About Us
Scotland Watch Company was founded in 2020 by Tomek Borkowy, an Edinburgh based actor director, producer and fully Scotticised Polish horologist.
The Beginnings
For many years, Tomek collected pocket watches and noticed that a lot of them had lost their original silver and gold cases sold for their scrap value. He heard that some watch enthusiasts were using the discarded movements to create marriage watches – installing antique pocket watch movements into individually manufactured wristwatch cases. He followed the idea, and designed and produced his own wristwatch cases for large movements that he had collected and renovated, such as Hebdomas and chronographs like Le Phare.
In 2017 in his native Poland he was appointed ambassador for the annual Watch Exposition “It’s All About Watches”. He noticed a big growth in watch microbrands in Poland, and decided to create a new Scottish watch company.
He asked his friend, Scottish horologist Colin Graham to join him, and Scotland Watch Company was born. Covid delayed development and production of the Saltire Collection for over 2 years, but now our watches are available. The Collection has taken orders from across Scotland as well as North America, Australia and Europe, and we have already begun plans for our next limited-edition of Scotland-themed watches.
SCOTTISH HOROLOGICAL HERITAGE
We produce Scottish themed watches but are keen also to focus attention on the long history of clock and watchmaking in Scotland.
From the mid 15th century Scottish Clock Masters were instating tower clocks in all large towns in Scotland.
In the 16th 17th century, Edinburgh’s Clock Makers Land in the West Bow became a thriving centre where innovative clock and watch masters worked and educated apprentices. The most famous of the era was David Ramsay, born in 1585 who became clockmaker to James VII of Scotland and I of England, and later to Charles I of England.
There were a number of very distinguished Scottish famous masters such as James Cowan, George Munro, Thomas Gordon or Paul Roumieu mention a few, all were praised for their craftsmanship and the quality of time pieces the were producing. In the Victorian era another Scottish watch master James Muirhead was Watchmaker to the Queen.
For centuries, Scottish clock and watch masters were advancing horological progress without patenting their innovations and inventions. They believed that an invention belonged to its original inventor. However, many of their innovations were adopted and then often patented by horologists in England and Europe.
In 1914, two Scottish submarine officers designed the first watertight wristwatch. It was produced in 1915 with a Swiss Tavannes movement by Edinburgh jewellers Brook & Son under the name of Submarine. Three years later high society London jeweller, Birch & Gaydon launched the same watch design but manufactured by Zenith under the name Land & Water. There are many more stories of this kind.
SOSHUL MEEJAH