We set out to address a specific design challenge for this year's British Watchmakers Day: celebrate modern British watchmaking while remaining faithful to Timor’s long-standing focus on functional, mid-century tool watches. Our approach was not to produce a commemorative object, but a watch that could exist naturally within our catalogue while expressing its purpose through considered design choices. As with all Timor watches, the design was developed entirely in Great Britain, and manufactured in Switzerland.
The dial architecture draws heavily from the practical clarity of 1940s field and service watches. Proportions are deliberately restrained, with a strong hierarchy between hours, minutes, and seconds, and a layout that prioritises immediate legibility over decoration. The small-seconds sub-dial is a period-correct convention from mid-century military and civilian instruments. It was chosen for its functional separation of information and visual balance, and one we have long admired for its quiet technical character. Rather than reproducing any single historical reference, the dial combines these established principles into a composition that feels authentic to the era we wanted to capture.
This architecture led directly to the development of an entirely new typeface. The primary hour numerals are based on the simple, utilitarian forms commonly found on 1940s and 1950s field watches, but subtly refined with micro-serifs inspired by the small printed numerals of the period. These fine terminals are not decorative; they improve definition at small sizes and echo the constraints of traditional dial printing, giving the numerals both visual stability and historical credibility. For the minute and seconds track, we designed a bespoke variation of DIN 1451, adapted for circular application and high-contrast reading at a glance. We've marked the dial with “Designed in Great Britain”, set in Gill Sans.
The colour palette is rooted in the Union Jack, using red, white, and deep navy as its foundation, but is softened by the introduction of a lighter blue drawn from the 2012 Team GB Olympic uniform, designed by Stella McCartney. It provides contrast against the white numerals and introduces a subtle modern accent without disrupting the restraint of the overall design. The result is a dial that feels unmistakably British without resorting to overt symbolism. Finaly a black on navy banner reads "Designed in Great Britain". This is only visible on close inspection.
Produced in very small numbers exclusively for British Watchmakers’ Day 2026, this edition is intended as a focused statement of Timor’s design values: functional, historically literate, and quietly confident in its origin. The Heritage Field BWD will £1699 and come with both our vegitble tan leather strap and beadblasted stainless steel bracelet. To get yours, visit us at British Watchmakers’ Day in London, 7th March.