Financial Times Europe - 09.11.2019 - 10.11.2019

9 November/10 November 2019 ★ FT Special^ Report 7

Watches&Jewellery

Ennio Leanza/Keystone

The

Deconstructed

Watch

IWC Pilots Watch Timezoner

‘Longest Flight’ edition

‘I

hope you’re ready for some Eng-

lish eccentricity,” quips a mem-

ber of staff as she leads the way

into the dining room of a centu-

ries-old country house just out-

side Reading in south-east England.

Though the day is chilly the heating is

resolutelyshutoff;darkwoodfurniture,

silvertrinketsandfloralsoftfurnishings

fill the space, and an ancient hound

dozes beneath a window that frames a

picturesquegarden.

This is the family home of Pope and

Oliver Makower, but it also happens to

be an unlikely centre of British silver-

smithing.

Bishopsland Educational Trust, to

give the Makower home its formal

name,isaShangri-Laforaspiringsilver-

smiths. Small groups of postgraduate

students — referred to as “the gang” —

arrive each September from across the

globe o spend 10 and a half months liv-t

ing and working together ona former

farm40milesfromLondon.

Bedrooms are dotted all over the

grounds, from the cheapest lodgings at

the back of a draughty barn— which

doubles up as a venue to host Bish-

opsland’s twice-yearly selling exhibi-

tions — to the pricier, and eminently

more romantic, staddle stone-sup-

ported huts. There is also accommoda-

tion within the main house, where the

students’octogenarian ostsreside.h

Bishopslandopened its doors to three

“guinea pig” studentsin 1993. Mrs

Makower, a silversmith, had always

wanted to create a collaborative space

that rized dexterity and commonp

sense over exam results.The seed was

sown after she says the four boarding

schools she attended failed to diagnose

her dyslexia. I left school feeling — or“

they thought I was — stupid,” she says.

“There’s absolutely no doubt that it has

beenthedrivingforce.”

During the course, the roughly 10 stu-

dentsaretaughtbyarosteroftutorsand

guest lecturers, includingsilversmiths

Malcolm Appleby, Rod Kelly, designer

of a 2006 £2 coin, and Ndidi Ekubia,

who was one of the earliest Bishopsland

studentsin1995.

The course fee is £5,880 plus accom-

modation costs, which vary. However

there are bursaries available, the school

says. Students go through a rigorous

interview process either in person or on

FaceTime. Mrs Makower selects appli-

cants on their creative merit but, as the

majority need bursaries,the decision is

also informed by the trust’s finances —

the course running costs are roughly

£270,000ayear.

On the farm there is little to do except

while away the hours in the workshop.

This level of immersion was exactly Mrs

Makower’s vision. “They don’t have to

be in the workshop [after classes are

over], they can go off and do what they

like, but they will be the losers if they’re

not in the workshop sufficiently, getting

on with the work,” says Mrs Makower,

whose small stature belies a kindly but

no-nonsenseattitude.

Studentsarealsolecturedoncostcon-

trol.Mrs Makower aims to instil disci-

pline into her fledglings to ensure their

financial survival beyond Bishopsland.

“I’m not against conceptual work but it

has to be brought into a practical con-

text,”she says. “It’s ridiculous when

they say ‘oh, but I like it’. I say, come on,

who are you actually making it for?

Theyarenotallowedtowastemoney.”

Mrs Makower alsobrokers commis-

sions for the gangfrom collectors. The

students each receive £600 to spend on

tools and precious metals, gifted by the

Worshipful Company of Clothworkers.

They also receive £400 from The Gold-

smiths’ Centre: £150 goes towards mak-

ing a piece of jewellery and £250 for an

item of silverware. These are displayed

and sold at Jacobs the Jewellers in Read-

ing, where customers can vote for the

winner. The money raised from sales is

put towards future purchases of pre-

ciousmetalandtools.

Students are judged on raw talent

rather than what they make, although

jewellery has become more prominent

at Bishopsland in the past couple of

years. Pure jewellers taking the course

are also encouraged to learn how to

makelargersilverpieces.

Emerging silversmith and jeweller

Jessica Jue, who joined Bishopsland in

2017 , describes the course as “one of the

most tremendous things I’ve done”. “It

becomes a silversmithing family,” says

Ms Jue, adding that the connections and

strong practical grounding she gained

havesuperchargedhercareer.

Over the yearsMr Makower has bal-

anced running his family textiles busi-

ness with finding capital to keep the

charity afloat. “We have to raise a lot of

money,”he says, reeling off stories of

evenings spent schmoozing and brazen

Communal life

and creativity

combine at

Bishopsland

EducationResidential course at former farm run by an octogenarian couple is a Shangri-La for aspiring silversmiths, writesRachael Taylor

Total

immersion:

students hone

their craft in the

workshop

(above); Pope

and Oliver

Makower (left);

oyster brooches

by Jessica Jue

(top right)

Bishopsland

‘I didn’t have the best

training, but I could

arrange for other people to

have excellent training’

Watchesthat keep track of the hour as the wearer

travels betweentime zones have been around for

almost a century, yet they can often be fiddly,

difficult to read or less than elegant in their

execution.

About 20 years ago, however, Mike Vogt, an

industry veteran who had worked for TAG Heuer,

Ebel and Gucci, set out to develop a time-zone

watch that could be adjusted instantly with a twist

of the bezel.

The idea seemed simple but working out its

mechanical execution was anything but.Mr Vogt

had to develop a tiny clutch and complex gear train

that enabled the interface between bezel and

movement to operate quickly and reliably, while the

watch continued to run accurately.

The original Vogard Timezoner was launched in

2003 and featured a bezel marked with 24 capital

cities. Unlocking a lever allowed the bezel to be

turnedeitherway until the required city was at 12

o’clock,resetting the hour hand to local time in the

process.

Although he enjoyed a degree of success with the

mechanism, Mr Vogt recognised that it needed

further investment and refinement.

In 2015 he passed the intellectual property rights

to Richemont brand IWC Schaffhausen, which has

since introduced an extensively reworked version as

part of its pilot watch range.

Now, instead of being unlocked by a ever, the ringl

bezel operates using a system developed by IWC in

the 1980s for the Porsche Design Ocean 2000 dive

watch: the wearer simply needs to push on two

opposing points to turn it.

The function prevents the user resetting the

watch accidentally.

The mechanism, which is waterproofto 50 metres

and has 68 hours power reserve, also enables

automatic date adjustment.

The IWC Pilots Watch Timezoner can be had as a

time-only model (pictured here is

the £11,290 ‘Longest Flight’

edition that marks a current

attempt to fly a wartime

Spitfire around the world),

or as an £11,250

chronograph, which also

accounts for locations

that use daylight

saving time. The

movements contain 284

and 323 components

respectively – all of which are

squeezed into a 46mm

diameter case.

Simon de Burton

requestsbeinggranted.“Thereisawon-

derful amount of organisations only too

delighted to find something that is

worthwhilethattheycansupport.”

One of these is the Goldsmiths’ Cen-

tre, a not-for-profit vocational offshoot

of the Goldsmiths’ Company. It is Bish-

opsland’s biggest source of funding,

donating£40,000in2019.

“The fact that Bishopsland has

existed for more than 25 years and has

produced the kind of alumni it has [is

what attracted us],” says Chris Oliver,

head of professional training at The

Goldsmiths’ Centre. “It’s run by people

whogenuinelybelieveinwhattheydo.”

As well as providing cash, The Gold-

smiths’ Centre is also bolstering the

trainingofferedtoBishopslandstudents

with business programmesat its Lon-

doncentre.

Mr and Mrs Makower are now both

aged “81 and three quarters”. Their chil-

dren, Jane and William, are trustees and

remain very much a part of the commu-

nitytheirparentshavebuilt.

Mrs Makower reflects on her achieve-

ment with pride. “I didn’t have the best

training, but I could arrange for other

people to have excellent training, and

I’vedoneitallmyself.”

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