In a nutshell, William Wood is a British luxury watch brand that upcycles firefighting materials into unique luxury watches.
Founder Jonny Garrett was inspired to create William Wood Watches in memory of his heroic firefighting grandfather and a percentage of sales are donated to firefighting charities.
Each watch contains a piece of firefighting heritage – part of a 1920s London Fire Brigade brass helmet is melted into every crown and the straps for each collection are made from hand-cut British fire hose that has served and protected the UK Fire and Rescue Service for over a decade, and you can still smell the rich smokiness in the red, yellow, blue or cargo green rubber! The latter being British Military fire hose donated by the British Armed Forces’ Defence Fire and Rescue Unit.
Jonny’s vision is to become the leading British luxury watch brand that upcycles firefighting materials for a new life whilst giving back to good causes.
“We are proud to say that any customer who wears a William Wood watch is wearing a real piece of firefighting history. We have certainly come a long way since jumping on our flight to Baselworld in Switzerland with our watch drawings in hand, and a tenacity to create a recognised best of British business.”
Back in 2016, he founded William Wood Watches in honour of firefighters everywhere and one in particular – his late grandfather, William Wood, who was a decorated firefighter for 25 years, winning commendations for his acts of bravery.
With customers in more than 50 countries, William Wood combines traditional British design with world-renowned Swiss and Japanese movements.
They have plans afoot to convert a closed British fire station into their showroom and flagship store The William Wood logo represents the side profile of a 1920s British firefighter’s helmet in dedication to Jonny’s brave grandfather and the years of courage he showed.
There are three limited edition collections and a fourth due to be launched in March this year. The first three collections include the dress watch range called Chivalrous and the diving range called the Valiant and heritage range called the Bronze.
Valiant is a collection of six stainless steel automatic dive watches, featuring the
famous straps and a host of unique features. It comes in a range of six colours which take inspiration from the different watch colours of the UK Fire and Rescue Service (Red Watch, White Watch, Blue Watch and Green Watch, plus Rose Watch and Black Watch). The 12 o’clock indices represent the two collar markings on the lapel of a UK Fire and Rescue Service Crew Manager. Printed around the perimeter of the dial are the chequered markings from the side of a British Fire Engine. The sweeping second hand takes inspiration from the chime inside a vintage fire bell and the double domed sapphire crystal glass is tinted blue as a tribute to William Wood’s tenure on the blue watch. And the turning bezel traditionally used by divers for oxygen capacity can be used for a firefighter’s oxygen tank. Super-LumiNova on the indices, hands and bezel means you can follow the time no matter how dark an environment, and this premium timepiece is water-resistant up to 100m. It comes with a choice of either Swiss Sellita SW200 Automatic or Japan Seiko NH35 Automatic Movement. There are six different watch straps to choose from.
