From their base in Poole, Elliot Brown create elegant watches rugged enough to survive being mounted on a boat for 41,000 nautical miles on an 11 month circumnavigation
“There’s nothing like starting a business with the odds stacked against you,” says Ian Elliot, co-founder of Poole’s Elliot Brown watches.
But more than three years later, the company has marked its success becoming the timing partner to the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race – creating a limited edition watch worn by skippers on their circumnavigation. A watch even survived being mounted on a boat for the entire 41,000 nautical mile, 11 month circumnavigation.
Ian met future business partner Alex Brown while working at extreme sports brand Animal where they learned about every cause of watch failure.
“We met for a coffee one day and had one of ‘those’ moments where we imagined how durable a watch could be if we started with a blank sheet,” remembers Ian. “We spent two and half years working nights, obsessing over every single detail, no corner cutting, no focus groups, just a single-minded mission to build the most beautiful, most durable watches at an affordable price.”
They ditched their ‘comfort blanket’ and opened the doors of Elliot Brown in March 2013, exhibiting at the London Watch show where they won an industry award.
Since then they have carefully grown their reputation, supporting grass roots adventurers and athletes on immense journeys such as rowing the Pacific, summiting remote peaks, enduring both poles and travelling around the world in a yacht race.
Elliot Brown now produce a special edition watch with Mountain Rescue England & Wales and donate £36 for each one sold. “Putting our watches through such extremes helps us to develop new innovations - such as the protected, recessed crown on our new Tyneham automatic collection or its case hardened outer bezel that is virtually scratch proof.
“We are an island nation so we have a natural affinity with objects designed to thrive in harsh environments, be they at altitude in the height of summer or crashing through freezing waves in the dead of winter.”
More at elliotbrownwatches.com
