Tag Archives: William Wood

Coronation Watches from British Brands

In political circles they advise not to waste a good crisis. For the British watch world the same needs to be said for a royal event. Last year we had several releases for the Queen’s jubilee. This year we have the coronation of KIng Charles III.

The first release I noticed was from my friends at Fears who offer us a solid gold Brunswick.

In 18-carat yellow gold (rose gold option also available), this hand-built Brunswick features a crimson-red dial with a lightly vertically brushed texture. Adorning this royal canvas are raised yellow-gold plated ‘Edwin’ numerals, paired with solid ‘Fears-shaped’ hands, also plated in yellow gold.

The case includes a coronation hallmark for all pieces ordered during 2023. As with all of their precious metal watches, a flawless diamond is set into the ‘onion’-shaped winding crown. Completing this piece is a Bristol Leather watch strap finished in a matching crimson-red tone and accented with golden-coloured stitching.
Should you like the idea of a special gold watch but would prefer a different coloured dial or strap these can be specified as all the watches are built to order. The pricing starts at £17,850 inc. VAT (£14,875 ex. VAT). Reach out to Fears at enquiries@fearswatches.com to find out more.

Bremont

The next option comes from Bremont, a company not known to miss the opportunity to present limited editions. Bremont offer a relatively restrained King Charles III MBII.

This Limited Edition timepiece is now sold out.

Limited to just 150 pieces ( 100 black and 50 white dialled), now all sold, and based on Bremont’s established MB design, this King Charles III Limited Edition celebrates the coronation of His Majesty with a special case back engraving and complimentary commemorative coin with each watch. If you managed to get your order in they were offered at a reasonable £4495. for more details try the website or a Bremont boutique.

William Wood

Again a limited edition, this time 30 pieces now all sold out. The bronzed cased, William Wood British Coronation chronograph features a British Racing Green Union Jack dial, a new up-cycled British Racing Green fire hose strap, green laser engraved Union Jack glass case back and their iconic “In Case Of Fire Break” lettering .

The substance of the watch is the “Triumph range”. Featuring a 41mm case and a The Sellita SW510 chronograph movement. Again more information can be found at the William Wood website.

Duckworth Prestex

The last of our collection come from the relatively newly reinvented brand Duckworth Prestex. Again we are looking at a limited edition, 365 of each colour (blue and salmon), the new watches feature the art deco numerals, previously used on the Bolton range, and a special Small Seconds sub dial at the 4 O’clock position with the year 2023 printed on it. 

The 39mm cushion case houses an automatic Miyota 82S5 movement and or priced at a very reasonable £795. You will find all the details at https://duckworthprestex.com.

So i conclusion, the British watch brands all have chosen to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the coronation, they have offered the market something to suit most pockets, if you moved fast enough. Fortunatelyat the time of writing the more economical alternative fromduckworth are still available and given the quantities involve I am confident Fears will find a solution.

William Wood

Again I have to have been a little sceptical of this brand when they first popped up on Instagram, now with the launch of their second watch I have to admit that I was possibly a little quick to judge. The brand like many others just had to get itself of the ground.

The first watch the Chivalrous collection, as you can see above, was a fairly generic looking quartz powered two hander. One feature I did like, as a fan of solid casebacks, was the solid caseback incorporating a brass coin made from a melted down 1923 firefighter’s helmet.

The story behind the watch is quiet interesting, the company’s founder’s, Jonny Garrett, grandfather was William Wood a firefighter. The company, as many others, was launched after a Kickstarter campaign. They have susequently won the Esquire Self-Made Entrepreneur of the Year 2018. They aspire to becoming a British luxury brand that uses recycled firefighting material in a sustainable, cool and chivalrous way.

Their next step towards acheiving this goal is their second watch, the Valiant, an different take on a classic divers watch again using recycled firefighting materials.

In this case the strap is made from recycled fire hoses. For those that might not be keen on a red strap there is also a military version using ex-military fire service green hoses.

Apart from the straps and the firefighter’s helmet logo on the dial the watches follow the classic format.

Technical Specifications:

  • Swiss ETA 2824 or Japanese NH35 Automatic movement
  • Case diameter 41mm
  • Case thickness 16mm
  • Lug width 20mm
  • Water Resistant 100 metres / 10 ATM
  • 316L Stainless Steel case and metal band
  • Double domed sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective coating and blue tint
  • Rotating bezel with Super-LumiNova 12 dot
  • Super-LumiNova hands, indices and bezel 12 dot
  • Domed dial with date window and sweeping second hand
  • Crown inset made from original 1920’s British brass firefighters helmet

The watches are reasonably priced at £695 for the NH35 version or £995 for the ETA.

I am sure here might be many watch buyers that for some reason or other are not keen on the military associations of many of this type of watch on offer. These watches offer that alternative. You can discover more and buy the watches at https://williamwoodwatches.com/.