Watch Dandy

Most vintage watch and military ephemera collectors will know the name “Vertex” from the brand’s history on the wrists of British soldiers in World War II. Vertex was one of the so-called “Dirty Dozen,” the 12 companies that built and supplied watches to the specifications of the U.K. Ministry of Defense. Arthur covered these watches in an article last year, so I’ll leave the explanation at that. Vertex’s history both goes back further and continued long after World War II, before it finally folded under the pressure of the so-called Quartz Crisis. But now Vertex is back.

The London School Of Economics – one of the most famous academic institutions in the world – has a watch club. How cool is that? The club was formed this year by three friends with a common passion for watches, and it aims to bring together fellow enthusiasts to engage with members of the industry. We met a couple of the students back in December, and were thrilled to be asked to inaugurate a series of talks that will take place on campus this year. Here’s a look at some of the watches I spotted Wednesday night at my talk.

Finding a good watchmaker to take care of your favorite vintage Submariner is tough. Finding a good clockmaker to lovingly restore an 18th-century clock with chiming bird automata and delicate gold leaf finish is something else entirely. But luckily for us, the folks at Atlas Obscura discovered one such person, clockmaker Nico Cox, and asked her for insights into her nearly-forgotten craft.