Nixon Watches Customisation Workshop in London

What makes "a collector"? Most of us would admit to hoarding something a little embarrassing when we were a younger. A strong selection of playground-dominating POGS, vintage toy cars, nostalgic stamps, or something a little more obscure like vintage matchboxes or carrier bags...

I collect many things (my criteria is if it's something I enjoy and have more than a few of); sneakers, Bearbricks, pens, stamps, vintage denim, Tintin comics, and watches. So when the opportunity came up for me to customise my very own Nixon watch a few weeks ago, I really couldn't refuse. A week later I found myself sitting in Nixon's brand new Customisation Workshop in their Seven Dials, all ready to get started.

The idea is simple; start by choosing one of three existing Nixon watch models; the Time Teller, Sentry, and 48-20. I chose the Time Teller for its slimline and minimal features. After you've decided on your style this is where the customisation really starts to begin. A quick chat with the workshop manager about how the actual process works is followed by your next big decision; the outer case, dial and wristband.

We were presented with each option; several colour combinations of dial, numerous styles of band (from American-made Horween leather, coated cotton, rubber and steel linked), and a selection of steel case fittings. It's a similar process to Nike iD, but much more rewarding as you actually get to see it being made in front of you.

There's a few smaller features you can customise, like the crown and fastenings, but for now we worked on getting the overall look of our customised Time Teller spot on.

After several minutes of deliberation, trying out numerous combinations of dials, leather straps, cases - we're told the amount of colour, material and design combinations is pretty much uncountable - I settled on a design I was happy with. A Gunmetal silver case, with a charcoal + yellow dial, sitting on a light tan American-made Horween leather strap. Pretty pleased, but still a little unsure.

Having the time chat to the Nixon Custom Bar Manager Daniel Hawes, about his job, past customisations he's worked on, and how the watches are built, was one of the most enjoyable parts of the process. For someone who is obsessed with design, and is constantly asking about the "why" and "how", this was a rare treat to get into a craftsman's head. It was a great insight into an industry I take a keen interest in.

Next up was the assembly, which surprisingly only took around 45 minutes. That isn't to say it's not a highly skilled process; in fact, Daniel's level of meticulous detail, steady hand, and perfectionism was clear to see.

After adding the matching Gunmetal crown we watched the fascinating assembly process. The watch went through several stages of cleaning, prepping, and de-fluffing, before finally being given an air-tight seal, using a custom-made machine.

The final stage of the customising process was to engrave the case reverse with a message. There's plenty of options here too; you could simple put your name on it, a personal message, use one of their pre-set templates, or even more excitingly, use of Aaron Draplin's (founder of Field Notes) custom illustrators!

I decided to keep it with the blog theme, and used their illustrator design programme to customise a font and layout which was very similar to our current logo. And there we have it, my very own customised Nixon Time Teller. The customising process starts at a very reasonable £109, for the Time Teller, and and goes up to £425 for the 48-20 model. I'll share more about the final design very soon.

Thank you to Nixon for inviting us to sample the Customisation Workshop service. Nixon - 31 Neal Street, Seven Dials, London, WC2H 9PS. 

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