brandon1
842
The Science Museum is an absolute must for a watch enthusiast.
The collection used to be housed in a section of the Guildhall, but it was expanded when moved to the Science Museum. There is a section devoted to modern British horology (Daniels, Smith, Pratt, Frodsham) that is incredible. Also worth a visit is the Ilbert collection at the British Museum. Great collection from Breguet to George Daniels to Omega and some truly spectacular automata.
And you can't beat the price (free) of the exhibitions. Well worth a donation
As for shops:
1. Watches of Switzerland on Regent Street is (IIRC) the largest watch store in Europe. I've always found the service top notch as well.
2. Marcus on Bond Street. While it seems like a shadow of its former self, it is still an amazing place and they usually have large number of Gruebel Forsey in stock, which is pretty unusual even for a city like London.
3. Wempe on Bond Street.
4. The Patek salon was remodeled a few years ago and is really nice. They have a service center in the basement that is really cool. Also, legendary service.
5. Somlo in Burlington Arcade...the only vintage Omega shop certified by Omega. Burlington Arcade in general has good vintage shops like David Duggan, but Somlo is the one I'd single out as being worth a trip.
6. Harrods has a nice watch room, and in particular has good selections of Lange and RM. When I visited after SIHH in 2016, they even had the prototype (#0) Richard Lange Jumping Seconds in stock for viewing. For enthusiasts, Harrods beats Selfridges for watches by a mile for both selection, environment, and staff knowledge IMO. Unfortunately, Harrods gets mobbed with tourists.
7. Mount Street has RM and Parmigiani boutiques, which are both nice. Mount Street is beautiful and is a nice, less-touristy part of London.
You're doing well planning to do the Observatory, and I second the recommendation to take the Clipper. In that area, I think the Cutty Sark is a better museum than the Maritime Museum, and would be my suggestion.
Enjoy your trip to London.
Best,
Brandon
Visit to the Greenwich Observatory, the prime meridian and "home" of GMT
Dear fellow Purists, this summer I plan to travel to London with my son who just turned 20 this month. As I infected him with the watch bug some time ago, he also read the very enjoyable book from Dava Zobel: "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Wh...
London
I don’t know anything about London watch shops but the most pleasant way to get to Greenwich is by boat from Westminster pier. It is definitely worth a visit.
Observatory is a great day out
Hi As has already been suggested - go on the boat, its a great way to see London. There's also the Cutty Sark near the observatory too. I went a couple of years ago - its a great place to visit - lots of watches and its interesting to see that there have ...
New Bond St & Burligton Arcade as mentioned above - just up the road in Soho is the French House for an early dinner in a historically bohemic and no-tech rule pub, and Ronnie Scotts for music.
Also try the Royal Exchange at Bank (10 mins east on the Central line) has a number of AD's & independents, plus a nice place for lunch. The Science Museum (south of Hyde Park) has the Clock-maker's exhibition too. Have a great trip. G.
The Science Museum is an absolute must for a watch enthusiast.
The collection used to be housed in a section of the Guildhall, but it was expanded when moved to the Science Museum. There is a section devoted to modern British horology (Daniels, Smith, Pratt, Frodsham) that is incredible. Also worth a visit is the Ilb...
I would go to Selfridges and also Harrods; both have interesting watch salons
here's one report: www.watchprosite.com and if you can't find 10 things you want desperately to eat for lunch / dinner in the Harrods food hall, you are already dead! While in transit from A-B keep your eyes open for Cheers, Mike ...
As mentioned.
Science Museum also now has the prototype 'Long Now' clock there, so well worth look Marcus is no longer a shop on Bond Street as they ere planning some other method of sales, but I don't know what As mentioned Watched of Switzerland on Regent Street is H...