Sekford is a new London-based watch company, founded by a team headed up by publication designer Kuchar Swara. As they say in the press release: The company originated because its founders were unable to find the sort of watch they themselves wanted to wear; a luxury midcentury style dress watch for everyday use, with a price equivalent to a great pair of shoes, bag or jacket.
Inspired by classic English pocket watches, grandfather clocks, and station clocks, and produced in Switzerland, their first watch is available now in four different finishes.
Kuchar brought us into the project to draw the numbers for the face, which push the limits of how thin the hairlines and serifs could be. Paul’s numbers in Chiswick provided the perfect starting point. Though this family is inspired by lettering found on gravestones and architectural lettering, the figures also referenced public clocks, making them a natural fit. Their subtle quirkiness brings an element of warmth to the otherwise precise and Modernist feel of the watch.
An early draft of Edward Johnston’s typeface for the London Underground, found on a handful of handlettered posters from 1916, was the starting point for the logotype and engraved lettering on the back of the watch. The logo itself has been cut by wood engraver Mark Wilkinson.
