The Business With Individualized and Unique Watches: Bamford, Blaken & Co

By Montredo in Lifestyle
March 4, 2020
The Business With Individualized and Unique Watches: Bamford, Blaken & Co

At the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is self-actualization, closely followed by individual needs such as esteem and belonging. Of course, for many people, buying a Rolex is also a way of showing off their own success, and this connotation can be difficult to avoid. But what about self-actualization?


Blaken: Black Watches From the Sauerland

At least that was the question Hendrik Jürgens and Sören Spreng asked themselves when they founded Blaken GmbH in 2011. The company, based in the Sauerland region of Germany, focuses on the refinement and customization of luxury watches. In particular, Rolex evergreens such as Daytona, Submariner and Co are gladly brought by demanding customers, but brands such as Omega or Patek Philippe are also no problem for the “watch tuners” from Menden.

Blaken Rolex
18.400€ left, 12.900€ right. © Blaken

In a society that increasingly craves the individual, custom-made watches are now in vogue. Especially processes such as DLC (Diamond-like-Carbon) coating, which coats the watch with a 2 micrometre thick carbon layer in a complex process, is considered the supreme discipline of the company.
In addition, there are virtually no limits to the creativity shown by customers: from a dyed second hand, to insignia on the dial, to gem-setting, nothing is too far-fetched to be implemented.

If Blaken is to be believed, the average customer already owns seven watches. So, before the potential eighth watch becomes a “generic Rolex” on the wrist, it is advisable to consult Blaken regarding what is actually possible in terms of customization. Today, the company is under the management of Alexander Klingbeil, who has already worked for industry giants such as Richard Mille and Greubel Forsey, and therefore knows the world of luxury watches like the back of his hand.

Tim Raue with his Blaken Explorer © BL Verlag AG

The price starts at around 4000 Euro and there are of course no limits to the price. However, with prominent customers from the Porsche family, Michelin star chef Tim Raue or footballers such as Sergio Ramos or Franck Ribéry,
this is rather irrelevant anyway.


Pioneer from England: Bamford Watch Department

Perhaps more well known than Blaken (which, by the way, is the Low German word for “smoking, or soot”), is the Bamford Watch Department,
or Bamford for short. Behind this company is George Bamford,
whose founding history is almost too good to be true.

The short version: Bamford receives a Rolex Daytona for his 18th birthday,
but quickly finds that he is certainly not alone in this.
After some experimentation, he succeeds in applying a black DLC layer to the watch, which attracts a lot of attention during his holidays in the south of France. Bamford returns to his home country with 25 pre-orders. Et voilà, the rest is history.  

Pierre Biver, for example, is a big Bamford fan. Read more here.

But not everything was always as rosy as it might first sound. As an antichrist in the watch industry, George Bamford was initially a thorn in the side of many, however watch luminary Jean-Claude Biver, former head of the LVMH watch division, recognized the potential. As a result, Bamford was chosen as the official “customizer” of Bulgari, TAG Heuer and Zenith in 2017. The long-awaited accolade was finally at hand.


Artisans De Genève: a submariner for Pirlo

In addition to Germany and England, Switzerland also has Artisans De Genève to offer, a well-known watch modifier that takes things to a whole other level. While Blaken and Bamford focus on purely aesthetic changes, the latter also modifies the actual mechanics of the watch.

A skeleton Submariner from Geneva © Artisans De Genève

A perfect example of this is the Rolex Daytona, designed in honour of Andrea Pirlo. In the course of the “Andrea Pirlo Project” it was not only skeletonized, but also equipped with a new rotor, a carbon fiber bezel and red gold hands.


A Rolex with tourbillon?

Things get even crazier with the timekeepers of “Les Gardiens du Temps”, who are behind the Label Noir brand. They have actually managed to integrate a fully functional tourbillon into the calibre 3131 of the Rolex Milgauss. What for many (Rolex) watch fans is tantamount to blasphemy,
for others it is a source of delight.

The first Tourbillon Rolex ever.
MSRP: 125,000 CHF. © Label Noir


Unique Watches (Still) With a Shadowy Existence

Even if companies like Bamford and Blaken are true success stories, it can by no means be said that DLC-story watches with individualized engravings, logos, designs, etc., have truly arrived in the watch mainstream. The reasons are certainly manifold:

  • Price:
    The whole endeavor is certainly not cheap. An example of the Blaken-Submariner shows that in addition to the RRP of €7,350, you would also be required to reinvest more than 100% of the total cost back, in order to call the black facelift your own. Most people would simply prefer to buy a whole new watch directly.
  • Necessity:
    For most potential customers, the watches are already perfect when they arrive from the factory. So why change a perfect watch optically or technically again?
  • Recognition & Status:
    Even if many do not care to admit it, the prestige aspect of an aformentioned expensive watch always plays a certain role. This can be less true if you already own seven watches in your collection, but for your first big luxury watch purchase, it must understandably be the “real deal” for the average Joe.

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