The No.253 is our most complex design to date. Based on the wheel of a steam train, it is designed as an homage to the Victorian age of ingenuity and invention.
Camden was once a hive of railway activity, receiving goods from the empire and distributing them via canal boats and steam trains all over the country.
This became the focus for designing the key feature of the dial, the raised index platform. We took our inspiration from what is arguably one of the most overlooked yet beautiful elements on a steam train, the wheel.
We added luminous indexes, triangular studs and stencil numbers to the platform that both lend a robustness to the design. Much like on Victorian steam trains, the design had to be practical, but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t also be beautiful.
The platform sits on a background embellished with a square motif and is surrounded by a dial ring to reinforce the industrial design.
The Victorian period was a time of great invention for the British, including such inventions as paddle steamships, tarmac, the penny-farthing bicycle and London’s very own underground railway system - more commonly know as the ‘Tube’.
We wanted a watch that reflected this, so we worked hard on shaping a case that was complex and interesting while still retaining a look of understated style.
We used a screw down case back with integrated lugs, which houses the main case. The main case is then in turn split into to sections, the body and the bezel, which allows us to achieve a high level of polishing and brushing on each separate element.
As a final flourish, the lugs are adorned with screws that a touch of industrial grit.
