I met the effervescent George Bamford, who runs Bamford Watch Department, at Baselworld a couple of years ago. The London-based company was not a familiar one. But considering he was sharing the stage with Jean-Claude Biver, then president of Louis Vuitton’s watchmaking division and CEO of TAG Heuer, to announce a new partnership, it had to be important. Thus began my introduction to watch customisation.
As Bamford explained to finance website, This is Money, “Everyone has their own personal style now. People walk through this door [at BWD] with killer trainers or Berluti shoes — why doesn’t the watch world do that? Do you want to conform or be your own person?” The 37-year-old scion of multinational corporation JCB (JC Bamford Excavators Limited, the leading manufacturers of heavy construction machines) first got the idea when he noticed that many of the men he bumped into at social events wore the same watch as him, a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. So he went to JCB’s R&D department and used a black coating intended for drill bits on his watch. It has since become a signature of his company.
At BWD, you can customise pretty much any timepiece. A fan of Steve McQueen in Le Mans? Amp up your TAG Heuer Monaco with multiple colour options for the dial, logo, minute-markers, batons, even the coating. Most recently, they did a quirky update for Sir Elton John — the musician customised 10 Franck Muller watches with a swirl design and an Elton second hand.
Imagination is the limit
Across the English Channel, MAD Paris personalises pre-owned prestige timepieces — from Rolex DateJusts to Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks — reworking dials, designs and coatings. Reportedly, they ‘blacked out’ fashion designer Virgil Abloh’s Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726 recently, disassembling it, coating every inch in diamond-like carbon and adding quotation marks around the brand’s name. Their worldwide network of retailers, across cities like Beijing, Singapore, Dubai and New York, see quite a lot of traffic.
Then there is Artisans de Genève in Switzerland. They undertake modifications on demand, creating limited editions of renowned brands. Earlier this year, they brought out their 15-piece ‘Tribute to 6240 Tropical’, an homage to the Rolex Daytona 6240. Using an oxidation process they perfected over several years, they not only gave the watches a uniform amber patina, but also sent it to the Bahamas to ‘mature’ in the tropical weather.
- Changing the watch strap is an easy way to customise. While some high-end brands like Vacheron Constantin offer options for a few models, Atelier du Bracelet Parisien goes a step further. They offer handmade straps for brands like Rolex, Cartier, Panerai, Omega, and even connected watches like Apple. Customers can choose from leather (alligator, ostrich), fabric (nylon, cordura), rubber or modern finish (nato, perlon), besides customising the colour, stitching and buckle options. From ₹12,000 onwards.
Money matters
While a few brands like Bulgari, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Baume are tapping the trend, offering customisable options for certain lines, there’s plenty of room for outsiders like Artisans de Genève, Blaken (which told the newspaper South China Morning Post that it expects to personalise 700 watches next year, a jump from its 500-piece run now). However, customisation is not for everyone — original warranties lapse once the timepieces are altered (though boutiques like BWD offer their own), and the updated watches come with hefty price tags. MAD Paris’ modified Rolex Sapphire Rainbow Daytona can set you back an extra ₹58,74,000.
“Though there is a growing market for customised high-end timepieces, the fact that the same Rolex costs double after customisation hurts,” says Raja Venkatraman, a businessman and watch enthusiast from Coimbatore. “Also the fact that a customised piece loses its worldwide warranty (of the original company) puts a collector in a difficult spot, particularly in a country like India. Even if they don’t have a service centre here, they should have a collection centre, in case a need arises.”
Impossible is nothing
George Bamford on standing out
How has customisation evolved?
We’re all striving to find that true luxury item in a mass-market, and I feel that personalisation is one way to find the same. Clients approach us through our website where they can design their ultimate watch using our customiser tool or they book an appointment at our Hive office in London or visit one of our dealers around the world. Sometimes the simplest designs are the best, such as changes on date wheels or matching colours from racing silks to car colours.
What brands are you actively working with?
We are working with TAG Heuer, Zenith and Bvlgari and we are in discussions with more. It is really exciting and shows how the watch industry is embracing customisation.
Who are your customers?
I can’t reveal that, but we are lucky to have clients who ask us to push the boundaries, and put our ‘if you can imagine it, we can create it’ motto to the test. We get requests from all over the world, and that is why I’m constantly travelling.