To soar into the sky and float aloft in the wind, peering down on the world below, knowing that, if you so wished, you could touch the stars. Welcome to the Atlantic Chronoscope, borne from a love of flight, inspired by the pioneering spirits that risked life and limb to achieve it.
The Atlantic Chronoscope will be available from Thursday 12th November at 13:00 GMT, but in the meantime, we thought you might like to enjoy our cinematic experience celebrating flight.
Inspired by the advent of lighter-than-air powered flight, the Atlantic has been designed through a process of deep research into the time period when flight was still a concept alien to most. In particular, we have focused on the R34 airship, the craft with so much potential and possibility attached to it from manufacture through to maiden flight. The R34 went on to become the first airborne craft to complete, without incident, a double-transatlantic crossing - and with that feat secured what looked like an exciting future of worldwide travel via airship.
Out of the ashes of WWI arose several technical advancements. One such advancement was flight, in the form of airships. Towards the tail-end of the conflict the British Admiralty commissioned several new airships - war machines capable of both aggression and reconnaissance. The R33 Airship Class was a cutting edge design, in-part designed using German technology from a downed Zeppelin, the R34 was one of two airships of this class manufactured for the war effort.
However, the R34 was not completed before the end of the war and thus a giant of the sky was repurposed for a more peacetime application: worldwide commercial travel. It was the hope that the British public needed; the potential to see the world and expand their personal horizons. Little did they know that the British commercial airship industry would be short lived.
The dawn of powered flight opened up the possibility that man could become as bird, something that has been dreamed about for centuries. Yet with the ability comes the inherent risk; just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. With the monumental risks involved in the development and testing of air travel, the men and women who took on the challenge brought the modern age of flight to everyone. Without their efforts we would not enjoy relatively affordable, convenient, worldwide commercial flight. The pioneers, the people who took that risk, who put their life on the line to give everyone the shot at seeing the world from above; that's the spirit that we bring to the biggest project in Marloe’s short life.
Throughout the project we have faced what seemed like insurmountable challenges, yet each time we reminded ourselves that our risk was nothing compared to these pioneers. With perspective we are afforded a reset of mindset and an increase in motivation to see it through. If Bleriot, Alcock & Brown, Major George Scott and Charles Lindbergh can put everything on the line to experience the thrill of a journey filled with unknowns, challenges and ultimate glory, then why can’t we?
17 comments
Beautiful video, just beautiful. I worried that the E-Type and Moth were going to be a British trope cliché, but no, I needn’t have worried, as everything MWC does there’s a ‘safe pair of hands’, a passion and heart. You should be proud of this atmospheric, mindful and romantic slice of ‘soft sell’ advertising. Just beautiful! 👍. Looking forward to the Atlantic’s release. Regards and good fortune.
Thank you Marloe. Ive been waiting for a watch like this, cant wait to purchase :-)
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