The British Masters
http://www.thebritishmasters.com

The British Masters SA
Av. Leopold-Robert 23
CH - 2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds
Tel +41 32 910 90 62
Fax +41 32 910 90 66

Setting sail for new adventures!
Eric A. Loth is today the director of a company that manufactures exclusive and innovative prestigious watches of English origin. Watches that won’t let you down – neither on land nor at sea, and neither during the day nor at night. Here we recall the ups and downs of one of those rare adventures that started in the 18th century and is still going strong in the 21st. The culmination of a long voyage that has still not fully completed its expeditions and is assured of a prominent place in today’s highly-exclusive world of watchmaking.

Mastering the seas
The English have always shown a great spirit of openness – both during war and peace, and both on land and at sea. Brave and pragmatic, they have succeeded in conquering and taming the oceans. Rolling and pitching ships, howling gales, icy winds blowing in from the north, raging breakers and storm-tossed waves have never filled those awe-inspiring British sailors with fear… Gaining control of the seas is, in some respects, tantamount to gaining control of time.

But, alas, bravery isn’t everything. It frequently happened that Neptune and high-force winds played havoc with the strength of these sailors, going so far as to make them lose their minds, their sense of orientation and their lives. Sailors at times had difficulty in positioning their vessels and ran headlong into catastrophe. This lack of knowledge marked a clear barrier to the economic and military development of the country at the time. And the stars were no longer of any assistance. It was necessary to find a method whereby a ship’s position could be measured on the basis of differences in time. The watchmakers of the Kingdom of England decided to persevere until they had overcome this key hurdle.

Gaining control of time
Even though the solution took its time in coming, this passion produced a true saga, propelling master watchmakers Thomas Tompion (1639-1713), George Graham (1674-1751) and, at a later date, John Arnold (1736-1799) onto the forestage of the world of watchmaking.

Thomas Tompion, whose first precision pendulum was installed in the Greenwich Royal Observatory, George Graham with his inventions of the cylinder escapement, the mercury compensation pendulum and the first wall-mounted chronograph, and John Arnold whose naval watches were taken aboard the ships of captains James Cook and John Franklin, all made their contribution to England’s power and glory. It was thanks to these gentlemen that the fledgling watchmaking industry came into being.

George Graham had his part to play in this legendary epic. As an avant-garde genius, he embarked on his career with master watchmaker Thomas Tompion, and rapidly made a name for himself alongside his mentor. Apart from his unfaltering taste and his indisputable gift for coming up with great technical inventions, George Graham had a passion for science and created a number of instruments for his friend, astronomer Halley, including the first chronograph in history. He became famous throughout Europe, in the same way as the illustrious Abraham-Louis Breguet. And George Graham’s inventions still serve as a reference for watchmaking all over the world today.

An out-of-the ordinary competition
The scientists were going round in circles, unable to resolve the complex problem that confronted sailors on their voyages. In 1714, Queen Anne of England decided that these obstacles should at last be overcome and that research should be sped up for finding a means of calculating longitude at sea that could used for guiding ships. She suggested launching a competition for a Board of Longitude prize. The entire kingdom worked up a fever of excitement, and ideas abounded. The most learned scholars of the time applied their minds to the task and, finally, the miraculous invention surfaced from the working-class areas of the city of London. The winner of the first prize in the competition was none other than John Harrison, a protégé of George Graham, who, moreover, went on to devote his life to developing five high-precision watches.

Two kings for the watchmaking industry
Whatever status kings may enjoy, they are just people like us, and their modesty sometimes constitutes evidence of success! King George III took note of another king, John Arnold, who – even if he didn’t have blue blood running through his veins – still had a perfectly mastery of watchmaking techniques. John Arnold by far preferred his creative work and the research he conducted in his London atelier to the pomp of the court. Yet he could not refuse to share his experience and competence with the monarch. It was John Arnold who invented the detent escapement and the bimetallic and helical balance springs. And it was also John Arnold who developed the first pocket chronometer, the famous No. 36. He additionally succeeded in reproducing high-precision watches on an industrial scale. For all these feats, he was awarded the Board of Longitude prize in 1771, which enabled him to found Arnold & Son and to continue his work within his company, together with his son.

He was commissioned to equip the ships of His Britannic Majesty and of the Royal Courts of Europe. The ships of the greatest captains and even those of the East India Company would not contemplate an expedition without John Arnold’s famous naval watches on board. Ever since this time, the whole of Europe has sworn by English watchmaking.

From Greenwich to La Chaux-de-Fonds
The 18th century thus saw the birth of precision watchmaking in England. An industry which experienced prosperous times, only to more or less sink into oblivion in the 20th century. In 1995, Eric A. Loth teamed up with two watchmaking experts to create a company called Les Monts SA in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In August 2001, the company changed its name to The British Masters SA, with the bold aim of launching their "Swiss-made" collections in the world of watchmaking under the auspices of The British Masters. "Swiss-made" was a key detail, since it is in Switzerland that the full range of mechanical watchmaking technology is designed and duly venerated.

The dream shared by all three company founders was to have their own brand while reviving past glory at the same time. They thus gathered together their assets and became the owners of the biggest names in English watchmaking: Tompion, Graham, Arnold & Son, Mudge, Earnshaw and Quare.

With names such as these, it was impossible not to be represented on the British market. A fruitful partnership developed between Eric A. Loth and Sir William Asprey an eminent member of high society, who was granted exclusive distribution rights for the London market. And a good omen: the models of The British Masters made their first official appearance in August 2001 when they were presented to Princes Charles, William and Harry at the Meadow Trophy polo tournament. Eric A. Loth gave each of them a watch on this occasion in recognition of their achievements.

The British gradually came to take an interest in the watches that had been invented by their forefathers, and particularly the prestigious historical models among them. In 2001, a sale at Antiquorum in London brought British watchmakers back into the limelight

An ambitious strategy
What strategy should the company now adopt for launching its watches so as to be sure of success? Eric A. Loth solved this key question by stressing two crucial points. Firstly, the historical background had to be duly highlighted and, secondly, it was necessary to design innovative wristwatches that were of a technical nature and destined both for the luxury market and for men with a passion for mechanical watchmaking.

In view of the constraints of the European market, a gradual approach was adopted, with an initial series of products being presented at the World Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel in 1996, followed by localized assessments at professional distributors’.

Italy was the first test market to be opened up. This bore fruit, proving a major success. A number of other markets were then developed: first the United States, and then the key markets in Europe and the rest of world, including Singapore, Japan, Spain, France and, of course, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

As we informed you at the outset, The British Masters, with Eric A. Loth at the helm, is still living out and expanding on one of those rare adventures that are worthy of experiencing: a great passion!