The Menswear Style Podcast is a leading men’s fashion and menswear podcast exploring men’s style, clothing, grooming, lifestyle and the business behind some of the world’s most exciting fashion brands. Hosted by Peter Brooker, each episode features conversations with menswear designers, fashion entrepreneurs, innovative brand founders and industry experts from across the global fashion and apparel industry. Discover the stories behind established and emerging clothing brands, from the first idea and challenges of launching a fashion start-up to building a successful international business. Guests share their experiences and insights across fashion design, sustainability, manufacturing, marketing, branding, eCommerce, retail, social media and business growth. Whether you’re interested in men’s fashion and style, discovering new menswear brands, starting your own clothing label, or learning how successful fashion businesses are built, the Menswear Style Podcast takes you behind the scenes of the modern menswear industry. New conversations with the people shaping the future of menswear, men’s style and fashion.
Jonathan Bordell, Co-Founder of The Helicon Watch Company / British Watchmaker
•Menswear Style •Episode 223
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In this episode of the Menswear Style Podcast, we speak with Jonathan Bordell, co-founder of The Helicon Watch Company, the independent British watch brand combining decades of industry experience with limited production, accessible pricing and a distinctly personal approach to watchmaking.
Helicon is unusual in being a husband-and-wife operation. Jonathan and his wife Danielle each bring around 20 years of experience in the watch industry, with Jonathan specialising in sales and marketing and Danielle coming from a design background that began with creating movie posters.
After years spent consulting for other watch companies, the pair decided to take everything they had learned about design, manufacturing, components and the international watch market and create something of their own.
The result is Helicon: a proudly independent microbrand built around producing one project at a time in strictly limited numbers. Rather than releasing the same watch repeatedly in different colours, Jonathan explains why Helicon prefers to complete a collection and move on to something entirely new.
We discuss the philosophy behind the watches and why Jonathan sees them as something closer to clothing than simply an instrument for telling the time. Like a favourite jacket, shirt or pair of jeans, a watch becomes part of how someone expresses themselves — something that should look good, feel good and develop a personal connection with its owner.
Jonathan takes us into the technical side of Helicon too, from sapphire crystals and scratch-resistant ceramic bezel inserts to 316L marine-grade stainless steel cases, 200-metre water resistance and custom brass movement holders designed to provide additional protection from magnetism and shock.
Exclusivity is another important part of the proposition. Helicon produces just 50 examples of each colour, giving customers the opportunity to own something genuinely unusual without entering the price territory traditionally associated with highly limited watches.
We also explore the advantages that come from Jonathan and Danielle's extensive industry experience. With a global network of specialist manufacturers and craftspeople built over two decades, Helicon can draw on expertise normally associated with much larger watch companies. That includes working with individual specialists such as Amy, the craftsperson responsible for hand-painting Helicon's dials, whose background includes restoring vintage Rolex dials.
The conversation gets into the realities of running a microbrand as well, including managing specialist suppliers, planning collections years in advance and remaining nimble enough to incorporate new materials, technologies and manufacturing techniques as they become available.
We also discuss the changing culture surrounding watch collecting. Jonathan explains why the community has become younger, more diverse and increasingly open to independent brands, while women in particular are challenging traditional assumptions about watch sizing and how different styles should be worn.
Naturally, James Bond makes an appearance too, as we explore the enduring relationship between watches and cinema, the appeal of a well-worn watch with a story behind it, and why collectors increasingly want different watches for different moods and occasions rather than remaining loyal to a single marque.
Finally, Jonathan discusses the growing strength of the British watchmaking community, Helicon’s plans for international events in the US and Asia, and why meeting collectors face-to-face remains one of the most important parts of building an independent watch company.
A fascinating conversation about watches, craftsmanship, design, collecting and the appeal of discovering a small independent brand with a story worth telling.
Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Men's Wear Style Podcast. I'm your host, Pete Brooker, and today on the show I have the co-founder of Helicon Watches, Jonathan Bordell. Helicon Watches, the Helicon brand of watches, has been established by industry professionals with a proven track record of more than 20 years in the business. I've met Jonathan at a couple of events. I said we've got to get you on the podcast. So it was a real pleasure for me to get him on. And to tell us more about the brand, is Jonathan Bordell, co-founder of Helicon Watches.
SPEAKER_00
Well, I think it's an interesting brand because we are rare in our industry because we're a husband and wife team. So we're small, we're independent. As I said, we're a husband and wife. Um, and what we wanted to do, because this is let's say our pleasure, this is what we do for pleasure, is what we wanted to do is make the best watches we can, which were accessibly priced, but also had some degree of exclusivity. So what we tend to do is make one project, they're limited numbers, that's what we focus on, and when it's finished, it's finished. We don't try and bring out the same model next year in new colours, we move on to something totally different. So we're trying to create a following, but based upon our passion and our knowledge and our interest in the watch industry.
SPEAKER_01
And what is your background in the watch industry then? So, how did this come about for you?
SPEAKER_00
Well, um, both Daniel and I have about 20 years' experience in the industry. It began as a passion, um, and it began as our enthusiasm really making us knock on doors literally all over the world. So Danielle's background is in design. So she started her career actually in movie poster design. So you will have seen some of her work on movie posters. And I'm talking about in the days where Macs were square and on your desk, and a lot of it was done with a scalpel. Um, and my background was sales and marketing. So we both were working in the industry as freelancers for other people. So we had the knowledge of brands, of design, of manufacturing, of sales and marketing. And after about 20 years in the industry, we wanted to do it for ourselves, really, but do it in a way that we felt we could offer what bigger brands can't, which is great quality, really fun creative design, and exclusive and limited numbers. So, as I said, we are brave enough to say this is what we're doing this season, and then we finish it.
SPEAKER_01
And so that's the design standpoint. You guys are coming at it from a design perspective. Would you say these watches are design-led above all else?
SPEAKER_00
I always think you we wear a watch the same way as we wear beautiful clothes. We're not welding them necessarily these days for functionality, but they are part of our expression of being, they're what we enjoy. And I always say to people, if I reached out of this screen and put my hand around your wrist, it's a very personal space when you put something around your wrist. Your pulse is going very so close to the surface of the skin. So you feel you're wearing a watch as well as using it as an instrument for telling time. So we're working on creativity design, but also great quality. So we always say that, yeah, the watch looks beautiful, but we want you to know you're wearing it. It wants to feel the wearing of the watch, just as I said, like a beautiful jacket, like a fine shirt, that pair of jeans that you love because you know they fit.
SPEAKER_01
And so, how does it work? You guys, you've got the design background, but what about the manufacturing, the watch background itself? How are you bringing that component, pardon the pardon, and meeting that with the design that you guys, the experience that you guys have in that field?
SPEAKER_00
Well, we've always worked as consultants within the industry for many years. So we still today consult for other brands, and I'm talking about quite big brands that are out in the industry. So Daniel is always designing, she's always speaking to manufacturing processes in other brands. I'm always lazy with component manufacturers anyway, because we'll be putting projects together that could be two and a half thousand, three and a half thousand, five thousand watches. So we're always immersed in these contexts anyway. And I think where we've got an advantage is we know how to translate our thought processes and our designs into manufacturing, and we can also reach out and literally to different parts of the world to get the people that we know that can really create something special. So, as an example, our watches have a ceramic bezel insert. Well, we know who makes the ceramic, and we sort of said to them what colours are available because there's limited enough colours, and literally as the design process was going on, we would be giving, oh, we've just released this color, we've just released this colour. So we're really at that, not even we're at that manufacturing cutting edge with our contracts, and then we can really work out who's doing what and try and get that best quality together.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting. And so uh talk to me, Jonathan, about the the watches themselves. You mentioned the ceramic bezel there. What would you say are the real USPs that you can go, right? This is this watch, this is my watch, this is what I created. Notice this that's going on.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, well, I think what we've tried to achieve is first of all, we want a watch that's that's an everyday wearing watch. Our watches are accessibly priced, we want you to wear them every day. So we've engineered them, like I said, sapphire crystal, which is tough, ceramic bezels, which are scratch resistant, 316L marine grade stainless steel cases, which are corrosion resistant, salt water resistant. They're all pressure tested to 200 meters, but also we've added little touches inside, like our movements, our mechanical movements in our washes are encased in a custom-made brass movement holder. Well, why would you use brass? Because it's anti-magnetic and because it absorbs from shock if the watch gets an impact. But on top of that, our USPs, we only make 50 pieces of each colour every year. So while you bought a watch that's well priced, we believe, there's any other 50 people around the world. Well, 49 because we keep one, 49 people around the world that's going to have that watch. So we're trading off that sort of great design, wear it every day, enjoy it. We keep an extensive parts labrate, but you know that if you bump into someone with that watch, you're in a very, very exclusive club. So it's being exclusive without the added price level.
SPEAKER_01
That's interesting. And I was just just thinking as you were talking there about if anybody else wanted to get into the industry and perhaps do what you're doing, because it's there's quite a lot of micro brands out there with watches. And I guess I want to put you in that box as well. I don't know if that's a Proudly, yeah. Um, and then it does feel like people that want to start these micro brands or want to have a go, look, I can design this. I can I'm a designer, you know. I made graphic design or I did film posters. Let's let me do this with watches. It feels like this is something very unique that you guys can do that other people won't get that head start with because you've got the roller deck, so to speak, where you can get these contacts on the phone, the manufacturers, and you've got that great alchemy between you and Danielle.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I mean, I think first of all, you have to understand that we have got that little black book. We have got contacts all over the world where we know the right person to do that particular work. So, as an example, all of our dials are hand painted by one lady called Amy. Um, she began her career restoring Rolex dials. I mean, that's what she did, you know. So having that level of empathy and sympathy, in other words, I've got to watch, it's got to be restored, but I can't ruin it, meant that when we gave our designs to Amy, she doesn't just go, thank you, I'll do it. She then says, Well, I think I can do this slightly better. But that's one person's skill. And I always say to people, watchmaking to this day is like bespoke tailoring. There is a difference and a nuance because it's hand work, it's craft. There is no machine that puts a watch together, is a watchmaker. So, what I'm saying by that is because we've got what I would consider to be a great team out there, that we can literally utilize resources that are used by major manufacturers, but this is almost like that special projects run. So I would say, yes, we're a micro brand. We're proud to be a micro brand. When you buy a watch from us, you're going to deal with us. But on top of that, we can do things like customate the cases, customate the crystals, use our own formulation of Luminova, and we can offer some great value as well. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of micro brands, but you've also got you've got a micro brand that's new but 20 years in the making.
SPEAKER_01
And is there a danger? I mean, there's kind of a double-edged sword with having someone like Amy that is so specialized in her skill and it gives such a great narrative to the brand, but yet you don't want to be too reliant upon one person because God, you know, if anything happened to Amy, then that would maybe snook you. Do you have anything put in place where other people are in the background and parts of your team can come in?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, uh, we've got other people we deal with. I mean, we are relying on her for this series of watches, but I think the point is that we the other thing is when we when I say we make a series of runs, the next watch will not be anything like this. We are not trying to, we are trying to have our special projects in such a way that it's almost like a new collection. This is the direction we're going in now. So I think, yes, they're right. And in and I've honestly been in watch watchmakers in times when one watchmaker comes back as an example from maternity leave and the person jumps out of their seat because they want the skill of that person. Yes, we are, I would suppose you could say we are um a victim of that. However, I also think it's our responsibility to make sure that she is happy and we are looking off and we have a great relationship. So, you know, we try and treat everyone in a fair way so that if we have work, we are not the manufacturer or the manufacturer that gives her problems. In other words, we are nurturing those relationships.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting. And so when you with regards to the the limited runs and the the sales, how does it work in terms of stocks? So I'm curious if you have like a limited run of 50, do you go right? We're just down to the last 10, five now. Now we start putting uh the steps in place to get a new run together. Is there like a number in your mind that you have to sell out a certain batch to start a new one?
SPEAKER_00
Um, I wish it was that easy. Um, we are we have a five-year plan, so we know what we're doing over the next five years. We are already working on the successes, and what I would say to you is um that we've got things lined up, and what we find actually is circumstance or or or happenstance means that the next one comes into plan. So, as an example, we began the process of this design in 2018. Of course, we sadly had COVID in part of that, but we're working a long way ahead. So I think we couldn't afford to be saying we've got five pieces less, we'll start on the next one. The design, the engineering, the supply chain, if you like, is all being processed now. And we like to be, if not in stock of everything when we launch it, we like to be very close so we can actually say, well, we're pretty certain when the delivery is going to be. So we're way ahead of that, if that makes sense. And also, we're also talking to our suppliers, and I'll be visiting then in a couple of months, where we learn from them when we walk into their workshops, into their manufacturers, we're saying, Oh, that's interesting. How can we incorporate that? So, as I said, we're we're sort of working five years ahead, and probably we're two years ahead of where we are now. And I think it's almost like a button. We're ready to push the button to go into production. But actually, what's good is in that time we can refine those ideas and designs, and then even there's more collaborative effect with the suppliers that we use that we can actually work together and find something where actually that they've informed us as well as we've informed you, and therefore we're almost ahead of the game technologically. And because we're small, we'll be very nimble. I mean, we can put that into production in 90 days. So I think personally that's the way we want to we want it to be.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting. Yeah, like I had this analogy a while back with the big brands are like the Titanics that if you want to change something, you can't just shift a rudder and you know swing the boat round in under two minutes. You know, it just takes time. But if you're a little dinghy or a tugboat, you know, you you can you can be a bit more um dexterous with what you what you can do with the decision making effectively for the brand. You can move quicker when you need to.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and and the ethos behind this is this is our passion. So we want it to be small and nimble. We do everything ourselves largely, so we can move, and it's a discussion that happens you know across our office. We've got a discussion, and I find what's quite interesting is that is that when we reach a conclusion that's right for both of us, it's it's never a disagreement. We sort of may have a twisted road there, but actually when we agree, when we come to that font, we go, yeah, that's it, that's right. So yeah, we can be nimble.
SPEAKER_01
Well, I'm also interested in the social media element of the brands, especially micro brands, because I've I have the feeling that everything is you overlooking it, you know, you've got to vet everything, you've got a quality quality control everything. That's that's kind of the gig. But then with social media, do you have like the guy take the photos? We must have the best pictures, and then that one will make the social post, that will make the Facebook post. You don't, or do you have a very everyday feel about it where if you have someone that just kind of takes a picture and it's not like the the studio version of the picture, but it doesn't quite make the cut to go on the Instagram or whatever? What say you?
SPEAKER_00
The best thing that we can do is have people working with us. So we said from day one with Helicon we wanted to work not with major studios or creative directors, we wanted to work with the community. So what we've found is yeah, we can commission fantastic photo shoots. And again, we're lucky that people who literally started as assistants 10 years ago have now got their own studios. But we find that actually the aesthetic is out there. So what we do is we try and work with people who we think have got really great social media pages, who are hungry for more content, and we find that actually by working with them and building up a bank of work with them, we can help them, they can help us. And I think once you've got that, if you tap into that passion enthusiasm, it informs what you do. So we'd much rather work with the community. And actually, there's very little that we are given or we commission or we work with people that actually we don't like. So we've got a customer in Arizona, he continually sends us pictures with deserts, with cacti, with cars. It's almost I couldn't choreograph that, I couldn't have that as an artistic director saying, right, put it in the desert. So for us, the richness of what we do is because we know our customers literally by first name, every single one of them, you know.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, no, that's great. Yeah, having that personal touch, it could create like a community feel. I mean, the watch, the watch community. So I as you know, Jonathan, you and I have spoken about Bond quite a few times when we've met up. I think you got an idea that I'm I've got a toe in the James Bond world, you know, I've got a fascination, fascination with that. Um I feel like the watch community, there's no greater buzz around James Bond than when people talk James Bond and watches. It kind of takes whatever you talk about and then it triples it. Do you know what I mean? In terms of eyeballs. And do you find the watch community? How do you find the watch community, for example, to start with? Is it a place that you like being in? Is there different threads? Is there different channels that you watch? You know, talk me through that.
SPEAKER_00
I think it's really interesting how that's changed. And again, I'm gonna talk, I'm gonna throw this back at you to a degree. I think Bond has always been iconic. I think that the time they spent on certain elements of theirs films, I personally seen very few films of that era. So if you look at things, the era, I mean, I'm trying to think of the what most recent bond I watched. Not recently in the movie, but uh where it was Scaramanga. And James Bond rolls his Rolex up, and you see the Rolex, and it's battered. It's not a nice, shiny, but it's a battered Rolex. It looks like he's been on service with it. Now, first of all, I think it's a time on the screen, it gets a lot of time. I think, secondly, in that era, I would imagine that that that brand weren't paying for that appearance. That was just the watch they chose. But I think the fact that they directed that in such a way that his Rolex was quite used and worn meant the thought process was there and very interesting. I think the community is hungry for, I'm gonna use a horrible word, content, but I'm gonna say passion. I think that the way people live with their watches, the way they show their watches, and the way that their watches inform their lives is what's really interesting. And I always say to people, the watches are great, but the people who wear them are the really interesting stories. So I think the community is really interesting. I think there's a lot of noise. I would say when we first started this business 20 years ago, it was totally different. Um, I think it was real collectors and people who had an encyclopedic knowledge of each of these watches. But I think what's great is twofold. It's a younger audience now, far more of a female audience, far more of a female audience who are interested in these watches and how they wear them. And I think that's exploded in terms of the culture. And again, people who like watches. And that's probably the same for Bond. I mean, Bond was really one thing, and now the Bond tone, if you like, is much wider with a much more varying interest in different areas and ages and then looks. And I think that's what I think is quite interesting.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it's yeah, you mentioned that the women have also kind of emulated or blown this community apart in terms of yeah, never imagined this amount of interest from uh from women, say 30 years ago, 40 years ago. Who knows? In terms of and what I mean by that is I was down at uh an event for Panorai many years ago, and I saw this this press lady wearing this huge Panorai watch, it was beautiful, but I would never have thought that a watch that big would appeal to a woman. And I know that probably makes me sound like a misogynist dinosaur relic of the of the cold war. But I mean, the question I have I guess I have for you is has that landscape changed now where it doesn't really matter the size of the watch or even the aesthetic of the watch, that even kind of a very rugged, masculine, brutal looking watch has the same appeal to women as well.
SPEAKER_00
I think what's interesting, and we've got a bit, I mean, we have a big, a big part of our story because remember, we we are I mean, Danielle is the co-founder, she designs all the watches, and she wears watches of all sizes. What we found every year we've been in this business is that a man will come in and they'll say, My wrist is slim, I don't this a woman will go, I like it. I just like it, but I just like it. And I think women are far more without barriers. They like it, they want to wear it, and I think there's also a certain style to it. So I noticed first of all, sports watches, stainless steel sports watches being worn by women in Italy, and they would have the great pair of jeans, the lovely blazer, and they'd wear the watch almost like a bangle. So it didn't matter if it didn't fit. So yesterday I was with someone who's a big fan of Andrew Greamer. Do you know Andrew Greamer, the jewelry designer from the 60s, really ahead of his time, worked with Amiga, and she said to me, I've got this Greamer, I always wanted one. Actually, the bracelet's too big, but it's fine because it just dangles off my wrist and it becomes a bracelet. It's not a watch to be uh on her wrist tightly. So, what I'm saying is I think that the the female community has always been, I like it, I want to wear it, I am going to wear it in a certain way. Whereas the male community has been seeing almost like it has to fit just so I have to button my shirt so I can pull my tie right to the top. So I think what's great is that relaxed attitude of wearing their watch is what's informed the watch world. And I think it's fantastic.
SPEAKER_01
Interesting. Yeah, and and also I was just thinking, as you were saying, about how the difference between guys and girls and why the reasons they choose watches. And I'd be interested to get your take on this. Guys, I believe when it comes to fashion in general, are very tribal. They'll pick a brand and they go like a jacket. If this brand fits, then that's it. I just go to this shop from now on because I don't want to waste the time shopping around for things or ordering things online that I'm gonna have to take a gamble on. I like this, this is suiting me. I don't think we have that with watches. I think guys generally like to, if they're collecting watches, would almost like to have one from every brand possible, as opposed to just going, you know what? I've just got a shed ton of Rolexes, and that's all I need. You know, it's all I want. I don't want to have to dip my toe in any other brand. I mean, you might be able to give me a better insight on that.
SPEAKER_00
Do you mean that they would have one brand or they're much more egalitarian?
SPEAKER_01
I've yeah, I think they're much more diverse when they choose their watches. I think they go for multiple brands, all the well, certainly the the guys that I know.
SPEAKER_00
I think I'll tell you what I think it is, and I always use this analogy, it's shoes. So I have a picture of my grandfather, I should have dug it out for this podcast, and he's doing the gardening in his high-waisted trousers, his jacket, he's even got a tie on, a shirt and tie on to do the gardening. Today, we have more than one pair of shoes. You might have some brogues, you might have some boots, you might have some sneakers, you might have some, you know, some supergars, you might have all sorts of shoes. I think a watch is like that now. We have a different watch to sort a different mood, you have a dress watch, you have a sports watch, you have a vintage-looking watch, have a modern watch. And I think that's broadened out. So I think you're right. I think that the days of saying that's the only thing I buy has changed. But what we find is the education part of that, which is what I found when I was going to Gray Farm and built my relationship with those guys there, is people say, try this. And then I think once they're eased into that world, then they become much more comfortable. So yeah, I think I think again it's it's really expanded. And I think, as I said, the analogy of shoes is the one like I have a certain watch for a certain occasion or a certain mood.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, yeah, interesting. I mean, I think there's occasion wear, there's the everyday watch that I need, there's I'm flying on holiday, I'll be away for two weeks. I want to look at this watch for the next two weeks as opposed to any other couple of watches. So I think guys are locked in with that, but I don't see as much tribalism um or tub thumping passionate I must have this brand of watch, as opposed to, oh, that's okay. That's an all that's also a beautiful looking watch. I'll have that in my collection as well, you know.
SPEAKER_00
I think there was that, but I think it's gone now. And I think also people play with their watches more. So even the things like the choice of strapped for holiday matters now. So they might have a bracelet on the watch, but when they go away. Like I'm wearing today, they put it on a silicon strap and start playing with the silicon strap. So I think people are much more open, but that's social media that's fed that, that social media that's informed that, that they can now get approval from their peers by saying, Hey, I've just done this. And generally, I find in the community that we work in that the voices that go don't like that would never buy that, are actually drowned out by the people saying, Hey, that looks cool, that's great. Good luck, really enjoy that watch. And I think there's more positivity than negativity.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah. No, I I 100% agree. And it was also just occurred to me as we were talking about micro brands, that I think people that want to build a watch collection have much more of an opportunity buying like a helicon watch that might be around 550 or uh, you know, and ballparking your watches forgive me. But then they go, Well, I'm not having to build a collection very slowly over time. I can get, you know, depending on your wage bracket, I can get up to maybe three or four watches a year and then start building it. But as long as I'm keeping it between the 500 and the thousand pound mark, I now have an opportunity to build a beautiful watch collection and also have a really cool story about them because not everybody is going to be here or have heard about various brands, and you get to be the one that introduces that to other people. You know, you might be in a party or some social setting, and you get to talk and evangelize about the brand that you discovered. It's almost like having that cool band that you know about in school, and then I guess as soon as everybody else starts liking it, you have to then move on to the next band, right?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, but that was also, I mean, what's in the the most thing that that's really given us joy and pleasure is we've got people who collect our watches. Now, when we first started this, if someone bought a watch, that that's amazing. That's a really big deal to us. But we've got people who own every single color we've made, we've got people who've bought again. And for us, that's interesting because first of all, they know they've got a story with a beginning, middle, and end with our watches. Our watch, our collection will finish. So you're right, they can go to people and say, This is a great watch, I love it. And people say, Well, I haven't heard of that brand. Well, they only make 50 watches a year, but they know that that's our inherent value. The second thing is that what we did, and we did a lot of research, and I mean research by being in the marketplace for bigger brands to work out what our watches should cost. Because we could manufacture this watch and make it five times the price. We just change the component tree, we start making in different areas, we make the movement more sophisticated. But that wasn't what people told us they wanted. What they wanted to do was have that discretionary buy where they said, I like it, I'm gonna wear it, I'm gonna enjoy it. And because we're direct, I mean, literally, you buy a watch direct from the people who created it, we can offer tremendous value. So I think it works on all levels, but you're right, people evangelizing for us, it is the band that's cool that you knew. It is the band that like no one else quite gets, but you get. And and I've what I find really interesting is I was talking about the other day, the bands that I was into at 15 or 16, I'm still into, I'm still into those bands. My love for them hasn't waned. In fact, it's almost returned because you know that when you mention those bands, people go, Oh, yeah, that was a really cool album. So I think you've become almost part of a community that again has something interesting to say.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah. Well, Jonathan, I've I've loved our chat. You've had so many things, interesting things to say. I had a whole ream of other things that I wanted to tap upon. I wanted to talk about London and watches and kind of this weird, I don't I wouldn't call it a scourge, but you know, it's it's very it's interesting at the minute the the the kind of watch crime that we have here in London. But I think maybe we'll put a pin in that. And the next time I see you down at Timothy's, I'd love to love to get into that with you. Yeah, but um also before before I let you go, what's next for Helicon and any pop-ups, any exhibitions? Can you talk about future plans for the brand?
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, absolutely. Well, look, this watch was actually designed with that scourge of crime in mind because we've only got 50 of them, they're affordable, and actually, it's a watch you're comfortable wearing every day because most people are interested in that in doing such nefarious deeds, they're not interested in our watch, which is great, it's invisible. Um, yeah, we've got a lot of plans coming up. We are heading to the US. We've just done a show in Birmingham. Um, we find when we meet people and do these shows, it's it's the best thing for us, really. So, yeah, we'll have some events going on. We're going to the US in October, I believe. We'll be in Asia, I think towards the end of the year. We've been invited to Canada next year. And again, we'll probably participate in British Watchmakers show. So the British Watchmaker show, which was March last year, we were we were sold out of tickets, I think eight weeks before the actual show. So that's British microbrands and brands that literally produce from a few hundred pounds to a few hundred thousand pounds, all saying, Well, you can't see us at main dealers, you want to meet the people that make the watch come to this event. And there's a lot more, which is brilliant, collaborative work within the British watch industry now, where we're supporting each other because that's the main thing we want to do is we want to be able to be indigenous and and support each other.
SPEAKER_01
That's interesting. Oh, okay, great. I didn't know that event existed. So yeah, I'm gonna get out of the way from that. Yeah, no, 100%. Well, whereabouts in the US are you gonna be in October? I'll be in the US. I know it's a big place.
SPEAKER_00
Uh, we're gonna be in New York.
SPEAKER_01
Oh, okay, that's a shame. Well, I'm not gonna not gonna bump into each other there. I I just realized I do that thing that everyone does when they go, Pete, I'm in London, let's uh go out for lunch. You're like, where in London are you? I'm like, oh, I'm I'm out by Pinewood or you know, I'm in Lewisham. I'm like, okay, so you're still about three hours away. I know we're in London technically, but you're still, you know, it's still a three-hour slip.
SPEAKER_00
But I've always but I've always said it's a small world and it's amazing when paths cross again. And that's I always say to you, the watch industry is tiny. I mean, they're they we are small, and even the some of the bigger manufacturers know of if you walked into their workshops, they're much smaller than you think, and everything is handmade. So I always say you never know where you're gonna bump into the people, so it's always worth asking.
SPEAKER_01
Always, 100%. Well, Jonathan, great talking to you. Helicon.watches, oh sorry, heliconwatches.com, the place to go. We'll leave all the links in the show notes so you can find them there. And uh yeah, in the meantime, I'll let you go and we'll we'll maybe catch up together soon, have a beer.
SPEAKER_00
Absolutely, look forward to it. Thank you, Peter.
SPEAKER_01
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