When Georges Bamford Customizes Steve McQueen’s Iconic Watch
The Monaco Bamford was presented last Thursday at Bâle on the Tag Heuer stand. This is the first time the Bamford Watch Department has teamed up with a watch brand to customise a watch made in a series. An iconoclastic encounter. – Isabelle Cerboneschi, Bâle.
Bamford Watch Department (BWD), in the world of watchmaking, is the equivalent of the company Zagato in the world of the automobile. We owe Georges Bamford the most beautiful customisations watchmakers of these last 14 years. In the world of haute watchmaking, where we are used to changing the colour or the material of our bracelet, the modifications made by BWD to models from prestigious manufactures, were perceived as crimes of lèse-majesty. Fashion was black. Fashion is always black. Black out: BWD was doing its work in the dark, giving a punk accents to the best-born models in the industry.
In general, it is the customers who contact him to modify their timepiece to their liking, or rather their own style. But this time things went a little differently: Georges Bamford was directly approached by the LVMH group to become the official “customiser” of Tag Heuer and Zenith. During the last Baselworld show, visitors were able to discover his interpretation of the iconic model of Tag Heuer, the famous Monaco worn by Steve McQueen in the movie Le Mans.
Georges Bamford wanted a carbon case? Tag Heuer fulfilled his wishes. A full black dial? Chronograph counters and date window in aqua blue, its signature colour? Surprisingly, when we look at excerpts from the film Le Mans, which earned the watch its status as an iconic watch, it’s hard not to compare the colour of the Porsche 917 driven by the actor and the fetish colour of Georges Bamford. Some meetings do not always happen by chance …
TAG Heuer and BWD had already collaborated in 2017, offering brand customers the opportunity to customise their favourite model. But with Monaco Bamford, this is a completely different adventure: the model has been designed to be mass-produced. It is unlikely that BWD will re-customise the model once sold. The dial and the bottom of the box are engraved with a “Monaco Bamford”.
IC How long did it take to develop this model?
Georges Bamford: As long as it took you to develop your site: a year. We started the discussions at the same time last year and I am completely blown away by the result. This watch is both the realisation of a year of work, and a feat on the part of Tag Heuer who managed to achieve it in a year. I think in particular of the carbon case, so difficult to manufacture, and yet they did it, with all the little details that I had requested.
What is the most difficult thing when you “revamp” classic watchmaking?I wore the Monaco model on my wrist and tried not to take it off, to live with it. I like working like this. I especially made a big dig in the archives. I did not want to copy an old model, rather I asked myself: what do I want? I wanted a carbon fibre case, aqua blue chrono counters, Heuer aqua blue inscription on the crown, etc., a bit like a kid who wants this and that. I wanted everything to be balanced. My goal was to pay tribute to the model of the past, while creating the last temptation, the Monaco of the future.
You have redesigned so many watches since you started your business 14 years and a half ago. Do you still feel the same enthusiasm?Let’s say this model particularly through me. I felt with this watch to be part of both the past and the future of Tag Heuer. The Monaco fascinated me even when I was a kid! It was Steve McQueen in Le Mans! An icon of watchmaking! And the fact that my first collaboration with a watch brand is precisely on this model, it was totally unexpected. The fact of “customising” the Monaco, to take part in the co-creation of a new model, for me, it is extraordinary.
What made you want to work with Tag Heuer?
They are always looking to go a step further, they are constantly considering the next steps.
What you do in the field of watchmaking could be compared to what Zagato is doing in the automotive world. Their signature is the wave-shaped roof, and what is your signature?
The colour. The aqua blue in the first place, which is why it was used for Monaco. But we also have a vibrant green, a beautiful red and an orange flame. By the way, I like the idea that we are doing the right things. This Monaco watch is already a success although it is limited to 500 copies. I came to Bâle thinking it would be a unique opportunity, and I’ve been asked already: what do we do next?
What will you do next?
To sleep! (Laughs). I did not come here with a phased plan. But expect the unexpected.
A few years ago, black was THE colour that everyone wanted to transform their timepiece. In what way has the taste of your customers changed?
Black is still our best seller, but we are now also asked for light gray, dark gray, khaki. Our customers want customisationfurther, they are looking for uniqueness, exclusivity. They ask us to push the individualisation to the extreme, but while keeping the style, the elegance of the original model. To hit right note.
