There has been much written about the ‘Quartz Crisis’ and it’s impact on the Swiss Watch Industry back n the 1970s and early 1980s – most of it being extremely negative. Fast-forward to the present day and there is a buzz of excitement at the Bamford Watch Department for the launch of their new Bamford Mayfair range of watches.
It is an absolute joy to spend time in the presence of George Bamford who is clearly delighted and excited about the realisation of his own range of timepieces that are both stylish and practical. They have evolved from being a ‘temporary watch’ given to BWD clients when they bring their own watches in for servicing as part of the personalised service.
The Bamford Mayfair has evolved quite literally on my wrist. When I handed my own watch in for a service and put on the ‘service watch’ I learnt very quickly how much I loved it and I did not want to take it off. I knew we had to create a watch which developed and improved the original design and it is really exciting to offer this new range of watch.” George Bamford, Founder, BWD
By calling it a ‘service watch’ does not do it any justice at all – it feels solid – the right weight, the right size (40mm) and design. Now for the slightly controversial part – it has a quartz movement (Miyota 2035). However, George argues that the quartz revolution changed the watch industry forever and even Rolex and Patek produced quartz versions.
In fact if you go back to the invention of the ‘Deadbeat Escapement’ in 1675 by astronomer Richard Towneley (it was first used by Thomas Tompion in a clock built for Sir Jonas Moore, and in the two precision regulators he made for the new Greenwich Observatory in 1676), it resulted in the most accurate clocks that featured a ‘jump’ second hand – that moved just like a quartz watch does today. It was also interesting to see in 2016, that A. Lange & Söhne produced their own ‘jumping seconds’ timepiece, the Richard Lange Jumping Seconds.
Also, George argues that quartz watches are some of the most accurate timepieces compared to their mechanical cousins. They are available online at MRPORTER and directly from BWD. The unique online customiser allows clients to make their own unique Bamford Mayfair.
It seems that the Bamford Mayfair shows that there is a time and a place for quartz.