British Horological Institute - The Horological Journal

If you keep up with the movements of the horological world in Britain, you may have heard of the British Horological Institute and their monthly magazine, The Horological Journal.

British Horological Institute, the world’s oldest scientific organization preserving the art of watchmaking, has been publishing the oldest horological monthly. The first issue of the Horological Journal appeared in September 1858. Since then, like clockwork, it has been published monthly for 165 years. Scotland Watch Company and our Saltire Collection was mentioned in the July edition.

So, it should be no surprise to hear how thrilled we are for Scotland Watch Company to get a mention in the July 2023 edition of The HJ.

For those who missed it, we have scanned in a copy for you to read here:

Transcript:

Our final meeting of the season was a presentation by two Branch members, Tomek Borkowy and Colin Graham. Together, along with a third partner, they have established the Scotland Watch Company, www.scotlandwatchco.scot. Their aim is to make a range of classic watches with a Scottish theme.

The nature of what is 'Scottish' is challenging to define. Just a few hundred metres in any direction from our meeting venue in central Endinburgh you are bombarded with 'Scottish' tat, Scottie dogs with tartan coats and tartan tam O'Shanter hats with built-in ginger wigs being typical. We could debate all day if this is what is produced to meet demand or a Victoriran marketing idea taken to extremes. Either way we can relax, as this is far from the Scotland Watch Company's product concept.

The three designs currently being produced draw from more natural phenomena, with a hint of the Saltire flag and a nod to the national flower and musical instrument associated with our fine land. The initial watches are designed around Seiko movements and cased in China. The dials are hand painted and one of the strap options is made from leather-backed Scottish Tweed.

Ambition is not short on the ground as they have a strong desire to move some aspects of later model production to Scotland, with more locally-made content. They want to establish an education programme to entice youngsters into horology. This, in turn, requires training places, apprenticeships and a realistic chance of making a living. Ambitious indeed, but horology does need new blood and we wish them well.

We were able to see prototype pieces and limited production is underway. Finance is being generated by crowdfunding for those who want to acquire one at an early bird discount. I, for one, will keenly follow their progress over the next few years.

- Richard Thomson