The Great Britain
A UNIQUE PIECE ON LOAN TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
“In 2013 I had the honour of being appointed an Ambassador of the GREAT Britain campaign.”
“I created the GREAT Britain as a unique piece to celebrate British innovation and technology around the world.”
“Based on my Series 2 watch, it is best known for having perhaps the most complex dial ever made by hand and a movement which is one-of-a-kind.”
The GREAT Britain
Featuring - hours, minutes and seconds
Movement:
A unique piece - the one-of-a-kind mechanism has been designed specifically for the GREAT Britain.
- Three dimensional movement architecture
- Manually wound
- 3/4 plate with floral hand engraved raised barrel bridge, fitted with the Isle of Man’s Triskellion symbol and two applied sterling silver cartouches engraved GREAT Britain and MMXIII, both secured with blued screws
- Single wheel Daniels Co-axial escapement developed by Roger W Smith
- Free sprung balance
- 23 jewels
- Gilded and frosted hand engraved plates
- Red gold chatons and cocks
- Screws, flame blued to a purple and blue hue
Dial & Hands:
- Signed R.W. Smith and GREAT Britain
- Celebrating GREAT Britain, Roger W Smith designed a dial featuring an off-centre Union flag.
- Made from sterling silver with applied blued steel Roman numeral batons the multi-relief, three dimensional dial is comprised of some thirty-four individual parts.
Case:
- Three piece, hand made case
- Material – Platinum
- 40mm diameter
- Hand engraved - GREAT Britain
- Hallmarked in London in 2013
Strap & Buckle:
- A black leather strap with engraved R.W. Smith platinum buckle
Presentation Box:
- A hand made presentation box in English Oak with a Union Jack design to the lid, by Linley.
Great Britain
Roger’s notes
“Being invited by the Prime Minister to become an ambassador for the GREAT Britain campaign was one the highlights of my career and it made me realise that this was an incredible opportunity to raise awareness of British watchmaking. Britain has a global reputation for creating, innovating and crafting and here was a golden opportunity to showcase watchmaking within that tradition. A watch for Britain!
I set about creating a unique piece for the campaign, into which I would pour everything I had learned to that point; a watch which would say “this is what Britain can do”.
It had to exemplify, not just my approach to watchmaking, but what I believe is the new British tradition, from the dial to the movement, down to the hands and even to the presentation box.
For instance, I have a very personal aesthetic motivation when designing my movements. In particular, I’ve always avoided slimmer movements which lack strength, life and a certain spirit! This is why, from the outset, the aesthetics had to be very three-dimensional in appearance, in line with the tradition of great British watch making at its peak, some two to three hundred years ago.
That is carried through the architecture of the dial, the movement and the use of a raised barrel bridge.”
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