benjamin james watches
An interview
A few weeks ago, I attended Oslo Swap meet.
There I met a lot of watch enthusiasts and several brand representatives. Among them was Ben Adams.
The founder and designer of Benjamin James watches, showcasing (for the 1st time) the scarifour.
Being a proper watch enthusiast and designer, he has just launched his first watch on Kickstarter, the 26th of March. The Scarifour.
Inspired by vintage watches with he has launched a watch with thoughtful proportions and design at the forefront.
This isn`t the first time he has designed a watch, being in the watch industry for over 8 years now, both as a photographer and watch designer. He has designed watches for brands such as Geckota and many others.
Disclaimer: All the photos in this article are taken by and property of Ben Adams/Benjamin James watches, not taken by me. I was not able to take proper photos at the event.
introduction
At the event I had some time to check out this brand and try on the the Scarifour watch.
This brand is created and launced by Ben Adams, a watch photographer and designer.
The Scarifour is an integrated sports watch with a twist. The case and bracelet are made of 316L stainless steel and offer a 50m of water resistance. The case gave me a bit of vintage Vacheron Constantin Square 222 vibes. Although this is a rectangular design. The square VC 222 being my favorite vintage design of all time, it safe to say that I like this case design a lot. The dial features interesting details, which will described further by Ben in the interview down below.
I hope to get some more hands-on time in the future so that could share a review.
I decided to ask Ben more about his watches and he gracefully agreed to an interview.
Hello Ben,
could you tell me a little bit about yourself? How did you get into watches?
What was your first watch and earliest watch memories?
Hello. I am a watch enthusiast and I have been working in the watch industry for the past 8 years, as a watch photographer and designer.
I have designed watches for several watch brands, among others Geckota watches.
My first watch was a Tag Heuer Aquaracer, a present given to me by my parents on my 18th birthday. The watch that properly started off my watch enthusiasm.
My earliest memories are from my grandfather who was also into watches. I have memories from my childhood of his Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso and me sitting on his lap. He was big into rectangular watches. I wanted to name the watch after him, but since his name has some unfortunate associations with a certain character online, I went with another name.
So you have launched your own watch brand, Benjamin James starting off with the Scarifour.
What are some of the inspirations to the design of the Scarifour?
My inspirations were vintage rectangular watches from the 70s and 80s. Timeless models from brands such as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and Cartier.
I wanted to create a classic looking, gentleman’s watch that felt both sporty and dressy at the same time. An everyday watch. A watch that looks right on the wrist, while standing out from all the other options out there. Too many watches nowadays are released, feeling oversized and not truly vintage inspired, despite saying so. I wanted to amend that and fulfill a vision of creating a truly vintage inspired and proportioned watch.
This watch is all about proportions, being 31mm wide by 40mm long. This might sound small, but with the integrated bracelet and the rectangular case, it just transforms it.
I also wanted to pay homage to my family history and hometown. Therefore, the watch is named after my childhood home of 5 generations. Parts of the design draw inspirations from my hometown.
The dial on the Scarifour has what I refer to as as “Heraldry dial”, the shape of the embossing is inspired by the chevron shape found on the Coat of Arms of Cheltenham, my local town growing up.
Great! What movements will be available for these watches?
The Scarifour will be available with both a quartz and mechanical movement. For the mechanical option I went with a hand wound movement. The Sellita SW210-1b, a true no date hand wound movement. I wanted to keep the watch case as thin as possible and the Sellita allowed for that. For the quartz I went with a Ronda 762E.
This allows me to launch a watch at two different price points. Also, not everyone wants to wind up their watches and change the time ever day when they pick up their watch. Furthermore, the quartz model comes with a closed case back, while the mechanical watch comes with an open case back showing off the mechanical movement.
Where are these watch components manufactured and assembled?
The movements are Swiss made, while the rest of the watch is manufactured at top grade factories in Hong-Kong. I chose manufacturers I have worked with before, that I trust and that I know offer A-grade finishing and quality. This allows me to keep the price appropriate without compromising on quality.
What more can you tell me about the Scarifour?
The case offers a 50-meter water resistance, matching the needs of an everyday watch, while keeping the case thin. The glass is Saphire glass, and the hands feature BGW9 Super-LumiNova and dial has lume plots above the indices, ensuring some legibility in the dark. The indices are brushed on the top with polished chamfers, keeping the legibility at all angles.
What are your plans and goals for the future of Benjamin James watches? Are there several watches already planned?
I always have a lot of ideas and designs in mind, but I’m mindful to take it step by step and allow the design language of the brand to mature. I want to keep to limited drops with new designs in the future to keep the designs fresh and interesting, and maintains the fun of it for me as well.
Tell me, have you created this brand all by yourself? Is it just you? Or a team?
I have of course had some help, but mostly it is just me, yes.
Wow, that’s amazing. Thank you! So, tell me again, when are you going to launch this watch? When will it be available?
I am launching the Kickstarter on the 26th of March this year and plan for them to shipped to customers in August 2024. There will be an ice blue, smoked black, blue hour, classic silver, orange fume and royal puple dial options. They will also be at a 25% discount as an early bird offer for the 1st 24 hours. Make sure to check out the Kickstarter, which is where all the information will be available.
Thank you so much for your time and best of luck with your launch.
I hope to see you again soon!
Unfortunately, I was a bit late with posting this interview, due to work.
The Kickstarter however, was very successful, raising over 270% of the goal. Ben ended up adding new stretch goals and there are now a lot of options for this watch. Some optinos include different straps.
I recommend you check out this watch for yourself and make up your own opinion, linked here is the Benjamin James website, where you find more information on the Scarifour.
