Let me start by saying the headline is paraphrasing master watchmaker, and OBE, Roger Smith, and a contraction of two statements. The first is that Britain “had a great history [in watchmaking], and we squandered it.” The second is his statement that “for a couple of hundred years, we had world dominance.” Assuming that you forgive me, we can continue with this very interesting development. Which is the formation of the British Alliance of Watch and Clockmakers, which had already amassed 30 trade members at the time of this interview, late last year. What’s the backstory here? What has led to the formation of the Alliance? I’ve noticed over the last 10 to 12 years, there’s just been a steady increase in people who are entering into this sector and I’ve been thinking about this for many, many years and realising that things were going on and that perhaps we all needed to get together and start sharing our ideas and trying to build this fascinating industry. And I bumped into Mike France, about two years ago at a Salon QP Events, which is held in the Saatchi gallery in London. Really, we felt that there was something bubbling away…
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