on’t worry; it’s just a watch... That’s not a sentence you often hear from a luxury watch brand about their own products.

Watches are made to be worn. To be used. To take knocks. Because in life, we all take knocks now and again, and we have to dust ourselves off and keep going. You can’t be precious about a watch that is on your wrist as you navigate daily life. We carry scars as testament to the human body’s ability to survive damage, and the Bamford B80 ‘Ace’ Edition is designed to prove that a watch can run the gauntlet of life along with its wearer. The brand has even taken it a step further, because with this watch, the first knock is on them.

Bamford London and Ace Jewelers have partnered on their very first project, the Bamford B80 ‘Ace’ Edition, as a tribute to the historic field watches. The original Bamford B80 field watch in black PVD coated titanium was designed to be durable, but not scratch-proof. With the ‘Ace’, they wanted to push that concept. They hit upon a unique idea: wearers won’t need to worry about that first scratch, because when their watch arrives, the team have already scratched it for them. To that end, they have produced individually a titanium B80 case with a unique patina. Their mantra in developing this Edition has been, “if it’s too perfect, fix it”.

Alon’s great appreciation for traditional field watches led to a “true” layout, which includes both hours and minutes. George ran with this and designed a ‘ghost dial’ that features a beautiful smoky colour gradient. The 20mm Cordura strap augments the watch’s link to its heritage, produced in a utilitarian, military style. The watch is presented with a very unique vial filled with all the essentials to make your Ace edition “Perfect”... p.s please don’t actually use them on your watch! The case features a special engraved design, “You’re Ace” created during a brainstorming session at The Hive in Mayfair.

Alon Ben Joseph, CEO of Ace Jewelers, said of this collaboration, “The first time I encountered the Bamford name was trying on the epic dive watches with a black make-over by Bamford. Ever since I have followed George’s work and creativity. The first time we met, we immediately clicked and always stayed in touch. When the B80 launched, I immediately obtained the version with the smoked orange dial. I love that watch, because I love titanium as a material and field watches. After wearing it a while I pitched George to work together on a collab and I am extremely humbled and proud that both Team Bamford and Team Ace created the first Ace x Bamford collab.”

The 2024 Bamford London x Ace Jewelers limited edition B80 watch will be available for retail at £1,250 GBP.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• TYPE: Automatic watch
• MOVEMENT: Sellita SW300-1, 25 Jewels, 28,800 Vph, 56 hour power reserve
• FUNCTION: Self winding mechanism. Time only
• CASE MATERIAL: Titanium. Sapphire c rystal with antiglare/span
• CASE DIAMETER: 39mm
• CASE THICKNESS: 10.5mm
• CASEBACK MATERIAL: PVD Titanium
• WATER RESISTANCE: 100m / 10 ATM
• LUG WIDTH: 20mm