If you’re ever going to find five great British watches anywhere, it most certainly would be at SalonQP, the United Kingdom’s premier watch event.

So without further ado, I present you five British watches on show at the 2016 SalonQP in London.

Garrick Portsmouth

The enthusiastic Dave Brailsford, the man behind the young Garrick brand, has learned a lot in his short few years in the watch industry. And one of the things he’s learned is that it’s really good to have friends – and one of his friends is luckily Swiss movement mastermind Andreas Strehler.

Garrick Portsmouth

Strehler is behind the new movement powering the Portsmouth, which made its debut at SalonQP, a fact that ensures quality.

The UT-G01 movement of the Garrick Portsmouth comes with either a gold or silver frosted finish

And a fun little detail that I enjoyed is the word “England” stamped all over the dial. In fact, you hardly see it at first.

Joshua Munchow wrote a detailed review of this piece, which you can find at The Garrick Portsmouth Demonstrates This Young Brand’s Past And Future.

Garrick Portsmouth on the wrist

For more information, please visit www.garrick.co.uk/the-portsmouth.

Quick Facts Garrick Portsmouth
Case: 42 x 11 mm, 316L stainless steel
Movement: manual winding Caliber UT-G01 made in partnership with Andreas Strehler and UhrTeil AG
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds
Price: £14,995 (excl. VAT outside the EU), £17,995 (incl. VAT inside the EU)

Schofield Blacklamp

Perhaps the coolest-looking exhibit at SalonQP was the Black Badger Lume Room.

Inside the Black Badger Lume Room at SalonQP 2016

This was James Thompson’s ultraviolet cubicle in which he exhibited the many watches to which he has added his luminous composite.

Schofield Blacklamp with Black Badger carbon moonglow ring

And this is where we found the Schofield Blacklamp.

Schofield Blacklamp Moonglow with lume by Black Badge

Joshua wrote a detailed review of this watch as well; find it at Design Thinking: Schofield Blacklamp With Black Badger Lume.

Quick Facts Schofield Blacklamp
Case: 44 x 16.5 mm, Morta carbon fiber
Movement: manual winding Caliber Unitas 6498-1 with seconds modified to hack
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds
Limitation: 101 pieces customized with personal lighthouse details or custom text
Price: £9,900
Remark: comes with aluminum LED flashlight for charging the Black Badger ring of luminous material around the flange

Bremont DH-88

Each year, Bremont makes a special edition watch commemorating an historical event. In 2016, this timepiece, the DH-88, commemorated the de Havilland DH-88 Comet, an aircraft that flew from England to Australia in 1934 in “the world’s greatest air race.”

Bremont DH-88

And there’s a little piece of the aircraft once again placed in this limited edition watch.

Bremont DH-88 movement side with propeller shaped rotor made of original spruce plywood from the 1934 de Havilland Comet Grosvenor House

Read a very detailed account of this race on Bremont’s website: www.bremont.com/collection/dh-88/the-great-air-race.

Quick Facts Bremont DH-88
Case: 43 x 16.2 mm, hardened stainless steel Trip-Tick three-part construction or pink gold
Movement: automatic Caliber BE-54AE-1, rotor contains some original spruce plywood from the 1934 de Havilland Comet Grosvenor House, certified C.O.S.C. chronometer
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds; date, chronograph, 24-hour GMT function
Limitation: 282 pieces in steel, 82 pieces in pink gold
Price: £7,995 (stainless steel), £14,995 (pink gold)

Robert Loomes Stamford Original

Robert Loomes – whose ancestor Thomas Loomes was already making pocket watches in the seventeenth century – owns a small shop in Stamford, England.

Stamford Original by Robert Loomes

After selling an edition of 100 watches powered by new-old stock manually wound Smiths 12-15 calibers from the 1950s, Loomes decided to make his own fully English-made watch.

Movement of the Stamford Original by Robert Loomes

The result is the Stamford Original.

Stamford Original by Robert Loomes

For more information, please visit www.robertloomes.com.

Quick Facts Robert Loomes Stamford Original
Case: 39, white gold or yellow gold
Movement: manual wind Loomes caliber made with the help of regional suppliers, 18,000 vph/2.5 Hz
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds
Limitation: 12 pieces each in white gold and yellow gold
Price: £28,500

Montblanc Orbis Terrarum Great Britain

Okay, I cheated a little here. This Montblanc model is, of course, Swiss made. But I just loved the British emphasis on its dial in honor of SalonQP 2016.

Montblanc Orbis Terrarum Great Britain

Based on Montblanc’s Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum, which made its debut at SIHH 2015, this timepiece reinterprets the world time function by putting the earth at the core of the timepiece; the landmasses are viewed from the North Pole looking down. The pushers are used to change the dual time zones, and there is also day/night indication.

Montblanc Orbis Terrarum Great Britain

The difference here is that the Union Jack is used to depict the day hours on the day/night indicator underneath the dial map. And the effect is stunning!

Montblanc Orbis Terrarum Great Britain

For more information, please visit www.montblanc.com/en/collection/watches/montblanc-meisterstueck-heritage-collection/112308-montblanc-heritage-spirit-orbis-terrarum.

Quick Facts Montblanc Orbis Terrarum Great Britain
Case: 41 mm, stainless steel
Movement: automatic Caliber MB 29.20
Functions: hours, minutes, world time (24 time zones), day/night indicator (day signified by the Union Jack)
Limitation: 5 pieces
Price: £5,600

You may also like Give Me Five! The 5 Best Things I Saw At SalonQP 2016.