Friday 9 September 2016

MHD Watches - Retro style made in the UK

What do you do in your spare time when your day job is designing sports cars? You design your own brand of wristwatches, of course.

Ideal for nipping off to buy a couple of bottles of champagne

That’s exactly what Matthew Humphries does. Humphries, the former design chief at Morgan, where he was responsible for the shape of the Aeromax and the breathtakingly desirable 3-Wheeler (our Editor can spend hours sighing in front of one until some good Samaritan reminds him he’s skint - and that he’s also in the way). After stepping down from that post, he opened his own automotive design consultancy firm and, as he obviously had a bit of spare time on his hands, decided to design wristwatches under the MHD Watches name.


Optional Milanese Loop straps give an alternative type of retro chic

To date, MHD Watches have a range of two models declined in various finishes: the SQ1 and the CR1 (this one having a chrono function), which are both designed and manufactured in-house in the UK. Both watches have a very Seventies-flavour design heavily influenced by the body shapes and interiors of sports cars of that vintage. The ellipsoid cases are made of brushed stainless steel, contain a Miyota quartz movement and, at 42mm diameter and 11mm depth, are just the right size - neither too small nor too big. Dials come in either black or white and are on the right side of minimalist. The leather straps hark back to the drilled spokes on 1970s sports car steering wheels, although other strap options exist. Both watches are sporty enough to be worn with a scruffy pair of jeans and a t-shirt while fettling your vintage car or bike, yet elegant enough to be worn with a suit in much more formal environments.


Prices are at around £250 (295 €) for the CR1 and £210 (248 €) for the SQ1, but these are both limited edition watches with a production run of 500 units (CR1) and 300 units (SQ1) respectively, so if you're looking for a watch to reflects your love of classic sports cars and sports bikes, hurry up to get yours, because these little beauties are going to get snapped up double-quick time.

Try not to forget your MHD CR1 under the bonnet of the Jag, what!


Photography: MHD Watches

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