by Elizabeth Doerr

A once-in-a-lifetime conference for lovers of military and navigational watches is set to take place in London on October 21, 2017.

Setting the perfect scene for this day conference, the venue is the beautiful HQS Wellington, an ex-Royal Navy ship moored on the Thames in central London. Built in 1936, she first patrolled around New Zealand before serving more than 240,000 miles as a convoy escort in World War II. The HQS Wellington currently serves as the headquarters of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners and now boasts dedicated meeting and hospitality facilities aboard.

The conference features excellent speakers, all leading authorities on military and navigational watches, and traveling from as far as Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Denmark. The speakers, all of whom are published authors or experts in this field, include the following:

Rory McEvoy: On the Bench with Larcum Kendall’s K1 (for more on Kendall see Larcum Kendall And K1: The Greatest Watchmaker And Watch You Have (Probably) Never Heard Of)
James Dowling: Wristwatch Navigation, from Weems to the Mark 11
Kurt Brøndum: Collecting Breitling Navitimers – in Pursuit of Perfect Vintage Watches
David Boettcher: The Earliest British Military Wristwatches
Owen Gilchrist: On the Bench: Finer Points of the Smiths Military Movement
David Read: From Marine Chronometer to Military Navigation by Wristwatch
Inge Solheim: Polar Exploration, A Perspective from the Wrist
Adrian van der Meijden: IWC Mark 11 Wristwatches used by the B.O.A.C.

K1: Larcum Kendal’s reproduction of Harrison’s H4 marine chronometer

The day conference begins at 10:00 am with coffee and pastries, and it is expected to conclude at 3:30 pm (or 15:30 for military watch lovers). Lunch and refreshments are included in the ticket price of £47. A drinks party for those wishing to continue conversations and make further acquaintances is set to follow in the evening.

An exhibition of rare military and pilot’s watches from private collections will accompany the conference; it will only be open for October 21.

For more information, please visit www.bhi.co.uk/lsaconference.