Bamford Watch Department & Black Badger unveil their latest collaboration

There is a real fascination amongst collectors of vintage watches when it comes to the tropical dials formed by irregularly faded dials. These start out in production as black, and turn a dark shade of chocolate brown when exposed to sunlight over many years.

These dials are sought after, and as such Bamford wanted to create their own tropical dial. Each dial has its own unique character. The idea to create this using a recycled source was so irresistible, and that’s how the dial, which is made from ground coffee was conceptualised.

George Bamford, Founder of Bamford Watch Department says “It’s amazing to be working with the awesome James Thompson at Black Badger on our second collaboration. I’ve always wanted to create a wonderful tropical dial but in a modern way, and I think this recycled coffee dial really has an authentic tropical vibe to it. Accentuated inside the Carrera watch this really works well together”.

James Thompson, AKA Black Badger comments, “For me this is a natural progression for the BWD Badgerworks project. In the same way that we previously used the Fordite material, we are exploring materials outside of the traditional realm of watchmaking”.

James continues, “Few materials are as familiar both in appearance and experience as coffee. Economies are built on it, wars are fought over it, history is tied to it. As a planet over 2 billion cups are consumed every day.

For this BWD Badgerworks project, we have manufactured the dials of our watches from coffee itself. One can almost smell the roast and hear the cafe chatter when looking at it!

Our coffee was specially roasted and ground for us at Cafe Da Matteo. A roastery and cafe in Göteborg that has been ranked in the top 5 worldwide by Lonely Planet guidebook. The special Badgerworks coffee was then formed into dial blanks and hand-finished to bring out the natural lustre and colours of the material”.

Technical information:

Model: Carrera Calibre 5.

Type: Automatic Watch

Movement: Tag Heuer Calibre 5 *Sellita SW-220-1)

Power Reserve: 38 Hours.

Case Material: Stainless Steel finished with light grey Military Grade Titanium Coating (MGTC)

Case Diameter: 41mm.

Case Thickness: 13.45mm

Case Back: Stainless Steel with Sapphire Display back.

Water Resistant: 10ATM - 100m.

The BWD X Badgerworks TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 with Tropical Coffee Dial.

Available from Bamford Watch Department £5,500. Limited to 20 unique pieces.

www.bamfordwatchdepartment.com

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