British Watchmakers’ Day from the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers is coming up fast, March 8th. So brands who are attending have started to reveal the exclusive BWD limited edition watches that will be exclusively available at the event. Each is a cool special edition with a link to UK design and artistry, like the Beaucroft x Penfold. Fellow British brand Isotope have shared a sneak peak at their plans, the Mercury BWD Cloisonné and Micro Marquetry.
At time of writing the watches are still being produced, so there are no finalised photos of the complete watches. However, Isotope’s co-founder Jose Miranda is so excited by the project he has shared some work in progress images of the dials and concept art. And he’s right to be excited because for British Watchmakers’ Day 2025 Isotope is taking on the Metiers d’Art. Metiers d’Art is the term applied to rare and beautiful decorate arts used on the dial of a watch. Enamelling, marquetry, sculpture, guilloché, engraving, miniature painting are all disciplines that fall under this term.
The first of the two special editions is the Isotope Mercury BWD Cloisonné. Cloisonné is a type of enamel that uses fine gold wire to create shapes in the dial, allowing different colours to sit side by side without blending into each other. It works really well on the stylised Union Jack design, which was created by British artist Sophie Scott-Lewis. Enamel dials are incredibly difficult to produce and so each of the five dials (both special editions are limited to five pieces) were crafted by a master enameller from Beijing.
Second up is the Mercury BWD Micro Marquetry. Marquetry is a technique that uses dyed wood or straw to create geometric patterns and here Isotope have opted for a delicate straw marquetry to realise Sophie’s other Union Jack design. It’s crafted in Paris in the atelier of Bernardo d’Orey, who also created the marquetry boxes both special editions are supplied in.
Both editions feature the Isotope Mercury case in mirror polished steel, measuring 38mm x 10mm. Inside is the Calibre I-7 assembled by Landeron, based on the ETA Peseux 7001, with 42-hour power reserve. The dials look great and the concept of British designed Metiers d’Art is an attractive one. I can’t wait to see the final assembled models at the Watchmakers’ Day. If you are planning to attend and pick one up, the Isotope Mercury BWD Cloisonné is £4,900 and the Micro Marquetry is £4,700. Also come and say hi because Oracle Time will be exhibiting at the event too.
Price and Specs:
More details at Isotope.
Hmm, I’m going to be controversial here.
Sorry to be picky, but the major constituents of a watch are the case, the dial and of course the movement. (not forgetting the other crucial components being the hands).
So, the dials on these two versions of the so called “British” watches from Isotope, are sourced from either Beijing or Paris, so last time I looked at map, these are outside of the UK, as is the country of origin for the movement (being a Landeron movement this also not made in Britain). So, not really British watches, but assembled in Britain.
I have a beautiful James McCabe watch, but at least it states on the dial “assembled in the UK”. Not “made in Britain”.
I guess it must come down to the percentage of parts that are actually made in Britain to be able to meet the title of being made in Britain. – yes, I know that most watch movements are made outside the UK, but this watch is surely pushing the boundaries in terms of being British, or is it really just designed or conceptualised in Britain so meets the criteria of the upcoming event.
Couldn’t agree more. A quick search on AliExpress shows Chinese Cloisonne items for not many pounds.
Perhaps the term “British watch designs made by foreign artisans” is a better name for the show?
I looked up Sophie, who has a website and she is a professional watch painter. Initially given the above, I thought I’d see lots of interesting dials. Actually, her skill is in portait painting the watch itself … i.e. I’ve purchased a ROLEX, somebody paint a picture of it so I can hang it on my wall. The foray into dial design is a new thing.