The Albion: One Watch, Two Directions. A British Union Jack watch.

Some watches stay very close to their original idea. Others change as you live with them.

The Albion has done a little of both. At its heart, the Albion is a watch with a very British character. The Union Jack sits at the centre of the dial, surrounded by Roman numerals and a clean, traditional layout. But getting there wasn't quite as straightforward as drawing a flag in the middle of a dial and calling it finished. Jason spent months working through the case shape before it settled. The proportions had to feel right, the dial had to sit comfortably within it and the whole thing needed to have the quiet confidence we look for in a Pinchbeck watch. It is a good example of something we talk about quite a lot in the workshop.The first idea isn't necessarily the finished watch.

The Albion

The original Albion is bold without being loud. The Union Jack gives it an immediate identity, but the rest of the watch is deliberately restrained. Roman numerals, a silver chapter ring, navy details and a classic case give it a familiar foundation. It is distinctly British without needing to explain itself. And then we wondered what would happen if we took that same design somewhere else. Not completely somewhere else. Just a little.

Albion Blue

Albion Blue came from that idea. We kept the underlying watch, but changed the balance through colour and detail. The blue gives the watch a different mood. It feels a little quieter and more relaxed, while the Union Jack remains right at the centre of it. Even the strap and stitching became part of the conversation. It is a small detail, but that's often where a watch's personality lives. Jason's design work tends to sit in that space between the familiar and the unexpected, where one small decision can change the way the whole watch feels. That's what we like about having the two together. They are clearly related, but they don't feel identical.

The same foundations

We don't want every watch to look completely different from the last. There needs to be something that makes a Pinchbeck recognisable. But we also don't want to repeat ourselves simply because something worked once. The Albion and Albion Blue sit nicely in that space.

One feels more traditional. The other brings a little more colour and a slightly different mood.

Neither is trying to be the definitive version. They are simply two ways of approaching the same idea. And that's something we enjoy about designing watches in a small workshop.

An idea can stay on the desk for a long time. It can be drawn, changed, discussed and looked at from different angles. Jason might see something one way, Rob might immediately be thinking about how it will actually work at the bench, and the conversation moves from there. Eventually, the watch has to leave the drawing. It has to become a real case, a real dial, real hands and a strap that feels right on the wrist. That's when you find out whether the idea really works.

British, but not stuck in the past

The Albion has a very obvious connection to Britain, but we never wanted that to mean simply looking backwards. That distinction matters to us. We like traditional watchmaking. We like Roman numerals. We like leather straps and familiar proportions. But we also like colour. We like changing something just enough to give a watch its own character. The Albion Blue is a good example of that. Same family. Different personality. And perhaps that's why we like seeing the two together. One watch looks back. The other takes the same story somewhere a little different. Both are built to order in our Lincoln workshop, and both eventually arrive at the same place: Rob's bench, where the drawings and discussions have to become something you can actually put on your wrist. That's the satisfying part.

A watch starts as an idea.

Then everyone gets involved.

And, eventually, it becomes an Albion.