Just a few days ago we were in London and met George Bamford, founder of Bamford Watch Department, whose main activity revolves around the customisation of watches, mainly Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.

For George Bamford the notion of luxury as we know it is dead, having plenty of people with the same watch doesn't make you in any way special. The key now is in the notion of individuality and how you express it and this was the initial motivation into making what started as a personal project into a real business. He started by using coating techniques that were available at the time, such as DLC and PVD, but he has now invested considerable ressources into developing their own techniques using military grade technologies, such a graphite and titanium coatings. But the customisation doesn't stop here, as you can modify practically anything on the watch; hands, dials, special engraving... Never the less, Bamford Watch Department will never touch the mechanism itself, as George Bamford believes that is where the soul of the watch lies and shouldn't be messed around with. Could also be that that would open the door to some serious after sale service issues!!!

Anyhow, he presented us his new office nicknamed the "Hive", a great 5-story building in the very center of Mayfair, the fancy and chic neighbourhood of London. You will now find two special client rooms where you can plan your desired customisation, but it also regroups their own service center, a Research & Development department, as well as a design studio. So a rather impressive outfit for this business that started almost 13 years ago proving that George Bamford knows where he is going.