re-launch

ToweringBy Ken Kessler Plans Dent & Co., the maker of london’s , has big plans for this prominent name in British chronometry, including developing its own movement

f ever the watch industry ership, and the new owners have company built the most famous begged for a neologism, one every intention of restoring Dent’s on the planet: Big Ben. Ihorological practice needing undeniable prestige. One of them a fresh tag is the often-dubious put it succinctly: “Dent will rein- History lesson ploy of breathing life into dead or force its position as part of the fab- Big Ben’s status—a true icon rep- dormant brands. “Chronovivifica- ric of the establishment. Ermine resenting the British Empire—is tion”? “Chronosuscitation”? You of course.” so profound that it has all-but-ob- get the idea: this technique has Although things have been scured Dent’s role. But secure in a been used and abused for a couple quiet on the Dent front, it’s been history full of such achievements, of decades, with some of the re- here all along, but as a well-kept and possessing a reputation plac- appearances so spurious that you secret since WWII, producing ing it amongst the greatest of all have to marvel at Swiss chutzpah. only a few highly desirable watch and clockmakers, Dent & It deserves a name. for well-heeled collectors. That is Co doesn’t even need its name on One comeback brand that about to change. the dial. That its place in the pan- won’t suffer accusations of bogus Although less famous than theon of the great houses should heritage is Dent & Co. Unlike John Harrison or other British be defined by a single clock is a most of the (for lack of a better names, Dent is probably the most mere twist of fate. word) zombies currently selling important and certainly the most Edward John Dent, the found- faux legacies—Dent has never prestigious. If for no other reason er of the dynasty, was born in 1790 been out of business. The new re- than one of its commissions, Dent and as a youth was apprenticed gime is simply a change of own- is known to many because the to a tallow-chandler, a pursuit

118 www.iwmagazine.com aPRiL 2007INTERNATIONAL WATCH he hated. He remedied this by of some of his designs for unusual studying watchmaking while liv- chronometers, their novel details ing with a married couple. The the result of his experiments with husband, Richard Rippon was a balances and glass hairsprings, as watchmaker, and upon his death, well as a number of astronomical Dent married his widow; Dent’s clocks incorporating the ideas of two stepsons took his surname. Sir , the As- During this period, Dent tronomer Royal. (Dent would Towering learned about repeaters and chro- later be involved with Airy during nometers, excelling during the the production of Big Ben.) period of 1815 to 1829, when he In February 1852, E. J. Dent worked for Vulliamy & Son. In had been given the order to man- 1829, he further demonstrated ufacture the great clock for the his proficiency by creating a chro- Houses of Parliament, designed Plans nometer action that incorporated by Edmund Becket Denison (later an improved method of reducing Lord Grimthorpe), which would be the timing errors caused by fluc- known, erroneously, as “Big Ben” tuations in temperature. by future generations. A prototype A year later, Dent gladly en- of its Denison-devised gravity es- tered into a partnership with an- capement had been built and tried other legend, John Roger Arnold, successfully in a trial clock that is one of London’s leading chronom- now believed to be in use as the eter-makers; the pair called this church clock at St. Dunstan’s in venture Arnold & Dent. Now Cranbrook, Kent. Unfortunately, Dent could realize the production E.J. Dent passed away in 1853, so

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it was left to his successors, step- sons Frederick William Dent and Richard Edward Dent, to complete the project. The business was left to both his stepsons on condition that the business continued with the same name. Frederick (allegedly not an en- thusiastic clockmaker) took over the Strand & Royal Exchange shops, and the Clock and Com- pass factory in Savoy Street. He also succeeded to E.J. Dent’s Royal Appointment. His acquisition of the Big Ben contract was neither straightforward nor automatic: although the manufacture of the clock had been under way for some time, it was only after both legal and technical dispute that he was eventually allowed to proceed. Without wishing to suggest that the development of Big Ben was cursed, neither E.J. Dent nor architect Augustus Pugin lived to see it in situ, and Frederick only succeeded the clock’s debut by a year. It had been completed in Big Ben, see from inside its tower, is one of numerous Dent public clocks. 1854, but ran under test in the Dent workshops until the Tower manufacture of the Great Clock at Frederick Dent, in addition at Westminster was able to accept Westminster, slid into alcoholism, to completing the work on Big it in May 1859. dying on April 25, 1860. Ben, also constructed a special Richard took over the Cock- Several lawsuits followed. design of chronograph, used to spur Street shop and received Elizabeth Dent took over the determine the time of Transits, £10,000 towards stock. He married business and she, too, inherited for the Royal Observatory at Marianna Fredericka Cowslade in the Royal Appointment, although Greenwich, as well as the Stan- 1850, whose initials were applied to it was still legally in the name of dard Astronomical Clock for the that branch of the company, known Frederick and was so published in Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. as M.F. Dent. Meanwhile, Frederick official journals. In 1864, the firm Frederick also made a turret clock Dent and his wife prospered until adopted her initials into its busi- for the Palace of Balmoral in 1857 1858, when she suddenly became ness style, becoming “E. Dent & that indicated time on four dials, ill, dying at the age of only 46. Fred- Co. Watch & Chronometer Mak- each 6 feet in diameter. erick, mourning his wife and beset ers, To Her Majesty and H.R.H. Elizabeth Dent was granted with the troubles involving the The Prince of Wales.” the contract to maintain Big

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Frank Spurrell and Twysden Moore cial Times, Frank has also worked bought Dent in 2006. Below are with watch brands as diverse as several new Dent designs, set for Bell & Ross, Ulysse Nardin, Rog- debut this fall. er Dubuis, Jorg Hysek, BRM, and Victorinox Swiss Army. As the best tales always go, he learned of Dent by accident. Re- laxing one weekend with a dusty, century-old tome about the landed gentry, he happened upon an adver-

Ben, which continued until 1971. back, the watch This bestowed upon her the title industry turned to of “The Queen’s Most Excellent reviving count- Majesty, The First Commissioner less prestigious but of Her Majesty’s Public Works dormant names. and Buildings and Elizabeth One of the richest Dent,” a major achievement for veins has been that a woman in a male-dominated of the British makers, field and society. most of which had con- Into the 20th Century, Dent tributed developments continued to service the run- in watchmaking’s early ning of Big Ben, and its Marine days on a scale unmatched Chronometers, deck and hack by any other nation’s. And watches commissioned to serve yet the greatest of them all, with the Royal Navy did so until Dent, had resisted rebirth until tisement for Dent watches in the 1920, when those that had not a wholly sympathetic proprietor back of the volume. Because the ad been lost at sea were decommis- could be found. attested to a range of remarkable sioned or sold. Additionally, the Frank Spurrell, sales & mar- achievements, he was baffled that British Army commissioned Dent keting director of the new Dent this brand hadn’t been revived—or to make the British Army watch, & Co., has started the ball rolling. was so low key —given that there which became the template by He has specialized in media and had been a rush to resuscitate far which all other British Army marketing in the luxury goods and less worthy houses. watches should be made. sports sectors, both globally and in Learning of its then-current the UK, but for the last six years, status, Frank discovered that Newest Dent he has focused on the watch indus- Dent’s owner wanted to ensure During the last quarter of the try. A founding director of Watch that the ethos of the company Twentieth Century, with mechan- magazine and a writer and trend was maintained. As a result of this ical watches subject to a come- commentator for GQ and Finan- desire to ensure the Dent name

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would be honored, he turned Acutely aware of watch enthu- down all offers from other pro- siasts’ obsession with manufacture spective buyers. Surviving the status, Spurrell adds that, “Dent scrutiny, Frank and his friend, has already started to develop our fellow watch enthusiast Twysden own movements, which will be Moore, bought the company in launched in 2009. Our main ob- 2006, after a protracted but en- jective for Dent is to invest in the joyable three years of negotiating continued long-term future of the over tea with the previous owner, brand, so that the firm’s near-200- who kept the name alive with a year legacy is maintained. The series of rare, bespoke clocks. company will continue to invest They immediately engaged in new movements and compli- the services of Derek Salter, for- cations, striving—like E.J. Dent mer managing director of Swatch —to achieve perfection.” Group UK and now CEO of Dent, Even before the first watch to assist in developing the watch has been delivered, Dent & Co. side of the business, while Cedric has commenced talks with some Astor—ex-Polo Ralph Lauren— of the finest movement designers oversees the financial side of the in the industry for future projects, business. And almost immediate- as they’re considering a series of ly, Dent & Co’s new management limited editions created by indi- team consolidated its position as With an ETA base, Dent will add a power vidual artisans. But any collabora- maker of historically significant reserve module made by Soprod. tion—the precedent being Arnold pieces by securing the commission that will elicit a smile from Big & Dent, founded exactly 175 years to build the new platform clock at Ben enthusiasts: the design is that ago—will adhere to core values in- London’s St. Pancras Station, the of an old English penny—the coin cluding strong case and dial designs, diameter of which is only three still used to regulate the clock. peerless craftsmanship, depend- feet smaller than Big Ben’s. Derek Salter points out that, ability, and innovation. Beyond “All the movements fitted to Dent that, on an historical as much as an New wristwatches watches are certified chronometers horological basis, all Dent watches For the wrist, however, this au- as standard, and the cases ensure must and will exude Britishness. tumn the firm will release its first the minimum water resistance of Moore readily acknowledges new range of gentleman’s wrist- 50 meters. And all of the move- that, even with limited word watches in over forty years. Look ments are hand-finished.” Among of mouth preceding the brand for a series of COSC-certified the “tried and tested movements” launch, Dent’s latest incarnation chronometers that use modified that Dent has elected to use for has been welcomed by, “… con- ETA movements and with dials the debut ranges are the Sellita noisseurs who already know Dent. and cases based on precedents set SW200 with engraved gold rotor That’s the reason why the first by Dent models from the past. for the Big Ben model. All power year’s production is already sold Clearly, the flagship model reserve models will employ the out.” Which means that a waiting will be the square dress watch Soprod 9035 module on an ETA list has already formed. But that’s styled after Big Ben. As Dent is base, the “Keyless” will also use perfectly in keeping with the manufacturing, among other as- the Sellita SW200, and the ul- brand’s Britishness. After all, was pects of the movement, its own tra-dependable Valjoux 7750 will it not the British who perfected rotors, it has opted for a design serve the chronographs. the orderly queue? C

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