Two stalwarts of the Scottish watch industry, anOrdain and Paulin Watches have officially announced a closer partnership by becoming sister companies. Alongside the new partnership, Paulin Watches has undergone a full rebrand and redesign with new watches, a new creative director and more. It signifies a big shift in the Scottish watchmaking scene.
First off, while many of you will be familiar with anOrdain for their work with enamel dials Paulin Watches may not have been on your radar to the same extent. They’ve been in the business for 10 years and in that time have focussed on design-led, accessible wristwatches. Under the ownership of anOrdain that’s not going to change with a goal of keeping every watch produced at price below £1,000 and exploring both mechanical and quartz movements.
Paulin Co-Founders (Sisters)
As for the specific details of the acquisition, these are both relatively small brands so I don’t think it will surprise anyone to learn that there’s a family element involved. anOrdain’s founder, Lewis Heath, and one of Paulin’s co-founders, Charlotte Paulin, have become married and so it’s only natural for them to seek to consolidate their portfolios together. What this means in practical terms is that the two brands, while remaining totally independent, will share a studio located at anOrdain’s Glasgow workshop.
Regarding the Paulin Watches rebrand, it’s been in the works for over a year now and has been overseen by Imogen Ayres, formerly a senior member of anOrdain and now the new Creative Director for Paulin. The first watch being released in this new phase of the brand’s existence is the Modul, a 35mm stainless steel timepiece available in automatic and quartz variants with fun, colourful dials. The yellow version and the pink edition are very bright and joyful while the rusty brown feels like it was taken straight out of 1970s interior design.
It’s great to see the UK watch industry thriving with brands taking chances on new partnerships and closer cooperation rather than risk stagnation. For example, both anOrdain and Paulin are taking part in the EveryWatch auction organised by the Scottish Watches Podcast and in fact today, August 23rd, is your last chance to bid. And if you want to see a whole raft of British watchmakers, look out for news on the British Watchmakers’ Day event next March.
More details at Paulin and anOrdain.
Oracle Time