June 1, 2016

Legendary watchmaker Peter Speake-Marin visiting Warsaw

Peter Speake-Marin visited Warsaw when collaborating on a new project with Polish company Wealth Solutions. This relationships aims at creating the first ever rum watch with the oldest rum in the world.

Peter Speake-Marin z wizytą w Warszawie

Peter Speake-Marin is the founder of an independent Swiss watch manufacture situated in Bursins by the Lake Geneva. His company aims at producing watches capable of standing the test of time – both technically and aesthetically. Peter Speake-Marin is a master watchmaker from Britain, a graduate of London’s Hackney Technical College and prestigious WOSEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Educational Program) in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He is also a member of Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI).

He worked for many years in Somlo Antiques, a company form London that specialises in the restoration and selling of historical watches. He collaborated with various Swiss manufactures, such as MB&F, Christophe Claret or Roger Dubuis. He has been making his own mechanical watches since 2000. Speake-Marin has also experimented with the silver screen: in 2014, he advised Pierce Brosnan who was preparing for the role of a watchmaker in the film, Survivor. Today, Pierce Brosnan is the ambassador of the Speake-Marin brand, which combines classical British elegance and Swiss technology.

Peter Speake-Marin visited Poland because of his new project and collaboration with Wealth Solutions. Wealth Solutions specialises in building up collections of art works, watches and rare alcoholic beverages. Speake-Marin and the management board of Wealth Solutions took on the creation of the first ever watch to contain a drop of rum. The company decided to utilise one of the most valuable items from its collection – Harewood 1780. Discovered in 2011 in the cellars of the Harewood mansion, it the oldest rum in the world. A drop of this beverage will be poured into ampoules then placed on rum watch faces.

In order to do so, on 31 May, Peter Speake-Marin and representatives of the company solemnly opened the bottle of this unique rum at the Bristol Hotel in Warsaw. In the presence of the notary, rum was poured into ampoules, one of which was handed to the British master watchmaker to include in the Rum Watch. The watch will have a 50-hour power reserve and will be available in titanium or gold case with crown equipped with a cabochon made of aquamarine (titanium) or rubelite (gold). The characteristic feature of the watch will also be a single minute and hour hand, just like a traditional sea compass.