British watch company Duckworth Prestex is still in its early years, but has already successfully crossed The Pond to make a mark with American consumers.
The business recently exhibited at the Chicago Windup Watch Fair, having debuted earlier in the year at the San Francisco outing for the Worn & Wound-owned fair.
Owner Neil Duckworth revived and relaunched his version of the Prestex brand which had originally been founded by his grandfather Frank in the 1920s.
Mr Duckworth is convinced that American’s appreciate watches with a story.
“I’ve been absolutely taken aback by the reception that we’ve received from our friends in the United States. It’s fantastic to see that there’s so much passion for British watch brands such as ourselves and that people love our story,” he says.
Duckworth Prestex’s first watches drew inspiration from pre-World War II timepieces that used cushion-shaped cases, and have expanded the range using the same style.
The shape has been carried into the first family of dive watches for the brand, known as the Duckworth Prestex Belmont collection.
Like the business itself, the Belmont name comes with a back story, although it may be lost on the American public unless they have an intimate knowledge of the north of England.
“Growing up in the northwest of Bolton, just three miles from where I used to live, there was a was a well-known sailing and water sports club, surrounded by stunning countryside, next to Winter Hill,” says Mr Duckworth. “This was the Belmont Sailing club, next to the village of the same name. So when we decided to create a dive watch – a project that has been in the making for a long time – the ‘Belmont’ was an obvious choice as a tribute to those happy days, and also as a meaningful way to link the dive watch genre to our fabulous home town.”
42mm steel Belmont watches come with dials in blue, green, and orange.
They use Japanese Miyota automatic movements, protected to a depth of 300 meters.
The collection is available now on pre-order from the Duckworth Prestex website, for delivery during November 2022, priced from $1,100.