a look at a selection of the watches that they offer, both past and present.
“When I look back at the past few years, this is perhaps the piece which we’ve become best known for; it’s our take on the classic dress watch.”
ANORDAIN
“We’re known for enamel, and perhaps inventing the fumé enamel technique, but for me, weʼre about the fusion of design and craft, and our work in enamel is a product of that, as pretentious as that may sound!”
– Lewis Heath, Founder of anOrdain
Based in Glasgow, anOrdain is an 18-strong (and growing) team that takes care of every step of the watches they produce, from the initial designs through stages of manufacturing and finishing of its watches all under one roof. Top of the tree, in terms of USPs that the brand boasts, is its enamel work. Whether it’s opaque, fumé or champlevé, enameling is what this company does most beautifully. We caught up with founder Lewis Heath to discuss life, watches and everything in between.
What is your first watch-related memory in life?
My parents wore very simple black and white Swatches. Dad was always conscious of making others feel uncomfortable through shows of wealth. He worked as a doctor and spent his days treating people from a range of backgrounds, a lot being ex-miners from the Welsh valleys. He always valued quality and functionality but wasn’t one for flashiness!
Was the setting up of the brand always your plan? Did it happen by accident or was it just “meant to be”?
It was therapy if I’m being honest! I’d built a consumer electronics brand after leaving art school, and as it grew (there were 60 people when I left, and it’s now been bought by Sonos) the bits I loved — design, experimentation, creative freedom — were all swamped a little, and so I set up anOrdain as a side project. Launching or commercializing it wasn’t terribly appealing or feasible for some time due to the difficulty of what we were doing, but I kept at it because it kept me sane. It was constant problem-solving and creating, and those are the bits I love. I left the old company a few years later because I knew anOrdain is what I want to do, but I think those early years of not having any financial goals or having to factor in selling or making money did set us up well in many respects.
Tell us about the early days of running the brand.
It’s been a process of constant learning and growing. When you manufacture yourself there’s a huge learning gap to overcome, whereas if you’re working with a white label partner and just doing
