George Cleverley x IWC x The Rake Event in London

Special thanks to George Glasgow Jr., CEO and owner of George Cleverley, for inviting me to their event with IWC, the Rake and Evolution watches.

The event was for the celebration of the collaboration among the above-mentioned brands, which birthed the above watch. The watch pays homage to the original IWC Mark 11. It's powered by IWC’s automatic caliber 35100 (Sellita-based) and is housed in a 36mm bronze case with a green dial. George Cleverley made the NATO straps out of the 233-year-old Russian reindeer leather, which was salvaged from the sunken Metta Catharina ship. It’s limited and numbered to 150 pieces and at the time of writing was sold out (the last two were sold during the event).

The original Mark 11. Courtesy of www.revolution.watch

We had the pleasure of seeing the prototype (no. 000/150) of the watch during the event. As lovers of vintage watches, 36mm is a familiar size. And as lovers of patina, we of course like the bronze case, which will develop a patina with wear.

Very well proportioned. Also nice contrast and harmony among the case, dial, numerals and indices.

Even though the case is made of bronze, the casebook is made of titanium, because bronze is too reactive against the skin. And staying true to the original, the caseback is of course solid.

Prototype: No. 000/150

At 10.4 mm, the watch has a slim profile. It will of course wear a bit bigger given that the Russian reindeer NATO strap will add thickness to the watch.

Quite thin as you can see. You can also see the modern touch of the fish logo on the crown.

Fittingly, I wore my IWC cal. 853 to the event, which was made a little later than the original Mark 11.

New watch with old strap and old watch with new strap

The event was attended by the Glasgows of George Cleverley, Wei Koh of the Rake, Simon Chambers of IWC and many friends of the brands, including Jeremy Hackett, Gary Lineker, some actors whose names I cannot remember.

George Glasgow Sr. of George Cleverley.

George Glasgow Jr. of George Cleverley.

Wei Koh of The Rake.

Gary Lineker, English football legend.

The event was filled with music, drinks and many conversations. George Cleverley had a booth where they had a shoemaker sew on the outsoles and IWC had a booth where they had a watchmaker disassemble an IWC watch.

Outsoles being sewn on through a hidden channel. In the background you can see numerous bespoke lasts, include the Prince of Wales's.

IWC's watchmaker working on a watch.

And of course a visit to George Cleverley is never complete before checking out their shoes. This time I saw some very special shoes, including a 40-year-old bespoke Baron de Redé model (named after Alexis, Baron de Redé) in pigskin made by Anthony Cleverley himself and a full brogue bespoke Russian reindeer wingtips

Churchill meets a Russian (get it?)

Written by: Nikki Krisadtyo

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