The first new English watch in nearly half a century has been in development for 25 years. One man has been following the story since the early years; now he charts the various paths that led to the first wristwatch ever to bear the name of Charles Frodsham

By James Dowling

There hasn’t been a mechanical wristwatch made in Englance since Smith?s closed its factory half a century ago (geographical pedants know that the Isle of Man is not in England) so when Charles Frodsham introduced its new Double Chronometer Escapement watch earlier this year, it marked the return of watchmaking to the country which played the most important part in its development.
I have known the guys behind Frodsham for over a quarter-century, but that is a mere blink of an eye compared to the 184 years since Charles Frodsham founded the firm and 175 years since they became England?s premier maker of chronometers after purchasing the firm of John Roger Arnold. The Victorian era was one of consolidation among the great English watch and clock makers and by the end of the 19th century, there were just two great firms trading in London ? Dent and Frodsham. Dent built the clock in the tower of Pugin?s new Houses of Parliament, while Frodsham built chronometers for the Royal Navy and regulators for astronomical observatories around the world. The first Frodsham prototype watch
Through two world wars (including being bombed out of their premises in 1941) and the austerity following them, the fi...