10 years. A Decade.

They, whoever “they” are, say that as you grow older time flies. It speeds up. Routines, familiarity, repetition and acceptance of the path you are taking all come together to warp time. It’s strange though, because in our journey through Watchland we’ve rarely had routine, familiarity, repetition or even a path that we are taking. It’s all been a bit…exploratory.

Which is amazing when we think back to all the things we’ve done these past 10 years. From the first stumblings in the industry in 2015, to now, where we are four strong, have our own in-house watchmaker, and Lady Haig making sure every customer experience surpasses expectation, and we’ve designed 20 unique ranges and sold over 20,000 watches. We’ve come a long way in that time professionally, and even longer personally.

The likelihood of Oliver and I coming together over the internet, through Oliver’s desire to build something of his own and finding me via the breadcrumbs of my failed attempt to do just that in 2011, still surprises us to this day, especially so given I told Oliver to take a hike initially. Just goes to show how, with a leap of faith and a bit of belief, a shared drive to make something of yourself can manifest a dream come true, can lead to a reality.

Our first "official" photograph at our Lower Shiplake office

It’s not been easy. We built Marloe from nothing - Oliver’s savings for the first prototypes and my rudimentary skills with photography and video editing - and have continued to build this business through the adversity of the global pandemic, through multiple rounds of investment and countless supply chain issues. We’ve never had a fall-back or benefactor ready to bail us out. We’ve just had to work hard to get to this point. 

Back in 2015, Oliver was living in Sweden, working in marketing, and had fully embraced their culture and way of doing things. It brought the concept of “slow living” to my attention for the first time and I loved the idea of it. I was working as a draughtsperson at a heating and ventilation company on an industrial estate in Broxburn, where dreams go to die, career prospects in that line of work were thin, and slow living didn’t really work in that industry. 

I did, however, have the opportunity and mind space to work on Marloe in my leisure time, which allowed Marloe to take off through Kickstarter, and blossom slowly into a fully fledged, self-supporting company. Since then, we’ve grown and flourished and continue to fight the good fight, designing and making watches that we are incredibly proud of, that don’t follow preordained routes, and that fully embrace the end of the market to which we’ve naturally settled: people stepping into the mechanical watch scene for the first time.

My daughter Eva was born in 2015, just as Marloe was starting to become a “thing”, and part of the reason I told Oliver to scarper initially. I didn’t think I could be a good father, work a full-time job and dedicate my spare time to another project. That notion soon fell by the wayside as I realised what Marloe could be for us. Eva turns 10 this year too, and yes, it’s true. Time does fly. As I witness Eva grow up in this (frighteningly disrupted) world and find her own way, I watch Marloe do the same. Not sure which one is more stressful though… I’ll come back to you on that.

Working on the Cherwell with a ruptured disc, and wee helper, back in 2015

As a way of celebrating the soaring arc that we’ve taken, from origins to present day, we thought it might be nice to include our geographical location at both ends of the 10 years. We were delighted to discover that the flag of Sweden and the flag of the Isle of Skye, where I now live, are almost identical. It was a quick decision to embrace the colours of both flags in our celebration piece, initially thinking of a celebration Daytimer as the chassis, but instead pivoting over to the Morar 310, the project that has been the most exciting to design, and the most challenging to bring to market.

Together with the incredible specification the Morar 310 already showcases, we’ve added white ceramic to our list of firsts. A gorgeous material that almost glows in the sunlight, it complements the sky blue and golden yellow colour scheme of the Special Edition and creates a rather fun, sunny looking watch! The Morar 310 “A Decade in Time” is a celebration of 10 years in Watchland, but it’s also a recognition of persistence, of gritty determination to succeed in a challenging industry.

To make this extra, extra special, we’ve had the parts for the Morar 310 Decade shipped over to us from our supplier in Switzerland (currently assembling our Morar 310 range), so that we can assemble all 100 pieces in-house. Alison, our WOSTEP accredited watchmaker, has already begun assembling them in our workshop in Sonning Common. How cool is that!? To say we are now assembling in-house. What a facility to have, both for our watch servicing and maintenance, and also for me to lean on that expertise in the design phase. And what a perfect person to do it - Alison has hit the ground running and we thank our lucky stars we have such expertise to keep us on the straight and narrow.

The Morar 310 "A Decade in Time" Special Edition for the British Watchmakers' Day 2025

The Morar 310 Decade will be unveiled at this years British Watchmakers' Day and we have allocated a certain number to attendees - but don't fret, the remaining watches will be made available to existing customers on our birthday - March 16th.  

The next 10 years will bring new hurdles to vault, new watches to obsess over, and more time spent together, building a company we’re proud of. Oliver has been a fantastic brother in arms for me, making my dream a reality and keeping the business where it needs to be at each turn and every obstacle. We wouldn’t be where we are today without his steely pursuit of perfection. Despite the ups, downs and roundabouts, we’ve never felt so excited for what the future holds for us, as Marloe Watch Company, and as people. The hair is almost white (well, mine is) and the belly is expanding (thank you Ardnamurchan) but our design DNA, approach to business and love of watches have never been in a better place.

A massive thank you to everyone who has supported us across our Decade in Time. You guys are the ones who make this possible, and inspire us to continue doing what we do - delivering beautifully designed and superbly built wristwatches.