As part of the preparation for the much-anticipated British Watch and Clock Makers Show in March, we have been travelling the country interviewing UK-based watch manufacturers and getting their unique take on what makes a British watch and how they feel about the current state of play within the industry.
We were lucky to catch up remotely with the founders of Escudo Watches, Simon Correia and Richard Johnson. As is often the case, Simon and Richard created Escudo from scratch with little or no prior experience in the watch world. Both driven by a mutual love of human exploration and the historical impact Portugal had on our discovery of the world, they created a professional dive watch that would reflect all their interests. The result is the beautiful Escudo Seacrest.
Six hundred years ago, brave seafarers had access to only the most primitive navigational equipment and relied on generations of expertise. The dials on the Escudo Seacrest pay direct homage to the sextants and compasses they would have used, which makes for a fascinating and alternate take on a contemporary dive watch. In the words of Simon and Richard themselves, "these extraordinary trailblazers contributed to humanity's insatiable quest for knowledge," and what better way to pay homage to this than with a specialist dive watch?
Escudo Ocean Seacrest Chocolate Bronze - Credit WatchGecko
In our conversation, we covered the brand's inception and what inspired the two friends to enter the challenging world of watch design. We talk about our love of exploration and how this transcended into the Seacrest dive watch, which we examine in detail. Simon and Richard are honest and forthright and willingly discuss the pitfalls they encountered while designing and prototyping the watch, making it fascinating viewing. If you had ever thought about starting your own watch company, follow their advice carefully.
We analyse the use of different materials in case construction, paying special detail to the use of bronze, which appears in one of the Seacrest editions. We also look at the very essence of the March show and seek Escudo's view on essential questions such as how they define a British watch and the future of the indigenous UK watch industry.
Escudo Seacrest Silver Inox - Credit WatchGecko
Finally, we ask what is next for Escudo. You'll need to watch the video to see the result of that chat, but as you can imagine, with such driven individuals, there is already an exciting successor to the Seacrest in the works.
The inaugural Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers Show in March is a significant event in the UK and International watch calendar. Never before has so many UK watch brands met in a single space to show their collections and, unique to this event, offer for sale exceptional editions. The show is fully public access and full details can be found at the website.
Escudo are rightly proud to be exhibiting at the show and both the WatchGecko Magazine Staff and YouTube Channel film crew will be in attendance for the whole event. WatchGecko is an official press partner for the show, so if you cannot attend personally, we will have all the hottest news for you as it happens.
