by Ian Skellern
Peter Speake-Marin is leaving the brand he founded 17 years ago. He is contractually engaged to Speake-Marin until mid-August, but in September he plans launch a new chapter in his career as The Naked Watchmaker.
The name is a deliberate misnomer as it will not be the watchmaker that gets naked, but rather the watches.
The Naked Watchmaker: About (website under construction)
At its core, Speake-Marin’s new website is intended to be a horological encyclopedia, stripping down watches in six categories: mechanical marvels, movements, pocket watches, independents, mainstream brands, and vintage watches.
The Naked Watchmaker: Pocket Watches (website under construction)
Each category will comprise a brief introduction to the brand and a description of the watch or movement that will allow you to click the details of the watch or movement for more information.
The Naked Watchmaker: Jules Jurgensen (website under construction)
The Naked Watchmaker: Click For More Details (website under construction)
The information provided is not going to be so technical as to be impenetrable to a wide audience, but it will contain enough details to inform and educate those interested.
The Naked Watchmaker: Roland Iten (website under construction)
The idea is that anybody can go to the website and learn something in an easy and enjoyable way.
As Speake-Marin explains, “My goal is for this website to become the go-to for anybody who wants to buy a mechanical watch or wants to learn more about watches.” He will cover a broad spectrum of categories in terms of quality and price.
The Naked Watchmaker: Exploded MB&F (website under construction)
Speake-Marin will be using his own photos − he’s become quite an accomplished watch photographer − and will be providing factual information, not subjective comments and opinions.
The Naked Watchmaker: Vintage Movements (website under construction)
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Speake-Marin for around 15 years now (he is nearly a neighbor) and have never seen him so excited about the future. While it was tensions in the direction of the Speake-Marin brand that motivated him to leave, as soon as that difficult decision was made he knew it was the right one.
The Naked Watchmaker: Patek Philippe Components (website under construction)
Speake-Marin is approaching his fiftieth birthday and, wondering if this might be a midlife crisis, I asked him if he felt the desire to buy a Harley-Davidson. He sheepishly admitted that he had been looking at wild wind-in-your-hair two-wheeled transport . . . a Vespa.
A Naked Watchmaker on a Vespa, now that’s a viral marketing campaign!
The Naked Watchmaker: Patek Philippe Pocket Watch (site under construction)
“What I have always loved, ever since my formative time at Somlo Antiques in London, is imparting knowledge, teaching. And this is my way of doing that. This is the right time,” he told me.
The Naked Watchmaker: Girard-Perregaux (website under construction)
You can subscribe to be notified when The Naked Watchmaker website launches by adding your email at www.thenakedwatchmaker.com.
P.S. This is the first time Peter Speake-Marin has publicly shared any screenshots of The Naked Watchmaker and I know he is curious as to what you think, so please don’t hesitate to leave your comments below. But please do bear in mind that the website is still under the early stages of construction and is missing details (including the navigation bar).
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Also published on Medium.
Brilliant !!! A true artist, engineer, and businessman. Well Done.
Bravo, Peter.
Looking forward to seeing this new project launched and going live!
Hi! This preview is a fantastic appetizer, I’m very curious about the text illustrating these pictures. A side note, the website is probably not planned to be commercial, but proposing high quality poster prints would be great ! Thanks for the preview
Love the idea.
All the best , maybe make a watch or two frrr the heck of it , too
If not , that’s fine, whatever he wants
Great idea. I note that it describes itself as an ad-free site, so will it be free or subscription-based like many Newspapers? In any case, best of luck with this!
I hope PSM (the man) will continue to design and make watches as well!
Sounds good, be looking for you.
Welcome .
Phillip.
Outstanding & quite well done!
Sounds fun. ‘Very curious to see how this all unfolds.
Very much looking forward to this. Any updates on what speak-Marin, the brand, is planning to do? I can’t imagine the brand surviving as an independent without him.
Stunning! I’ve wanted something exactly like this as I walk through my learning of horology. It all seems so impenetrable for those of us that can’t commit to a watchmaking career but love everything about timepieces. Thank you!!