The three independent watch brands whose founders have tied the knot

Borna Bošnjak

They say that opposites attract. Be that as it may, any successful relationship I’m aware of anchors on finding at least some common ground. For these three couples, watchmaking formed a part of it. The fact that two people that happen to get along quite well can also run a successful business together shouldn’t be that surprising. In fact, many world-leading manufactures are results of successful (business) partnerships – Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, and many more. But there’s something quite special about knowing your watch came from the hands of people who are more than just a team, in the same way that it could be more satisfying knowing you’re supporting a small family business than a faceless corporation with no personality. With the three independent brands we’re highlighting today, a lack of personality should be the last thing you need to worry about.

Rebecca and Craig Struthers

We begin with the Struthers, a Birmingham-based watchmaking couple who have made it their mission to restore the artisan craft of making highly personalised watches in the UK. Meeting at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in 2004, both are trained watchmakers, though their paths were quite different. Rebecca started on her journey as a silversmith, not following up her jewellery training with anything horology-related until university, where she realised watchmaking was the perfect amalgam of engineering and artistry that she had been looking for. And she took this undertaking seriously, becoming the first Briton to obtain a PhD in horology.

Craig had always been in love with all things mechanical, taking up watchmaking in 2004 and leaving behind tinkering with vintage cars and motorcycles. But this love for vintage would be something that stuck around, and combined with his skills in restoration and repair would see him working as a restorer – coincidentally in the same shop as his soon-to-be wife.

Come 2012, the pair had decided to strike out on their own, combining their passion and expertise, setting up shop in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. While initially positioning themselves as restoration specialists, the now-married pair realised that they had already possessed the necessary skills to actually make a watch, so why not do just that?

Armed with a pair of 8mm lathes (named Helga and Heidi, importantly), the Struthers pretty much dove into the deep end straight away, looking to create a movement from the ground-up. Project 248 is as British as a movement gets, echoing the movements of the late 19th century and equipped with an English lever escapement, rocking bar keyless works, and a glacial 16,200vph beat rate. And the level of in-house production is astounding considering the scale of the business, as everything but the mainspring, balance, screws, and some jewels will be made in-house. I know I make a big deal about in-house not really mattering, but it’s certainly impressive when executed like this.

To keep things ticking along, the Struthers also have three models in the Tailor-Made series, containing a hand-made silver pocket watch, a 20mm octagonal Art Deco beauty with an engine-turned dial, and the Kingsley. All three are commission-only, featuring expertly restored vintage calibres from 19th century pocket watches, engraved 1960s Longines 320s, or the Valjoux 90, with up to three watches from the Tailor-Made range made per year.

Maria and Richard Habring

It’s 2001, and a young man and woman catch each other’s gaze as they travel on a train through Dresden. Just a year later, the two are married, daydreaming of embarking on a project together. If you need any more proof that the story of Habring² is indeed a love story, Richard and Maria have illustrated their beginnings with a helpful comic book, covering all of the highlights. They include the genesis of the brand name and the very first Habring² model, to quadruple GPHG success and the celebration of 20 years in the business.

Richard honed his skills training at the Karlstein watchmaking school, drafting a perpetual calendar during his time there. Shortly after leaving, his Master’s thesis was submitted in the form of a self-designed one-minute tourbillon, which would pave the way for a short run of tourbillon-equipped watches that started production in 1989. In 1990, Richard would go on to work for IWC working with Günter Blümlein to continue the lineage that Kurt Klaus’ perpetual calendar started five years prior. His greatest achievement was the development of the 7750-based split-seconds chronograph, a patent the Habrings would use in their own brand once it expired. Maria has been part of the watch world since the early 2000s, involved with customer care and management, a role she has continued to hold in Habring². Thanks to her attention to detail, she oversees the quality control for each component that goes into Habring²’s pieces, whether it be self-manufactured or one of the (very) few outsourced bits.

Four GPHG awards would surely be one of the headlining talking points for any brand, but the Austrian duo tends to be quite humble about most things, even though there’s quite a lot to shout about. Even though the brand boasts high-end complications such as perpetual calendars and the aforementioned split-seconds chronograph, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Habring² is “funky seconds”. Whether we’re talking about the rapidly running Foudroyante Felix, the deadbeat Erwin, or the Top Second, the base for all of the complication is the A11 movement, an in-house calibre with its roots in Valjoux 7750 architecture that Richard is very familiar with.

Charlotte Paulin and Lewis Heath

As it has seemingly become the norm for these “three independents” articles, there’s actually a bit of a catch with the last one. Rather than founding their brand together, wife and husband Charlotte Paulin and Lewis Heath ran their brands separately, before uniting them under the same umbrella.

Charlotte’s last name is a hint to the brand she co-founded along with two of her sisters, that being Paulin Watches from Glasgow. Founded in 2013, the brand’s ethos was centred around affordable, minimalist pieces. The brand would come into its own in 2020 with the Neo, really solidifying the design principles, while also increasingly catering to the enthusiast market with Scottish assembly and Seiko movements. Coincidentally, the first Neo models were a collaborative effort with AnOrdain, several years before the two became one.

Lewis Heath’s day-to-day was not watches, originally running audiophile business RHA Audio, but departing in 2016 to run AnOrdain full-time. The brand is certainly best-known for its in-house vitreous enamel dials offered at an attractive price point. Nearly a decade later, AnOrdain is yet another small-scale brand that has moved to batch production thanks to exceptional demand – a good problem to have if you’re Heath, I’m sure.

Paulin and AnOrdain announced their merger in 2023, offering one of the watch prototypes at the EveryWatch auction. The former would begin using AnOrdain’s Glasgow studio, and had already been run under the watchful eye of new Creative Director Imogen Ayres, who made the jump over from AnOrdain. Despite technically being bought out, Paulin continues to push forward with its design-first ideology, while AnOrdain has once again opened its waitlists for the much sought-after enamel dials.