Horological Meandering

Ornatus-Mundi
[Zenith]
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Baselworld 2013: Ellicott: Watches Fit for a King...

For most of you (and until I saw them also for me) the brand Ellicott 1738 is unknown territory. However, the name is certainly not new, nor is the philosophy or the people behind it!

Ellicott is named after British watchmaker John Ellicott jr. (1706-1772), member of the Clockmaker's Company and later, in 1738, was invited to join the British Royal Society. Ellicott stems from an influential watchmaking family, his father John for example was credited with the development of the first central seconds. John Ellicott jr. was best known for his work on temperature compensated pendulums and his use of the cylinder escapement. Ellicott's son Edward joined his workshop in 1760. 

One interesting side-note is that John Ellicott's greatest talent was not the actual watchmaking craft but more in technical/scientific and business aspects of the trade. He is also believed to possess and impressive aptitude for selecting the best talents available to ensure that his watches were of the best quality possible at his time. Thomas Tompion for example was one of his suppliers/sub-contractors. Ellicott's quality workmanship led to an appointment as Clockmaker to King George III. A fine example of a clock made for the King is given below, a Mahagoni-cased bracket clock made in 1765:

The Ellicott watch business ran for about 200 years until the family vanished due to lack of heirs. Around the year 2001, two Swiss entrepreneurs Eric Loth and Pierre-André Finazzi teamed up to create their own watch brand(s) and were looking for suitable names. They quickly turned to the rich tradition of British watchmaking and acquired the rights to many dormant but once famous names - the rest is history and best known as The British Masters: Swiss-made watches carrying the names of famous British watchmakers (e.g. Arnold & Son, Graham).

Finazzi left the partnership early to set up is own brand. Promoting the knowledge on anglo-saxon horology must have been fascinating, and thus he decided to start with another brand using a similar concept, and thus Ellicott S.A was born in the Swiss watchmaking mega-city of La-Chaud-de-Fonds:

"As a curious and interested person, I was always aware of British watchmaking history and of all the famous British horologists. Then, during the early part of this decade life offered me the opportunity to start a new watchmaking venture, and I could think of no better name than that of Ellicott. Just like when John II and subsequent generations joined the company as sons perpetuating their fathers’ work, it is with great respect and inspiration that I continue to cultivate the British heritage of the brand and to promote and establish the Ellicott name throughout the world. Today, everyone involved in the new company has a genuine passion for haute horlogerie and the modern day Ellicott represents a unique heritage and a fantastic means for expressing this passion." [Mr Finazzi in an interview with QP magazine in 2011]